Setting Patron Registration Required Fields and Defaults

The Patron Services parameter Patron registration options is available at the System, Library, and Branch levels in Polaris Administration. It is used for setting additional required fields and default values for patron records. The parameter includes three tabs: General defaults, Data Field Defaults, and Required Fields. The Data Fields Defaults tab includes two subtabs: the UDFs subtab is used for setting required fields and defaults for user-defined fields; and the Custom Fields subtab is used for setting required fields and defaults for patron custom data fields.

When a staff member registers a new patron, the labels for required fields appear in bold text on the Patron Registration workform, and any default values are displayed.

To set required fields and default values for patron records

In the Administration Explorer tree view, open the Parameters folder for the organization, and select the Patron Services tabbed page in the details view.
Double-click Patron registration options. The Patron Registration Options dialog box - General Defaults tabbed page appears.
Select a library branch in the Registered at box.

If no branch is selected, the patron registration workform defaults to the workstation branch.
Select a code in the Patron Code box.

Note:
Patron codes are used to define available services, loan periods, fines, and limits for specific classes of patrons. The available patron codes are set in the Patron Codes policy table. See Defining Patron Codes.
Select a class in the Statistical Class box. The Statistical Class box lists the defined classes for the selected branch.

Note:
Statistical class codes are used for reporting purposes. The available codes are set in the Patron Statistical Class Codes policy table. See Defining Patron Statistical Codes.
Select a language in the Language box.

This setting controls the default selection in a new patron record. If you have purchased Polaris licenses for additional languages, you can enable multi-lingual notices and have the notice sent in the language specified in the patron record. See Delivering Notices by Phone (Outbound Telephony).

Note:
If you need additional language selections for patron records, contact your Polaris Site Manager.
Select a default method for notifying patrons in the Notification box.

This setting controls the default selection in a new patron record. When you set up notification, you can specify the notification method for each specific notice type, including patron preference. In this case, the notice is sent by the method specified in the patron record unless your library chooses to override the preference for certain types of notices. See Delivering Notices by Phone (Outbound Telephony).
If you plan to send email notices of any kind to patrons, and want to send these as plain text by default, select E-mail notices in plain text.

This setting controls the default selection in a new patron record. Individual patron records can set that patron’s preference for plain text or HTML email notices.
If you plan to offer eReceipts as an option to patrons who prefer these to printed receipts, and you want to set one or both of these options by default in new patron records, select E-mail receipts, TXT receipts, or both.

If you select both options, the default patron record setting for eReceipts is ALL; that is, the patron would receive both email and TXT receipts. For more information about eReceipts, see Setting Up eReceipts.
Type an area code (three digits) in the Phone 1 Area Code box.
Use one of the following methods to set an expiration term. This is the time that the patron’s registration expires:
- To set a precise date, select exact date in the second Expiration term box, and type a date in the first box using the format mm/dd/yyyy.
- To set a date relative to the current date (such as two years from today), select months or years in the second Expiration term box, and type a number in the first box.
  
  Note:
  Your library may choose to block the patron record when the expiration date is in the past. See Add, select, and order patron block descriptions. When the term is updated, the block is removed. See Updating Patron Registration Check Dates.
Use one of the following methods to set an address term. This is the time that the patron’s address should be checked:
- To set a precise date, select exact date in the second Address check term box, and type a date in the first box using the format mm/dd/yyyy.
- To set a date relative to the current date (such as two years from today), select months or years in the second Address check term box, and type a number in the first box.
  
  Note:
  Your library may choose to block the patron record when the address check date is in the past. See Add, select, and order patron block descriptions. When the term is updated, the block is removed. See Updating Patron Registration Check Dates.
Select a country in the second Postal Code box, if necessary.
Type a postal code in the first Postal Code box.

This setting controls the default values in the Postal Code, City, State/province, and County boxes on the Add/Edit Address dialog box for patron records. If the state is not required as part of the address, you can leave the state empty.
Select the Required Fields tab and do the following to specify additional fields that are required when registering patrons:

Note:
These fields are always required in new patron records: Barcode; Last name; First name; Registered at; Patron code; Expiration term/date; Address check term/date; Notification option and corresponding notification field (for example, Phone 1 and the telephone number).
1. Select the check box next to each additional field (Address, Birth date, Gender, Password, Statistical class) that you want to require for creating patron records. When the Gender option is selected for the patron’s registration branch, the staff member must select the patron's gender from a drop down menu during patron registration. If None is selected, a message is displayed when the staff member attempts to save the record. The field label appears in bold to indicate it is required. These do not apply to offline registration and are not checked when patron records are bulk-changed or merged.
2. Select Save to save the additional required fields.
If you want to define defaults for user-defined fields (UDFs) or patron custom data fields (PCDFs) or require any of these fields for patron registration, select the Data Field Defaults tab, and do the following:

Note:
User-defined fields are set up at Polaris implementation, using a Patron Services profile at the system level. See Setting Up User-Defined Fields.
- Select the UDFs subtab to display the UDFs that have been defined for your library organization.
- Select the check box next to each UDF that is required for creating patron records.
  
  Note:
  User-defined fields are set up at Polaris implementation, using a Patron Services profile at the system level. See Setting Up User-Defined Fields.
- For free-text UDFs, type text in each UDF box for which you want to specify default text.
- For drop-menu UDFs, select an option in each UDF drop-menu for which you want to specify a default option.
  
  Note:
  If you require a drop-menu UDF but do not specify a default option, the field is blank in a new record but the user must select an option.
If you want to define defaults for patron custom data fields or make these custom fields required for patron registration, select the Data Field Defaults tab and do the following:

Note:
You cannot set default values for dates, and fields with a Boolean type cannot be required.
1. Select the Custom Fields subtab.
2. Select the label text for the field.
  
  Note:
  When you select a field, do not select the check box unless the field is required to save the patron record.
3. To specify defaults for the string, Boolean, or integer field type, do the following:
  - String custom field - When you select a string field type, you can enter a default value of up to 255 characters.
  - Boolean custom field - When you select a Boolean field type, you can select a default value of Yes, No or Undefined. Boolean fields appear as check boxes in the patron registration forms. If the default is set to Yes, the check box is selected. If the default is No, the check box is not selected.
  - Integer custom field - When you select an Integer field type, you can enter a default value of up to 255 numbers in the box.
4. After defining the default for a field, select Set Default.
5. To require a value in the field, select the check box.
6. Select Apply to apply the settings.
Select Save on the Patron Registration Options dialog box.

Related Information

Default patron passwords - A step in the nightly Patron Processing SQL job can assign the last four digits of the patron’s primary telephone number (Phone 1) to the password field of the patron record if a password does not exist. The default password step is disabled at installation; if you are interested in activating this feature, contact your Polaris Site Manager. For more information about patron passwords, see Patron Passwords and User Names.
Express registration - You can set separate defaults and required fields for express registration Entering patron information during the check-out process as a service to new, unregistered patrons. at check-out. See Setting Express Registration Defaults and Requirements.
Online registration from PAC - You can allow patrons to register online from the PAC, and set a birth date requirement and default values for online registration. See Set up online patron self-registration.