Patron Type Table

To edit the Patron Type table, you must be assigned permission 673 (Edit Patron Type). If you are assigned permission 373 (View Circulation Parameters) but not 673, you can view this table but cannot edit it. See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

The Patron Type table allows your library to define up to 2000 unique codes for your library's patrons. These codes appear in the P TYPE fixed-length field in patron records. Sierra uses patron types in the following ways:

To determine the loan rule for an item, in conjunction with item types and locations.
To automatically block patrons from performing circulation transactions.
As categories in circulation reports.

You can access the Patron Type table via the following menu path:

Admin | Parameters | General | Patron Type

For information on modifying this table, see Maintaining System Parameter Tables and Maintaining Circulation Parameters.

Because the Patron Type table must contain exactly 2000 entries, each of which is identified by its numeric position in the table, the Copy, Delete, Insert, and Move tools are unavailable when editing this table. To delete or insert an entry, select and edit the entry.

For more information, see Functionality Information and Data Elements.

Functionality Information

When viewing and modifying the Patron Type table, note the following:

Exactly 2000 Entries: The Patron Type table always contains exactly 2000 entries numbered 0-1999.
Patron Type 0 Must Be Defined: Your library must define a label for Patron Type 0.
Defining Patron Type Values: You must create a unique patron type for each category of patron for whom you want to define circulation policies (for example, adult, juvenile) and each type of patron that requires special consideration (such as homebound patrons, institutional patron records for interlibrary loan, organizational patron records, etc.). You can also choose to create additional patron types for statistics gathering purposes, even if circulation policies do not call for them.
Changes to Other System Settings: When you modify the Patron Type table, you might need to update other tables and settings that use patron types, such as:

Collection Agency Settings table
Loan Rule Determiner table
Patron Blocks table
Patron types permitted to place ILL requests
Record templates for new patron records
System options Recalls: Course reserves patron type for recalls and Requests: Eligible patron types

Data Elements

Entries in the Patron Type table contain a single data element:

Element	Description
Label	A descriptive name of up to 32 characters. At multi-lingual sites, the system repeats this element for each language enabled on your system.