Patron Data Notes

Barcode:

  • Must be entered with no spaces
  • Client should validate for this

OPAC/Staff Client User Name:

  • Defaults to barcode
  • This should probably be renamed — it’s a user name that patrons can use instead of their barcode to login to the catalog

Password:

  • Can be entered by staff or generated by the system
  • We can set the format for passwords for both the staff client and the catalog
    For example, by default the staff client generates four digit numbers and the default skin of the catalog requires something longer, and prompts the user to enter a new password that complies with the catalog’s rules. (The Template Toolkit skin currently doesn’t care)
  • Should the staff client and catalog be using the same set of rules, so patrons don’t need to change their password from the default unless they want to?

Name Fields:
(First Name, Middle Name, Last Name)

  • Each of these fields are individually searchable
  • Searches are automatically right truncated (“starts with”) so a search for the last name Smith also finds Smithers, Smithson, etc.
  • Names are searched as left-anchored browse indexes. These follow the “nothing comes before something” rule, so spaces count in indexing. Hyphens, apostrophes and other punctuation marks count as spaces.No way to search just the second part of a hyphenated name
  • No way to search across all name fields (for example, to find maiden names in the middle name field
  • No way to enter alternate names

Name Suffix/Title:

  • Good for suffixes like Jr., Sr, etc.
  • What kind of titles would we ever put in this field? How would you combine a title and a suffix?
  • There’s currently no prefix field for Mr., etc., so we can’t send a message to Dr. Smith or Ms. Jones.

Date of birth:

  • Should be entered in this format: 12/24/1900
  • There’s an example but we’d prefer to have a real date field (separate places for month, day and year)

Primary Identification Type:

  • Name is a little confusing — is there a secondary identification type?
  • Dropdown for staff to indicate what form of identification the patron presented. We can add more options to this list.

Primary Identification:
If the Primary Identification Type was set to Other, this field can be used to record what identification was used, for example “union card.” This should not be used to record any identification information like driver’s license numbers. This is potentially confusing — would work better if this field only appeared when Other was selected in the previous field.

Parent/Guardian:
Name only
Can we blank these when the patron turns 18?

Email Address:

  • Validation has been added to make sure that what is entered could be a valid e-mail address
  • It would be good if the system could automatically send a message to the address asking the patron to respond and confirm receipt

Phone Numbers:

  • Validating for proper format
  • Way to set a preferred phone number?

Home Library:

  • Should be left at the default, which is the inputting library, which is consistent to our current practice
  • Serves as the default pick-up location for holds<

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    Main (Profile) Permission Group:

    • Normally Public Patron
    • Corresponds to our current PTYPES

    Privilege Expiration Date:

    • Possible to set this so it automatically adds a date 3 (or whatever) years in the future
    • Good for verifying information
    • Policy issues

    Active:

    • Patrons can be made Inactive rather than deleting them
    • Inactive patrons don’t turn up in searches unless you specifically include them
    • More discussion needed

    Claims-returned Count
    Claims Never Checked Out Count

    Alert Message

    Hold is behind Circ Desk:
    This option is for libraries using open hold shelves, which we don’t want to implement Day 1.
    This will be removed from the screen until needed

    Addresses:

    • Patrons can have multiple addresses
    • Addresses can be set to be used for Mailing and Billing. There is always one and only one address for each of these.
    • Addresses are named Mailing by default, but can be given their own names, like Local Address, Permanent Address, etc.
    • Not possible to associate addresses with date ranges
    • Addresses can be marked invalid if mail is returned
    • Enter zip code first to automatically add city, state and zip
    • We can use the zip code for reciprocal borrowing and other reports
    • Would like to query USPS database for zip+4 for better reports

    [Need more on Alerts, Messages and Notes]

    General Information:

    • A magnifying glass icon in the left column means there is specific help for this field. (See STATE for an example.) The help appears in the upper right of the screen, which may not be obvious)
    • There are options to limit the display to only the required fields or only the suggested fields. [Need more on this]
    • The Save and Clone button will save the patron and open a new patron record with the same address filled in. May be useful for entering family members or other groups with the same address
    • Need a way to go directly from Save to checkout