Online ecard registration is now live. This week NOBLE launched online ecards using a service from The Quipu Group. The ecard service provides a form to collect relevant registration information, verifies eligibility, checks Evergreen for duplicates, and immediately creates an active patron record upon successful validation. No staff intervention is required.
Ecards provide access to electronic materials and allow placing holds in Evergreen. Patrons can upgrade their card to checkout physical materials by visiting a library and presenting a photo ID to library staff. The Quipu service searches public data to verify that the patron’s last name is associated with the provided address. Business addresses will not work. Patrons will be assigned a home library based on their address and a confirmation screen and email will identify the home library. Duplicate checking will prevent patrons from signing up for multiple cards. Addresses in Massachusetts will be permitted but addresses outside Massachusetts will result in an error.
The library card is active immediately and good for 3 years. Patrons with a valid address but whose name cannot be matched to the address will be issued a provisional card good for 2 weeks. The ecard service emails patrons a welcome message that will include their newly assigned barcode number and a link to the home library’s website. Barcode numbers begin with a 5 and include the home library’s unique prefix.
A link to the form can be placed on library websites to promote the service: https://evergreen.noblenet.org/eg/opac/ecard/form