Patron Eligibility Table

To edit this table you must be assigned permission 775 (Edit eligibility table). To override registration blocks resulting from the Patron Eligibility table, you must be assigned permission 777 (Registration overrides). See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

The Patron Eligibility table associates a one-character, alphanumeric eligibility code with a set of criteria used to determine whether patrons are eligible to register for a program. If you associate an eligibility code listed in this table with a program, only those patrons who meet the associated eligibility criteria can register for any section of that program.

You can access this table via the following menu path:

Admin | Parameters | Program Registration | Patron Eligibility

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

Functionality Information

Maximum Entries: The Patron Eligibility table can include up to 93 entries, each identified by a unique ASCII value.
Saving Changes to this Table: The changes you make to the Patron Eligibility table do not affect the current session. Sierra applies your changes to this table to subsequent sessions. To use your modifications to this table, close and restart Sierra.
Fixed-length Codes and Patron Eligibility Tables: The Patron Eligibility table and the Fixed-length Codes table are linked. You can modify eligibility settings through the Patron Eligibility table (Admin | Parameters | Program Registration | Patron Eligibility), and you can view (but not modify) eligibility settings through the Fixed-length Codes table (Admin | Parameters | General | Fixed-length Codes).; If the Fixed-length Codes table is in use, you are blocked from modifying the Patron Eligibility table (and vice versa). If you attempt to modify the Patron Eligibility table when the Fixed-length Codes table is in use, the system displays:; This file is currently unavailable. The file will be opened in view-only mode.
Precise Eligibility Values: If you enter an eligibility code in a program record, the system requires a precise correspondence between the eligibility criteria specified for that code in the Patron Eligibility table and the associated values in patron records. Therefore, if you set a field in the Patron Eligibility table to a specific value (including '-'), the patron record must also contain that value in the associated field in order for that patron to be able to register for the program.; For example, if for your library's Story Time program you enter "1-3" in the PTYPE Range field of the Patron Eligibility table, the only patrons eligible to register for Story Time are those patrons whose patron record contains '1', '2', or '3' in the P TYPE fixed-length field.; To limit patron eligibility by any of the fields in the Patron Eligibility table, only enter values in the fields you want to limit and leave blank all other fields. To allow any patron to register for a program, leave blank all fields in the Patron Eligibility table after the Eligibility Code and Description fields. Alternatively, enable all patrons to register for a program by leaving blank the Eligibility field in the program record.

Data Elements

Entries in the Patron Eligibility table contain the following data elements:

Element	Description
Eligibility Code	A single character that uniquely identifies the entry. Valid characters include ASCII decimal values 33-126 (inclusive); this includes uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and most common punctuation marks. Do not use the vertical pipe character ('\|').
Description	A descriptive label for the entry (25 characters maximum).
PTYPE Range	A range or list of valid P TYPEs (0-1999) eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 1-19,22.
PCODE1 Range	A range or list of the PCODE 1 values eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. Valid PCODE 1 values consist of a single numeric or lowercase alphabetical character as determined by your library. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 2,4,d-f.
PCODE2 Range	A range or list of the PCODE 2 values eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. Valid PCODE 2 values consist of a single numeric or lowercase alphabetical character as determined by your library. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: a,d,2-5.
PCODE3 Range	A range or list of the PCODE 3 values (0-255) eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. Your library determines valid PCODE 3 values. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 1-19,22.
PCODE4 Range	A range or list of the PCODE 4 values (0-255) eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. Your library determines valid PCODE 4 values. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 98-109,222. This field is available only if your organization has acquired the Consortium Management Extensions product.
AGENCY Range	A range or list of the AGENCY codes (0-255) eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. Your library determines valid AGENCY code values. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 12-23,102. This field is available only if your organization has acquired the Consortium Management Extensions product.
Age Range	A range or list of patron ages (0-150) eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. You can use dashes and commas to specify ranges and lists; for example: 10-14. Sierra uses the BIRTH DATE field in the patron record to determine whether the patron's age falls within the range specified in this element. If you enter an age range in the Age Range field, all patrons whose BIRTH DATE fixed-length fields are not specified (blank) in their patron records are blocked from registering for any program for which the Age Range field is part of the eligibility criteria, regardless of the actual range specified.
Home Library List	The branch location(s) of patrons eligible to register for programs associated with this eligibility code. A blank entry represents all branch locations. To modify the list of branch locations in the Home Library List, double-click the Location text box to select from a list of branch locations. To add a branch location to the list, choose Add Row. To remove a branch location from the list, choose Delete Row.

See also:: Permissions Used by Sierra; Fixed-length Fields in Patron Records; Agency File