Personal Information

First Name

Enter the patron's first name.

Middle Name

Enter the patron's middle name or initial. Optional.

Last Name

Enter the patron's last name.

Barcode

Each patron and operator is assigned a unique barcode up to 15 characters long, based on the value set in Preferences > Patrons. You can change the assigned barcode here.  

• • Textbook Tracker reserves barcodes 1–50 for system use.

  • Barcodes must be at least three characters long, but we recommend eight characters to allow for growth.

  • Barcode length should be consistent throughout your collection. However, item and patron barcodes cannot overlap, so we recommend using a different but consistent length for each (i.e. eight characters for patron barcodes, and ten characters for item barcodes).

  • Numeric characters are recommended, but alphabetic characters are allowed. Barcodes must end in a number.

  • Barcodes are treated like words, which means they will be sorted alphabetically, not numerically.

    • Expand
      title Example sorting alphabetically vs numerically
      Alphabetically Numerically 123456 200 1377 1377 200 45658 45658 62930 62930 89702 89702 123456

Policy

The policy that you assign to a patron or operator determines the library rules to which this patron or operator must adhere. To choose a policy for a patron, click the arrow at the end of the Policy dropdown menu and select a value. New patrons are automatically assigned a policy based on the default policy setting in Preferences > Patrons.

Sex

Use this dropdown menu to identify the patron's sex: Male, Female, or Unknown. Sex is set to Unknown until otherwise specified. 

Site

Select the site or school that your patron attends. The list sites is pulled from Sites Management.

Custom Fields

These fields can be customized to fit your needs in Localization Preferences. To ensure the accuracy of your reports, it is important to be consistent when entering information in these fields.

Homeroom [Location] 

The location of a patron in a school is typically the student's homeroom or first period class. To ensure the accuracy of reports, be consistent when entering information in this field. Reports can be generated and sorted by this field. For example, you can print an overdue list of all students in a homeroom with overdue items.

2nd Location [Sublocation]

Use this field to group patrons by a second location or to track any other useful data. You can enter letters, numbers, as well as spaces in this field. Reports can be generated and sorted by this field. Therefore, to ensure the accuracy of reports, be consistent when entering information in this field. You could, for example, use this field to classify the ethnicity of patrons for government or internal reports.

Student # [Community ID]

Enter the patron's student number or other local ID. This could be a student code, phone number, parcel number, or other unique identification code.

SSN [Government ID]

Enter the patron's government ID here. In the United States, this is typically a social security number (SSN) or drivers license number.

Reading Level

Any reading level-related information you provide in this field will appear in the Current Patron Pane of the Circulation module when a patron is made current. It is commonly used as a quick reference for library staff to determine if an item's readability is compatible with your patron. If the term Reading Level is not specific enough for your tastes, you can customize this terminology in the Localization preferences (e.g. Fountas and Pinnell or Accelerated Reader).

If your site doesn't use reading levels, or if the terminology is irrelevant, you can rename this field in Preferences > Patrons. The term Reading Level will suffice unless your site doesn't use reading levels or the terminology is irrelevant. In this case, the field can be renamed in your Terminology preferences and used to store other information such as whether your patrons have accepted your AUP (acceptable usage policy); in this case, you would provide the appropriate information in the field (e.g. “Accept”/“Decline”, “Yes”/“No”, “Agree”/“Disagree”, etc.).

Grade [Level]

This field identifies the patron's level in school. If the school library and graduation date have been entered, Alexandria will assign the level based on your preferences. If you enter a level and a school library, Alexandria will calculate the graduation date for you. Alexandria will advance patrons by one level after the last day of school if the level is set to either “JK” (junior/kindergarten), “PS” (pre-school), “K” (kindergarten), or “1-12". Patrons automatically graduate to the next grade level on the date you enter as the last day of school on the Library Information preference window. Graduated patrons are given the grade level of “Graduated”. 

Graduation Date [Optional Date]

Enter the date that the patron will graduate.

Account Information

Birthdate

Enter the patron's date of birth. This information is used solely for reference.

Card Exp Date

Enter the date that the patron's library card expires. If you leave this field blank, the date will be calculated based on the expiration date based on the patron's policy when the patron record is first added to the system. For example, if a Patron Policy in Preferences is set for 365 days, the card will expire 365 days from the date the patron was entered.

Patron Picture

This is the patron picture field; if you would like to add or change a patron’s picture at this time, you can upload a GIF, BMP, PCT, PNG, JPG (or any other standard image file) using the Browse for Patron Picture selection from the primary Actions menu of Patrons Management; you can reset to the default patron picture by selecting Remove Patron Picture. Although they turn up elsewhere, patron pictures primarily appear in the Current Patron pane of Circulation.

Status

This setting separates active patrons from those with special circumstances. Choose a status from the dropdown menu:

• • Active. A patron whose status is set to Active can use the library (check in and out) according to the rules of the assigned patron Policies.

• • Lost Card or Suspended. These statuses cause a warning message to appear when the patron barcode is entered in the Circulation module and require operator intervention in order to continue.

• • Transferred, Inactive, or Other. These options are used mainly for generating reports for patrons with a statuses other than Active; for example, those who have transferred or are inactive. These statuses cause an alert message to appear on the Circulation module when the patron barcode is entered.

Susp. End Date

If the patron Status is set to Suspended, the suspension will end on the date you enter in this field.

Security Group

This is the security level assigned to this patron or operator. The user's access level determines which operations they're allowed to perform. Security Groups can be created, removed, or adjusted in Preferences > Security.

Username

Enter a unique username for this patron. This username will be used to log in to Alexandria Librarian, Textbook Tracker, and Researcher.

Password

This is where you create, confirm, and change the patron's password. If a password isn't set when the patron was created, the patron's default password is the their last name, without spaces or punctuation. For security reasons, passwords are never shown anywhere in Alexandria.

Confirm Password

Re-enter the patron's new password exactly as you entered it in the previous field. Don't forget to save your changes!

Email

Enter the patron's email address. Receipts, overdue notices, and other notifications will be sent here.

Site Access

Check or uncheck the sites that this patron or operator is permitted to access.

This information identifies the parent or guardian you need to contact in case of emergency. Enter the parent or guardian's name, address, and phone number(s) here. You can enter more than one name separated by a comma. In the them with a comma.

You can customize the name of the Additional Contact and Mobile fields in Localization Preferences.

Settings

Parent/Guardian

Enter the name of the patron's parent or guardian. This information is used solely for reference.

Phone and Mobile

Enter the phone number and fax number that will be used to notify the patron of special events, overdue items, and other official library business.

Address, City, State, Postal Code, and Country

Enter the patron's mailing address. Notices and letters will be sent here.

Contact Notes

Use this field to enter notes on how to contact this patron or the patron's legal guardians. You can also use the Contact Notes field to track names, additional phone numbers (cell, home, work, or fax), and email addresses.

The Notes tab can be used to include information about groups for which the patron belongs or general notes about the patron. If any notes are attached to a patron record, you can view them by clicking Notes at the bottom of the current patron pane of Circulation.

In Circulation Management, enter the + command to viewnotes for the current patron.

Settings

Categories

Enter information about groups this patron belongs to. You can include notes about special reading programs, at-risk students, special education needs, gifted students, library contest students, or any other groups that you find useful. These category entries can be used to select patron records for reports.

Alert Notes

This field is used to make the librarian aware of special circumstances regarding a patron. 

For example, you can create an alert note so that you may "pass along" certain information to the patron the very next time they use the library. The alert message will automatically appear on the Circulation module when you enter the patron's barcode number.

General Notes

This field can be used to attach additional comments about a patron. These comments can only be viewed from the Circulation module. 

Click Notes at the bottom of the Current Patron pane in Circulation to view all the notes for this patron.

The Statistics tab contains historical information about your patron's recorded library usage. This data is automatically generated by Textbook Tracker and cannot be modified.

At the bottom of the window, click Show History to download a PDF of the patron's complete transaction history. This is the same as running a Patron History report.