Personal

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Student #

The community ID is designed to be used as an additional local for your local ID. This could be a student code, phone number, parcel number or any other unique identification code. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Community ID] field in the Terminology preferences.

Birth Date

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

Sex

Use this drop-down menu to help identify the sex of this patron; Male, Female, or Unspecified. The default is Unspecified. (If you need to make a more specific note, use one of the Notes fields.)

SSN

In the United States, the “government ID” is typically the social security number (SSN); other countries may use other formats. The name of this [Government ID] field can be customized in Preferences > Setup > Terminology.

Nickname

Enter the patron's nickname if they have one. This could be a shortened version of their first name or an entirely different name they prefer to go by. It will be displayed in parentheses after their first name in both Patrons Management and the Circulation Current Patron pane, and can be used to look up a patron record. Also, a patron's nickname will be used in place of their first name in Researcher, Self-Service, Activity, Status, Labels, and all emails from the library (except receipts).

Homeroom

The location of a patron in a school is typically the student's homeroom or first period class. To ensure the accuracy of reports generated and sorted by this field, be consistent when entering information. Use Tools > Authority Control to fix any discrepancies. For example, you may print an overdue list of all students in a homeroom with overdue items. You are allowed to customize the name of this field in the Terminologypreferences.

2nd Location

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. Use Tools > Authority Control to fix any discrepancies. 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. If desired, you are allowed to customize the name of this [sublocation] field in your Terminology preferences.

Grade

This field identifies the patron's level in school. 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”.

• • This term can be customized by the librarian (see Terminology Preferences).

Graduation Date

Enter the date that the patron will graduate. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Optional Date] field in the Terminology preferences.

Account Expiration

Enter the date that the patron's account expires. If you leave this field blank, Alexandria will calculate 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 account will expire 365 days from the date the patron was entered. When a patron's account expires, their status will be changed to Inactive during Alexandria maintenance.

Suspension End

If the patron Status is set to Suspended and a

Personal Info Settings

Any numeric ranges are used in these fields, they should be padded with zeros so that they may be sorted and selected correctly; for example, instead of a “1”, “2”, “402”, you'd insert “001”, “027”, “402”. Essentially, in order to sort properly, all entries within a numeric range need to have the same number of digits.

• 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 drop-down menu and select a value. The default policy for new patrons or operators is automatically assigned based upon your Default Policy setting in the Patron Defaults preferences.

• Sex. Use this drop-down menu to help identify the sex of this patron; Male, Female, or Unknown. The default is Unknown until the patron's sex has been designated.

• Site. Use this drop-down menu to choose the site or school that your patron attends. A list of valid and available sites will always be pulled from Sites Management window. To ensure the accuracy of reports, be consistent when selecting this information. Reports can be generated and sorted by this field. For example, you may print an overdue list for all the students of a particular school.

• Homeroom. 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 may print an overdue list of all students in a homeroom with overdue items. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Location] field in the Localization preferences.

• 2nd Location. 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. If desired, you are allowed to customize the name of this [sublocation] field in your Localization preferences.

• Student #. The community ID is designed to be used for your local ID. This could be a student code, phone number, parcel number or any other unique identification code. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Community ID] field in the Localization preferences.

• SSN. In the United States, the “government ID” is typically the social security number (SSN); other countries may use other formats. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Government ID] field in the Localization preferences.

• 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).
  • Typically, 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. (shown as Grade in the previous example) 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”. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Level] field in the Localization preferences.

• 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).

Typically, 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. (shown as Grade in the previous example) 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”. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Level] field in the Localization preferences.
  • This term can be customized by the librarian (see Localization Preferences).

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

• Graduation Date. Enter the date that the patron will graduate. You are allowed to customize the name of this [Optional Date] field in the Localization preferences.

• Card Exp. Date. Enter the date that the patron's library card expires. If you leave this field blank, Alexandria will calculate 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. Use this drop-down menu to change the status of the current patron. The Status setting separates active patrons from those with special circumstances such as a lost cards or or transferred. Select one of the following available statuses from the patron Status drop-down menu:

1. 1. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. 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.

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Contact

The Contact tab identifies contact information for the patron, including the parent or guardian you need to contact in case of emergency. 

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Primary Email

Enter the patron's primary email address. This is the email used for email notifications (like overdue notices), resetting passwords, and syncing patron information to your SIS. To guarantee that email notifications are being sent, check the Enable Automatic Email Notifications box in your Circulation Settings preferences.

Note: for Adding Operators, high level operators are required to enter an email.

Other Emails

Enter up to five additional emails, separated by commas. 

Primary Phone

Primary phone number. This is the number that will show on select reports.

Mobile

Mobile phone number

SMS

Number for SMS/ text messages, which will be available in a future update.

Address

Street, city, state, zip code, and country

Parent/Guardian

Patron parent/guardian name (these terms are customizable in terminology preferences). This is used when you choose to address reports to the parent/guardian.

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, and email addresses.

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Access

The Access tab contains a patron's Security Group and Site Access in addition to their username and password.

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Username

Provide the username that allows operators to log into the Alexandria Librarian securely and your patrons to access the Researcher interfaces and place holds, reservations, and check their status and details.

Password/Confirm Password

Here is where you create, confirm, and change mandatory patron passwords. If you don't provide one at the time of creation, the password will default to the patron's Last Name without spaces or punctuation. Patrons with special characters or accents in their last name will be prompted to create a new password when logging in, as diacritical letters are not supported in the password field. For security reasons, passwords are never shown anywhere in Alexandria.

Security

This is the security level assigned to this patron or operator; a user's access level determines what operations they are allowed to perform. Security Groups can be created, removed, or adjusted in Security.

Librarian Site Access

Check (or uncheck) any sites that the operator is permitted to access. This list of valid and available sites will always be pulled from Sites Management.

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Notes

The Notes tab can be used to include additional information about the patron. If any notes are attached to a patron record, you can view them by clicking Notes in the action menu of the Current Patron pane of Circulation. Notes are meant for operator use and can only be seen here and in Circulation. They are also included in some reports.

These comments can only be viewed from the Circulation module.

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General Notes

This field can be used to attach additional comments about a patron. 

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.

Categories

Enter information about groups the patron belongs to; for example, special reading programs, at-risk students, special education students, 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.

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Statistics

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

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

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Programs

The Programs tab contains two subtabs: Study Programs and Lexile.

Study Programs subtab

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 needs, you can customize this terminology in the Terminology preferences (e.g. Fountas and Pinnell or Accelerated Reader).

• • If your account does not wish to use this field to store reading level information, it can be repurposed 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.).

Lexile subtab

Here you will find the patron's Lexile table. See Patron Lexiles for more information. Click Show Graph to see a graph of the student's Lexile levels. 

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