Finding Patron Records

You begin many patron services tasks by finding existing patron records and record sets with the Polaris Find Tool. From the results list in the Find Tool, you can open a record, or you can right-click a line item and use the context menu to work with the record without opening it.

Example:
From a patron record line item in the results list, you can choose to check out an item or place a hold request for the patron, among other options.

You can also use the Find Tool to locate bibliographic and item records when you are doing tasks such as creating hold requests.

See also:

• Patron Record Searching - Tips
• Automatic Search Term Suggestions
• More Precise Searches
• Faster Searches
• Count-Only Searches
• Sending Search Results to a Record Set
• Find Patron and Related Records

Patron Record Searching - Tips

You can search for patron records using any of the access points listed in the Search by box on the Find Tool. The following searching tips are arranged by search access points.

Searching by Patron Name

• Searches are not case-sensitive. You can type names in uppercase, lowercase, or both.
• When doing a search by Name (Last, First Middle), you must place a space between the comma and the first name.
• When typing a compound last name, do not use any spaces. For example, type MacDonald (instead of Mac Donald).

The table lists some common ways to search by patron name.

Search by (Search Access Point)	Type (Type of Truncation)	For (Text to Search for)	Results
Last, First Middle	Implicit	Barry (without a comma)	All Barry surnames and variations beginning with Barry, such as Barryman
Last, First Middle	Implicit	Barry, (with a comma)	All Barry and no variations
Last, First Middle	Implicit	Barry, John	The extreme right term (John) is truncated. Results could include: •Barry, John •Barry, John Adam •Barry, Johnnathan But not Barryman, John
Last, First Middle	Explicit	Barry, John*	Same results as implicit for Barry, John
First Middle Last	Explicit	John* Barry	Results could include: •Barry, John •Barry, John Adam •Barry, Johnnathan

You can use Limit by options to focus your search. See More Precise Searches.

Searching by Barcode

When you search by barcode, you can scan or type the barcode in the For box.

If your library system allows you to enter just the significant digits (the last unique portion) of a patron barcode, select Barcode in the Search by box and Significant Digits in the Type box. When you select this search type, you can enter just the significant digits. Leading zeroes are added as necessary, and the complete barcode appears in the For field. (If you select Significant Digits as the search type but enter more than the default number of digits, the search is not likely to yield any results.) If your library system does not use significant digits, the option is not available in the Type box.

Searching by Date

When you search by date, such as an expiration date or registration date, the Find Tool displays From and To boxes. You specify a date range by typing in the date boxes, or you can click the down arrows by the date boxes and select the dates from calendars.

Searching by Free-Text Access Points

Some fields in a patron record, such as free text blocks and notes, are free-text fields. You can use the wild card asterisk * to search these fields effectively. For example, if you are searching for records with the free-text block Check phone, you can type these search terms:

• check phone (case does not matter)
• check (implicit truncation search type - same as check*)
• *phone*

However, if you enter phone (no asterisks), you find only text that begins with phone.

Searching by Phone Number

You can search by Phone or limit your search by this field. This is a free-text field (see Searching by Free-Text Access Points) that searches all three Phone fields in the patron record.

Automatic Search Term Suggestions

When you select Keyword search or Phrase search in the Type box and search for patron records by any of the following access points, search term suggestions may be displayed as you type your search term in the Find Tool For box .

• Name (First Middle Last)
• Name (Last, First Middle)
• Address
• Email address

You can click a suggestion to launch the search for the suggested term, or ignore the suggestions and continue to type your term. Click Hide Suggestions if you do not want to see suggestions during your search session.

Note:
The search suggestions feature is controlled by the system-level Polaris Administration Cataloging parameter Auto-suggest feature enabled. See Managing Auto-Search Suggestions.

More Precise Searches

You can focus your searches to find what you need more easily:

• Limit the search - Select a search access point in the Search by box, select a limiter in the Limit by box, and select or type a value in the Value box. The values depend on the selected limiter.

Example:
To find the records of patrons whose registrations expire within a certain date range and who also have library-assigned blocks, set Search by to Expiration date and set the date range. Then select Library-assigned block in the Limit by list, and select All or a specific block in the Values list. (Library-assigned blocks are branch-specific, and the available choices depend on the settings for your logged-in branch.) Then click Search.

• Do a power search - You conduct complex, precise searches by writing Common Command Language (CCL) queries. See Doing Power Searches.
• Do an SQL search - If you have the appropriate permissions, you can search by typing an SQL query, and save the search. These searches produce convenient, quick reports. See Setting Up SQL Searches.

Faster Searches

You can set a limit on the number of records that can be returned in a single search. Specify the maximum number of records in the Retrieval Limit box on the Find Tool’s Settings tabbed page.

Count-Only Searches

If you just need a quick count of the number of patron records with certain characteristics, select your search criteria and select (check) Count only.

Sending Search Results to a Record Set

If you want to add specific patron records to a record set, select them in the results list, right-click the selected records, and select Add to Record Set from the context menu. For more information about working with patron record sets, see Bulk-Changing Patron Records.