AI cataloging Cataloging
Photograph the title page and copyright page. The fields fill in, each with its source — ready for you to review and save to Koha as a MARC21 record.
Cataloging for Koha libraries
Catalog a book by photographing it.
Photograph the title page and copyright page. CatalogLense reads them, checks what it read against the Library of Congress, and hands you a MARC21 record to review — then saves it to your own Koha, on your own network, with every field showing where it came from.
Android and iOS Works with Koha 19.05+ Runs on a local-network Koha
‹
Validate Bibliographic DataLAN · koha.library.net
1 AI value not found on the pages
245 $aTitleLoC
Noli me tángere
100 $aAuthorLoC
Rizal, José, 1861-1896.
020 $aISBNscan
9789712731938
650 $aSubjectLCSH
Philippines -- History -- 1812-1898 -- Fiction.
490 $aSeriesAI
Philippine Classics Library
Not found on the photographed pages — check this value.
Save to Koha
The backlog
Thirty minutes of typing. Now it's a phone camera.
Most school, barangay and parish libraries don't have a cataloger on staff, so every new book waits for someone to type its record by hand. Work out what your own pile costs.
An estimate: photographing a few pages, then checking the fields marked for review. Measure your own during a pilot.
100 books typed by hand is 8.3 working days.
6.9working days back
12books a day, typed
72books a day, reviewed
A working day here is the hours you chose above. The CatalogLense figure is your estimate, not a measurement.
Words on this page
- Original cataloging n.
- Making a catalog record from scratch, by reading the details off the book itself. What CatalogLense speeds up.
- Copy cataloging Z39.50
- Importing a record another library already made, over the Z39.50 search protocol. Only works if someone cataloged the book first.
- MARC record MARC21
- The standard format for a catalog record. Each piece of information sits in a numbered field: 245 is the title, 100 the author, 650 a subject.
Z39.50 copy cataloging
Local publications, older stock and donated textbooks come back empty — and it needs your Koha to reach the internet.
ISBN lookup tools
Books printed before ISBNs, locally published titles and school editions often don't have one.
Typing it into Koha
Works — at a desktop, away from the shelf, a few books an hour, while the cart refills.
CatalogLense reads the book itself, so it doesn't depend on someone else having cataloged it first.
How it works
From the shelf to Koha in five steps.
Tap a step to see it on the phone. Only one step needs you — the review — and that's on purpose.
Copyright page
The back of the title page — ISBN, publisher, place and year.
• The ISBN is read from here, so make sure the ISBN line is sharp.
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Reading pagesEach page read for the fields it's the source for
Title page✓ read
245 title · 100 author · 250 editionCopyright page✓ read
264 publisher, place, date · 020 ISBNTranscript checkrunning…
"Anvil Publishing, Inc." · "Pasig City" · "2011"Accession stamppublisher
Ignored — a library stamp isn't the publisher.‹
Cross-checkingSearched in parallel
Library of CongressLoC
Record found — overrides 245, 100, 264LCSH authorityLCSH
Philippines historyPhilippines -- History -- 1812-1898 -- Fiction.
Open LibraryOL
Added 2 subjectsGoogle BooksGB
Filled 1 field that was still empty‹
Validate Bibliographic DataReview before saving to Koha
1 AI value not found on the pages
245 $aTitleLoC
Noli me tángere
100 $aAuthorLoC
Rizal, José, 1861-1896.
020 $aISBNscan
9789712731938
490 $aSeriesAI
Philippine Classics Library
Not found on the photographed pages — check this value.
Continue to copy details
Saved to Koha
Under your own Koha account
Recordbiblionumber 18342
Copy barcode0001245
Call number899.2113 R52n 2011
Shelving locationGeneral Collection
Catalog the next book
Capture the pages that count.
The camera asks for each page by name, with a framing guide shaped for it and tips for a sharp shot: the title page first, then the copyright page, then optional extras like the CIP block, back cover, contents and spine. Each is captured at its own resolution, so 6-point copyright type gets the pixels it needs.
- Title page AACR2 · RDA
- The page the cataloging rules treat as the book's own statement of its title and author. The cover isn't — it's often shortened or restyled.
- CIP block Cataloging in Publication
- A small block of catalog data some publishers print on the copyright page. A head start, when the book has one.
The pages are read.
The photos go to the AI provider your library chose, told which page it's looking at and which fields that page is the source for. That's why a library's accession stamp doesn't get read as the publisher.
- AI provider Gemini · Claude
- The company whose model reads your photos: Google or Anthropic. Your library picks one and enters its key in Settings.
- Transcript n.
- A word-for-word copy of the printed text on each photo. Every value the AI reads is later looked for in it.
Checked against real catalogs.
The Library of Congress, Open Library and Google Books are searched at the same time. A Library of Congress record wins over what the photos said, and subject headings are matched to the authorized form.
- Library of Congress record
- The Library of Congress's own catalog entry for the book, when one exists. The most trusted outside source there is.
- LCSH LC Subject Headings
- The controlled list of subject terms most libraries use, so a topic is always filed under the same words.
The step that needs a cataloger
You review every field.
About 34 MARC fields, each marked with where it came from. Anything the AI read that isn't printed on the pages is flagged. Fix what's wrong, get warned if you already hold the title, then add the copy: barcode, call number, shelving location.
- Field and subfield 245 $a
- A field is a numbered slot in the record — 245 is the title. A subfield is a labeled part of it: $a the title proper, $b the subtitle.
- ISBD punctuation
- The standard punctuation between parts of a record, like " : " before a subtitle. Applied for you.
Saved straight into Koha.
The record and the copy are created through Koha's REST API, with your own Koha account and permissions. If the server can't be reached, the save waits on the phone and goes through when it's back.
- Record and copy biblio · item
- The record describes the book. Each copy is one physical book, with its own barcode and shelf location.
- Koha REST API
- The door Koha provides for apps. It has to be switched on by your Koha administrator — see System requirements.
Why the records can be trusted
An AI that's confidently wrong is worse than a blank form.
A catalog is a permanent record. Four safeguards make sure a guess never looks like a fact — try each one below.
Every field says where it came from.
Each value carries a badge naming its source, and the sources are ranked. A subject the AI guessed from cover art never looks as solid as a title from the Library of Congress — so your review time goes to the fields that need it.
- Provenance n.
- A record of where something came from. Here: which source supplied each field.
The trust ladder — tap a source
Every AI value is looked for on the page.
Each photo is transcribed word for word, and every value the AI read is searched for in that transcript. A value that isn't printed anywhere is flagged for you. Nothing is deleted automatically — you decide.
- Grounding n.
- Tying each answer back to the text it came from. An answer with nothing to tie it to is suspect.
Transcript · copyright page
Copyright © 2011 by Anvil Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Anvil Publishing, Inc. Pasig City, Philippines First printing, 2011 ISBN 978-971-27-3193-8
- 264 $b Anvil Publishing, Inc.
- 264 $a Pasig City
- 264 $c 2011
- 020 $a 9789712731938
- 490 $a Philippine Classics Library
Rules catch what rules can prove.
Some mistakes don't need AI to find. ISBN check digits, impossible years, language names where a MARC code belongs, LCCN and Dewey formats — all checked on the phone, without AI and without a network.
- Check digit ISBN
- The last digit of an ISBN, calculated from the others. One wrong or swapped digit, and the math no longer adds up.
"Filipino"→fillanguage code2099→ flaggedyear in the future
Editing a record can't destroy it.
When you edit a record, only the fields you changed are rewritten. Control fields, Koha's own fields, your local notes and every subfield you didn't touch pass through byte for byte — the one piece of logic backed by its own automated tests.
- Byte-identical adj.
- Exactly the same, down to the last character. Not "equivalent" — the same.
A record in Koha
- 001 18342
- 005 20260921093012.0
- 020
$a9789712731938 - 100 1_
$aRizal, José,$d1861-1896. - 245 10
$aNoli me tángere /$cJosé Rizal. - 250
$a1st ed. - 264 _1
$aPasig City :$bAnvil Publishing,$c2011. - 590
$aDonated by the Class of 1998. - 650 _0
$aPhilippines$xHistory$y1812-1898$vFiction. - 942
$cBK - 999
$c18342$d18342
Nothing edited yet.
Nothing reaches Koha without a person.
CatalogLense assumes a cataloger reviews every record. It doesn't catalog unattended, and it never will.
What's in the app
Useful for the rest of the day, too.
AI cataloging is the headline, but a cataloger's phone earns its keep at the shelf, the desk and the circulation counter. Each tile shows the feature at work.
Shelf reading Inventory
Scan a shelving location book by book: on shelf, misplaced, not in catalog, lost or withdrawn — and at the end, what never turned up.
Add another copy
Find the record, attach a new copy. No recataloging.
Catalog search
Keyword, title, author, ISBN or accession number.
Circulation desk New
Patrons with photos; check out, renew, check in, holds and payments.
Barcode scanning
Auto-detects the format, or lock it to your labels'. Handheld scanners work too.
Offline queue
Koha unreachable? Saves wait on the phone and upload when it's back.
Call numbers
Built from Dewey, author cutter and year, ready for the spine label.
Record maintenance
See full MARC and copies; edit or delete either.
Cataloging defaults
Set once, applied to every book you add.
Correction log
What the AI got wrong and what you fixed — exportable as JSON.
Permission check
See what your Koha account can do right after sign-in.
Made for offline libraries
Built for the Koha server in your building.
Most school and small public library Koha installs are a machine down the hall, reached by a bare IP address. No domain name, no certificate, often no internet. Tools built for hosted Koha fail at the first screen. This one starts there.
A bare IP is a supported address.
Plain http:// is accepted for addresses the internet can't reach — private ranges, .local names — and refused for public hosts, where your password really would be exposed.
Sign-in adapts to your server.
The app checks whether your Koha offers password or API-key sign-in, and prefers API keys: they expire on their own and can be revoked per phone.
A failed connection says what's wrong.
A missing RESTBasicAuth setting, an untrusted certificate and a blocked local-network permission look the same from inside most apps. CatalogLense names the likely cause.
Koha server address
http://192.168.1.50:8080Local network — acceptedhttp://koha.localLocal name — acceptedhttps://library.example.edu.phEncrypted — acceptedhttp://library.example.edu.phPublic and unencrypted — refused, to protect staff passwordsThe honest boundary: reading the photos needs internet, because the AI provider is a cloud service — on the phone, at capture time. Everything after it — review, saving, search, shelf reading, circulation — is between the phone and your own Koha. Your Koha server never needs to be online.
System requirements
Check in ten seconds.
What the phones, the network and your Koha server need. CatalogLense works inside the permissions your library already grants — it never asks for administrator rights and never changes a system preference.
Your Koha's REST API must be enabled
CatalogLense can't work with your library until the REST API is turned on in Koha's Administration panel. In the Koha staff interface, go to Administration → Global system preferences → Web services and enable RESTBasicAuth, RESTOAuth2ClientCredentials, or both. If you don't administer Koha yourself, ask your Koha IT administrator — it takes a minute, and the app can't do it for you.
Phones and tablets Staff devices
- Android
- Android 7.0 or newer
- iPhone and iPad
- iOS / iPadOS 16.4 or newer
- Camera
- A rear camera with autofocus, for small print on copyright pages.
- Barcode scanner Optional
- The phone camera reads barcodes. A handheld scanner that types like a keyboard works too.
Network Where the phone connects
- To your Koha
- The phone must reach the Koha server — usually the library's staff Wi-Fi. A bare local IP like
192.168.1.50is fine. - Internet At capture time
- Only on the phone, only while the AI reads the photos. Your Koha server never needs to be online.
- Offline
- Saves made while Koha is unreachable wait on the phone and upload later.
Koha server Set by your administrator
- Version
- Koha 19.05 or newer
- REST API
RESTBasicAuthorRESTOAuth2ClientCredentialsenabled — see above.- Cover images Optional
- A small companion Koha plugin adds the upload route Koha lacks. Not needed if your Koha already gets covers from Amazon or a Coce server.
Accounts Per library
- Koha staff account
catalogueto search and view;editcatalogueto create records and copies. The app shows what the account can do after sign-in.- AI provider key
- Google Gemini or Anthropic Claude, entered in Settings and kept in the phone's secure keychain.
What it doesn't do
Plainly, so you can decide quickly.
- It doesn't catalog unattended. Every record passes a review screen.
- Reading photos needs internet. Offline covers saving, not reading.
- It doesn't replace Koha. It's a phone app for the Koha you already run.
- It reads books. The field set covers monographs, not serials or non-print.
- Photo quality matters. Glare, a curved page or a steep angle costs fields. The app guides each shot and flags photos too small to read.
- Book photos leave the phone — to the AI provider your library picks. Nothing else does.
What's coming
Being worked on next. No dates we can't keep.
- Offline shelf reading — a whole shelf session with no network.
- Bigger shelves — sessions beyond 500 items in one pass.
- Framework choice — pick the MARC framework new records are filed under.
- Cleaner imported values — Library of Congress data without stray MARC punctuation in the review form.
Pricing
One subscription per library.
The two plans differ in who pays for the AI and how many phones sign in — never in which features work.
Standard
At launchMonthly, per library · pricing on request
- AI provider key
- Your library's own, entered in Settings
- Books per month
- Unlimited — you pay your AI provider directly
- Every feature
- Yes
- Support
Managed
Coming laterMonthly, per library · pricing on request
- AI provider key
- Included — no Google or Anthropic account needed
- Books per month
- Up to a monthly allowance
- Every feature
- Yes
- Support
- Email and setup assistance
Annual invoice available — pay yearly against a purchase order.
If you stop subscribing, your records stay in your Koha. They were never anywhere else.
Privacy
Your catalog never passes through us.
No CatalogLense server
No accounts to register, no copy of anyone's catalog. The app talks to your Koha directly.
Records stay in your Koha
Credentials are kept in the phone's secure keychain. Catalog and patron data go only to the server address you enter.
Book photos go to your AI provider
Google or Anthropic — whichever you pick. ISBNs and titles go to public book-data services. No analytics, no ads, no tracking.
Read the full privacy policy
CatalogLense is a cataloging tool for library staff. It connects to your library's own Koha server — the address you enter yourself. We do not operate a server, we have no user accounts, and we have no way to identify you.
What stays on your device
- Your Koha username and password, or API key, if you use "Remember Me" (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore).
- AI service API keys you enter (also in the Keychain / Keystore).
- Your server address, cataloging defaults and barcode settings.
- Recent cataloging history, records captured offline and their photos, and the correction log.
None of this is sent to us. We cannot read it.
What is sent to your library's Koha server
Your Koha credentials and the catalog, patron and circulation data you work with — only to the address you configured. On a local network with a plain http:// address the connection isn't encrypted, and the app warns you when this applies.
What is sent to other companies
When you use AI cataloging, your book photos go to the provider you selected: Google (Gemini) or Anthropic (Claude). If you haven't entered your own key, requests may use a key supplied with the app. ISBNs, titles and author names go to Open Library, Google Books and the Library of Congress. These services keep data under their own privacy policies.
What we do not do
No analytics, telemetry, crash reporting or advertising. No tracking across apps or websites. No selling or sharing of personal information.
Your rights
Everything the app stores is on your device; uninstall it to erase it. Records saved to Koha live on your library's server. Personal data of Philippine residents is protected under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173).
The complete Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions and Terms of Use are also in the app, under Settings → About & Legal.