Enter the patron (or operator) first name or the first name and middle name (or the first name and middle initial).

Enter the patron (or operator) last name. This field is required, you cannot save a record without a last name.

Each patron or operator will have a unique barcode number that is either supplied by the program or entered manually. This barcode can contain up to 15 digits and must be unique. It may contain numbers and/or letters, but no punctuation characters or spaces. However, if you attempt to manually enter a patron or operator barcode number that is less than three alphanumeric characters, Alexandria or Textbook Tracker will display a warning message and disable the Save feature until the user has changed the barcode. This field is required, you cannot save a record without a unique barcode.

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.

Use this dropdown 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.).