Bulk-Changing Patron Records

You can group patron records that need a common task or have a common condition into record sets. See: Creating and Using Record Sets.

With bulk change, you can make the same changes to all the patron records in a record set in one step, in real time (not as part of overnight processing).

Example:
Your library decides to place a longer expiration term on the accounts of volunteers. You can search for patron records by the Volunteer patron code, place all the records in the results list in a record set, and change the expiration term on all the records at once with bulk change.

You can make bulk changes to most fields on the Patron Registration workform, as well as the free-text and library-assigned blocks and notes fields on the Patron Status workform. More than one field may be changed in a single bulk change operation. You specify what changes to make to the selected fields, and the same changes are applied to the selected fields in all the records in the record set. For more information about patron record fields, see Creating and Editing Patron Records.

For general information about the changes that can be made to patron records using bulk change, see:

For instructions on bulk changing patron records and viewing the report, see:

Bulk Changes to User-Defined Fields

Your library specifies the user-defined fields (UDFs) for patron records in Polaris Administration. These information fields are displayed on the Patron Registration workform - General view. They may be free-text fields or menus of predefined options.

When you apply bulk changes to free-text UDFs, the text is treated as a single unit. The whole text string can be deleted, replaced, or added, but you cannot replace parts of a text string. Bulk change affects only a free-text UDF’s text string, not a UDF’s definition. You can choose from the following actions:

For drop-menu UDFs, you can choose from the following actions:

Note:
Because drop-menu options are branch-specific, if you select a value that is not valid for a selected Assigned Branch, the value is not changed and an error message is stored in the bulk change log file. See View the Bulk Change Report.

Bulk Changes to Blocks

The text of each library-assigned block is set in Polaris Administration; the text of each free-text block is manually entered when you create the block. Although records may have multiple blocks, you can change only one library-assigned block and one free-text block per bulk-change process. You can choose from the following actions:

For library-assigned blocks, you must first choose a registration branch, because these blocks are branch-specific. If a patron has a library-assigned block that is not valid for the new branch, the block is removed from the patron record.

Note:
Blocks are displayed on the Patron Status workform - General view. See Patron Services Records. For information about working with individual patron record blocks, see Working with Blocks (Stops).

Bulk Changes to eReceipt Options

You can set eReceipt options in bulk for a patron record set. The Bulk Change dialog box - General tabbed page includes a setting for eReceipt option. You can select None (default), E-mail, TXT, or All. The system changes a record in the record set if that change would be allowed for a single record. For example, if a branch has not enabled eReceipts, the bulk change does not affect records from that branch and an error is written to the bulk change report. If a branch has enabled one type of eReceipt but not both, no change is made for the receipt type that is not enabled. But in this case, if All is selected for bulk change, the system does set a record in the supported eReceipt type. For more information about setting eReceipt options for patrons, see Add notification data to a patron record.

Bulk Changes to Notes

The Patron Status workform - Notes view includes two notes fields, one for non-blocking notes and one for blocking notes (those that block circulation). Each can contain one or more text strings, but each is a single field. You cannot bulk-change specific text within the field. When you bulk-change either note field, you can choose from the following actions:

Bulk Change Reporting

When you bulk change records, the Bulk Change Report is automatically generated. It contains information about the number of records processed and the errors, if any, that occurred during the process. See View the Bulk Change Report.

You can also choose to have the bulk change process create an error record set containing the records that were not changed for some reason during processing. For example, if a record is locked by another user, it cannot be changed. The bulk change process makes a second attempt to change the item after completing the changes to the remaining records in the record set. If the second attempt to change the record fails, no further attempts are made. The record is added to the error record set and an error message is added to the Bulk Change Report log.