Patron Logon Settings for Mobile PAC

Mobile PAC users must log on to their patron accounts to place a hold request or access account information.

Note:
To make the My Account link available, set the Mobile PAC profile Navigation: Patron account to Yes. See Patron Account (My Account) in Mobile PAC.

Once logged on, the patron stays logged on until he or she deliberately logs off, disconnects from the Mobile PAC site, or is inactive for 20 minutes. When the patron is logged on, a Log Out link is available on every page.

When the patron logs off, the Mobile PAC home page is displayed.

User Names

Mobile PAC accepts user names as well as patron account barcodes, if patron user names are enabled for PAC use in Polaris Administration. For more information, see Set patron password and user name options. The same PAC setting displays a link on the logon page to allow patrons who have a barcode and password to set up the user name.

Remember Me

The Remember me check box is available on the logon screen by default. When the patron checks this box and logs on, the user name or barcode the patron entered is preserved from session to session by a cookie on the patron’s device. The next time the patron connects to Mobile PAC and chooses to log on, the information is already filled in. The cookie expires after one month. The patron must always enter the password, and can choose to clear the Remember me check box.

Note:
Some browsers may retain the user name or barcode regardless of the Mobile PAC Remember me feature, depending on auto-save, auto-fill or other settings in the browser.

In Polaris Administration, the Mobile PAC profile Remember me: Enabled controls whether this feature is available. The profile is available at the system level. If you set the profile to No, the Remember me check box does not appear on the logon screen.

Logon Attempt Limits

You can limit the number of times a patron can attempt to log on before being forced to wait five minutes. In Polaris Administration, use the system-level PAC profile Login retries to enable or disable the limit and set the number (5-99) of attempts allowed. By default, the limit is enabled and five attempts are allowed. These settings also apply to Polaris PowerPAC.

Forgotten Passwords

Mobile PAC supports a Forgot password? link on the Account Log On page that appears when the patron selects a feature that requires logon. When the patron selects the link, a page opens where the patron supplies the username or barcode.

A patron who wishes to create or reset a password can click a link in Mobile PAC and receive an email message containing a time-sensitive link to a Reset Password page where the patron can configure a new password. Libraries can use the new Reset password link timeout duration setting to specify the time period during which the time-sensitive password reset link remains valid. If no email address is present in the patron record, the system displays an error message.

Your setting for this feature also applies to Polaris PowerPAC and Polaris ExpressCheck. For more information, see Set up online patron self-registration.

Active Directory Logon to Mobile PAC

You can allow logon to PAC using Active Directory credentials instead of the Polaris patron barcode or username and password. This feature is particularly suitable in academic settings, enabling students to authenticate into Polaris PowerPAC and Mobile PAC using their campus network credentials established in Active Directory. For details, see Set Up PAC Active Directory Log On.