Working with Patron Photos

Your library may include the patron’s photo in the patron record. Working in the Patron Photo view of the Patron Registration workform, you can take a photo, replace an old photo with a new one, upload an existing photo, or delete the photo from the patron record. If the workstation is set to display the photo, it also appears on the Check Out workform with the other patron information. Patron photos do not appear in the PAC.

You may find it convenient to have a computer workstation and work area dedicated to taking photos. You can mark a spot on the floor for patrons to stand so that you do not have to refocus the webcam for each photo.

You need certain permissions to work with patron photos, your workstation must be equipped with a webcam, and the workstation must be set up in Polaris Administration to display photos. See Setting Up Patron Photos.

Note:
You cannot install webcam software on a thin client (terminal server environment) or use it via Remote Desktop, so you cannot take new patron pictures by these means. However, if the pictures are loaded from another source or captured on a conventional workstation with webcam software, they are displayed normally in terminal server and Remote Desktop environments. See Add a new photo (terminal server environment and RDP) for a suggested workflow.