Posting Patron Messages

With the appropriate permissions, you can post messages to specific patron accounts and later modify or delete the messages. (Your library may also set an automatic expiration period for them.) You can post messages from the Patron Registration workform (select Tools > Post Message), and you can post and manage them from the Patron Status workform - Notes view.

Patrons can read and delete their messages online from the PAC patron account. When a patron marks a message as read, the status of the message is also updated in the Patron Status workform - Notes view, and when a patron deletes a message, the message is also deleted from the Patron Status workform - Notes view.

Note:
Patrons can also view their messages in the patron account on SIP self-check workstations if the SIP provider supports this feature. However, the messages cannot be marked as read or deleted.

If a patron has unread messages, an alert message appears in the Patron Blocks dialog box during check-out. You can continue the check-out operation or cancel it, and you can also click the block text to open the Patron Status workform - Notes view. The alert message does not place any blocks on patron activity in the PAC.

Your library sets up predefined messages in Polaris Administration, translates them into Polaris PowerPAC licensed languages if necessary, and sets an automatic expiration period for them. For more information, Setting Up Patron Messages.

To post and manage messages in patron records:

Note:
You need the system-level Circulation permission Post patron message: Allow to post and modify messages in a patron account. You need the permission Delete patron message: Allow to delete messages.

  1. Find and open the patron record in the Patron Registration workform or Patron Status workform - Notes view. See Finding Patron Records.
  2. To open the message dialog box, use one of these methods:
    • To post a message from the Patron Registration workform, select Tools > Post Message.
    • To post a message from the Patron Status workform - Notes view, click Add Message in the message area of this view.

The Patron Message dialog box opens.

  1. To post a message, use one of these methods:
    • Select a Library-assigned message from the drop-down list. The message choices are those set in Polaris Administration for your log-on branch.
    • Select Free text and type a message in the free text box.
  1. Click OK.

The dialog box closes and the message is added to the Message Text column. The Patron Has Read column indicates whether the patron has marked the message as read in the PAC patron account.

When the patron account has a message, the Notes icon on the Patron Status workform view bar is yellow (as for non-blocking notes). If the patron has both blocking notes and messages, the color is red. The blocking note color takes precedence.

  1. To modify a message, select the message in the messages list and click Modify Message. The Patron Message dialog box opens.
    • If you selected a library-assigned message, you can select a different message from the drop-down list. Then click OK.
    • If you selected a free-text message, you can edit the text. Then click OK.
  1. To delete a message or multiple messages, select them in the messages list and click Delete Message. A confirmation message appears. Click Yes to delete the message or No to keep it.
  2. Select File > Save to save your changes to the patron record.

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