Manuscript libraries
Manuscript Library Software: Catalogue Your Collection and Show It to the World
For heritage, religious, family, waqf and research libraries whose treasures are not ordinary books: manuscripts, rare printed books, documents, coins and artefacts, described the way a scholar needs and shown online with photographs, next to the library’s ordinary catalogue.
What we hear
The problems heritage libraries bring us
“Our manuscripts are listed in a handwritten register that only one person can read.”
“A library system for books has nowhere to put the scribe, the script or the Hijri date.”
“Scholars write from abroad asking what we hold, and we cannot show them anything.”
“Our rarest pieces sit in a cupboard, and nobody outside the building knows they exist.”
How we set it up
Set up for a manuscript collection
Whether we install a new Koha, migrate you onto one, host it, or support the Koha you already run.
Described the way a scholar needs
Each item records its title in the original script and in transliteration, the author and scribe, the script (Naskh, Nastaliq, Kufic, Thuluth, Shikasta, Gurmukhi, Sharada, Brahmi and more), the material, the date in Hijri and Common Era, folios, dimensions, illumination, condition, collection and provenance.
Shown online, with photographs
Each item gets its own public page with a photo gallery, so a researcher anywhere can see a folio before they travel. Staff choose which pieces are featured on the catalogue’s home page and which are on display in the building.
Next to your ordinary catalogue
Manuscripts, rare printed books, documents, coins and artefacts sit alongside the library’s books, which are lent and returned as usual. Search finds an item by its original-script title, scribe, collection or date.
What you can record
What you can record for each item
| What | How it is recorded | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Manuscript, printed book, document, coin or artefact | One collection, described by what each piece is |
| Title | Original script and transliteration | Found whichever way a scholar types it |
| Script | Naskh, Nastaliq, Kufic, Thuluth, Shikasta, Bihari, Maghribi, Gurmukhi, Devanagari, Sharada, Kharosthi, Brahmi | Browse the collection by hand |
| Material | Paper, parchment, palm leaf, birch bark, cloth, stone, metal, wood | Conservation needs at a glance |
| Date | Hijri and Common Era, with a display form like “1105 AH / 1693 CE” | Dated the way the item itself is dated |
| Physical | Folios, dimensions, illumination and condition | A researcher knows what to expect |
| People | Author and scribe or calligrapher | Search by the hand that wrote it |
| Collection | Named collection, accession number and provenance | Where each piece came from, kept with it |
| Photographs | A gallery per item, with captions | Seen online before anyone travels |
| Showcase | Featured on the home page, or on display in the building | Your treasures in front of visitors |
Heritage, religious, family, waqf, museum and research libraries, and any library with a special collection beside its books.
Included
What we look after
Original scripts
Titles in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Gurmukhi and more, next to a transliteration.
Hijri and Common Era
Each item dated the way it is dated, in both calendars.
Scholarly description
Scribe, script, material, folios, illumination and provenance.
A public page per item
Photo galleries a researcher can see from anywhere.
From the old register
Handwritten or spreadsheet lists typed up and checked with your staff.
Photos kept safe
Images stored with backups, and the full record downloadable at any time.
More in Koha Cloud, not in standard Koha
Tamper-evident records
Every book’s movements and every fine, payment and waiver in an append-only history. Any change is detected and flagged.
Audit-ready recordsGate register and footfall
Members and walk-ins check in and out; time spent, peak hours and daily trends are reported.
Visitor managementMembership plans
As many paid plans as you sell, with freezes, grace days, study-only passes and renewals.
Membership plansPartner-library loans
Lend to and borrow collections from libraries outside the system, with agreements, deposits and due dates tracked.
How partner loans are trackedAI built into Koha Cloud
Advanced library automation, with an AI assistant for your staff and readers
Koha Cloud is more than hosting. On any plan, your library can add an AI assistant inside the librarian panel that catalogues, audits and reports alongside your staff. Write to it in English, Arabic, Persian or Urdu, and it answers in the same language. It proposes; a librarian approves every change.
Copy cataloguing from every source
Give it an ISBN or a title. It searches your own Z39.50 and SRU servers in the order you rank them, then Google Books and Open Library, and brings back the 10 best matches, each labelled with its source. You pick one; the record is drafted for you to confirm.
DDC numbers and author marks
Suggests a Dewey number and a Cutter-style author mark worked out from cataloguing rules and your library’s own convention, for one book or every record missing one. A librarian approves each change.
Catalogue health score
40 checks rolled into one score out of 100: missing marks, invalid ISBNs, likely duplicates, records with no copies. It ranks the worst problems first, tracks the score over time, and fixes them in reviewed batches.
Stock audits and registers
Accession register, stocktake summary, missing items, item history, holdings as of any date and reconciliation, asked for in a sentence instead of built as a report.
Reports on request
Most-borrowed titles, dormant stock, overdues, fines, branch comparisons: 28 ready reports, asked as a question and saved for next time.
Patrons search in plain words
On your public catalogue a reader can type “books on climate change in Urdu published after 2015” or “Agatha Christie novels on the shelf right now”, and the AI turns it into a catalogue search with the right filters.
The same assistant also runs the circulation desk, acquisitions, patron registration, labels and your library's public website by chat, within each staff member's own permissions.
Koha Cloud pricing
Hosted Koha from $30 a month
Or $300 a year, saving $60. Up to 5,000 titles and 10,000 copies, 5 staff and 1,000 patrons, with hosting, a subdomain, data migration, the public catalog, cataloguing, circulation, acquisitions, administration and training. The same price in every country; larger libraries get a tailored quote.
Not ready to change your library system? Put just your catalogue online from $10 a month, from your spreadsheet, SLiMS export or register.
Already running Koha?
We support and fix the Koha you have, on your own server, and train your team in live sessions.
Koha supportMoving to Koha?
From another library system or a spreadsheet, validated and reconciled before go-live.
Koha data migrationYour team needs training?
Private live sessions for your staff on your own Koha, in your working hours.
Koha staff trainingFAQ
What heritage libraries ask us
Can we record a manuscript’s script, scribe and Hijri date?
Yes. Each item records its title in the original script and in transliteration, the author and the scribe or calligrapher, the script, the material, the date in Hijri and Common Era, folios, dimensions, illumination, condition, collection and provenance.
Can we show our manuscripts online?
Yes. Each item gets its own public page with a photo gallery, staff choose which pieces are featured on the catalogue’s home page, and the pages are listed for search engines, so a researcher anywhere can find them.
Do we need a separate system for our ordinary books?
No. Manuscripts, rare books, documents, coins and artefacts sit next to the ordinary catalogue, and books are lent and returned as usual in the same system.
Our manuscripts are listed in a handwritten register. Can that come in?
Yes. A handwritten register is typed up once, by your staff on a simple sheet we give you or by our team for a quoted fee, then checked with you before it goes online. A spreadsheet comes in directly.
Related reading
Background reading
Koha and MARC21
Fields and frameworks, including vernacular script.
Read the guideKoha data migration
Moving your records out of a register or spreadsheet.
Read the guideKoha backup and restore
A backup that actually restores, and how to prove yours does.
Read the guideKoha in your region
By type of library
Our services
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