Setting Patron Duplicate Detection

When you save a patron record, Polaris automatically checks for duplicate records. Polaris always checks the patron name fields (first and last names), birth date, and barcode for matches. You can set Polaris to check the following additional patron record fields for matching criteria:

Any two user-defined fields (UDFs)
Name on Identification
Phone 1
E-mail address

A match on any of these optional fields triggers a duplicate detection match. For example, if Phone 1 is selected, a matching phone number triggers a duplicate detection match, even if the patron names do not match.

Note:
The system compares field to field, for example, barcode to barcode. The system does not cross-compare fields to find duplicates. For example, the system does not compare patron name with Name on Identification.

A duplicate is a character-for-character match of the complete field. However, if the field contains only one character, the system does not detect these records as duplicates. This prevents unnecessary and false duplicate detection in cases where a library has used an asterisk or another single character to flag certain records.

The system also uses the birth date to check for duplicate patron records to distinguish records that might otherwise be considered a match. For example, if there are two patrons named John Smith, a match is only detected if the birth dates are identical as well. If no birth date is supplied, duplicate checking uses only the existing criteria.

Note:
When a birth date is included in PAC self-registration, the system uses the birth date to check for duplicate patron records, in addition to the first name and last name. If no birth date is supplied, duplicate checking uses only the first and last names. Use the PAC profile Patron Access options to require a birth date entry for patron registration from PAC. For more information Set up online patron self-registration.

When possible duplicate records are detected, the Duplicate Patrons dialog box displays a list of the possible duplicates. To conserve system resources, the list is limited to 500 entries per duplicate detection criterion. For example, if 1,000 patrons have the same email address and 30 have the same phone number, Polaris lists 530 possible duplicate records.

Use the Patron Services parameter Duplication detection options to select one or more of the optional duplicate-checking fields. This parameter is available at the system, library, and branch level. The system uses the registration library’s settings.