July 2021

Quick Facts

• Review pop up notifications and red underlined Alerts and Notes before doing any other actions on the patron's account.
• To see the User Alerts Display use the Checkout or Display User wizard.
• If there is no pop up, click on the words Alerts and Notes underlined in red.
  • User Alert Display
    • Look at: Holds, fees owed, excluded status and Comments.
  • Alerts
    • Look at: Overdue items and fees.
  • Notes  
    • Look at: Comments and, if needed, History
    • Comments
      • Current action items, such as exclusions, check ID, and lost and found
      • Staff should review Comments because they may contain important information that requires immediate action.
    • History
      • Past actions, such as cleared fees, or other documentation, that must be reviewed before clearing fees.
• Enter dates in Comments and Notes with four-digit years, so information over 3 years old can be searched and deleted.
• Excluded patrons are assigned an EXCLUDED user standing so that information will pop up when the account is opened.

Procedure

Alerts and Notes

Important: Before doing any action in the account, review the pop up User Display Alerts. If there is no pop up, click on the red underlined Alerts and/or Notes.

• Open a patron's account from the Check Out, Place Hold, Paying Bills, or Renew by User wizards.
  • Symphony user display alerts will pop up when you open the account.

    • Look at: holds ready to pick up, fees, Comments, user standing (blocked by fees) and profiles that can't check out (Excluded or 5_Update)
      

      

• If there is no pop up, click on the red underlined Alerts and Notes glossaries. If there are no Alerts or Notes, there is nothing to review before helping the patron.

  

Alerts

• Look at: overdue items, holds and fees
• Also includes claims returned count

Notes

• Look at: Comments and, if needed, History
• Staff must review Comments before doing any other action because they may contain important information that requires immediate action.
• Also includes active/inactive IDs and ALT_NAMES.

For anything requiring an override to check out, place holds, pay bills, or renew, go to:

Note: The override code for most actions is "y". For some rare hold actions, such as placing holds on reference or Lost/Missing items, the code is "hold".

• Bills
• Checkout
• Modify Fees
• Placing holds
• User Standing
• Excluded Patrons

Tip

Excluded patrons will display differently in different wizards, but it will be visible somehow.

• In Check Out, If a patron is excluded you will see a pop up with a message that you can't check out to this patron.
• In Display and Modify Users, look at the user profile that shows at the top or at the Notes.
• If you try to check out to an Excluded patron or other blocked account, you may see a message that a patron has too many checkouts.

Comments and History

The COMMENT field gives specific, urgent and temporary information that staff should share with patrons.

• Comments should be deleted as soon as the situation is resolved.
• There can be multiple Comment fields. Comments can be edited by clicking in the field or using cut and paste.
• Comments do not block any patron action.
• Use for:
  • Lost and found items
  • Need required personal information (with Profile name 5_Update) such as "Need birth date. HB/ADM/ 7/16/2019"
  • Temporary exceptions such as "Allowed checkout with balance over $50. 7/5/2020 AF/NPO."
  • Security situation information (with Profile name 5_Update) such as "Photo ID required to restore patron type. 7/15/2019 VS/WOD."
     

1. Select Modify User wizard.

   
2. Search for patron by scanning lost card in the User ID field. 
    

3. Go to the Extended Info tab.
    

   

The HISTORY field gives specific, non-urgent, long-term information to staff.

• History may track previous actions, such as fees cleared, items returned in poor condition, etc. or related Paid and Taxpayer accounts.
• There can be multiple History fields. It can be edited by clicking in the field or using cut and paste.
• History does not block any patron action.
• Use for:

1. Documenting exceptions, such as "Clr_Patron $35. 7/17/2019 BB/SEL".
2. List of family members that are included in a Paid or Taxpayer registration.

Tip

Most History and Comment fields should be in date order with the most recent at the top. When adding new fields, choose Insert one before, to place your new field at the top. To change the order of fields, you must copy and paste the information into new fields.

For Comments and History to be effective, follow these guidelines:

• Comments and history should be clear, concise and as short as possible. Essential information should be included in the first sentence. Avoid abbreviations.
• Comments and history should be in neutral, behavioral language. Patrons may read the comments and history on their library record.
• Comments and history should not include personal information about patrons, such as medical or safety situations. 
• Comments about specific library material should include the Item ID.
• Comments and history must include staff initials, location and date with a four-digit year, eg 2019.

Policy

Comments and History fields alert patrons and staff to situations that affect a patron's use of the library.

Comment fields may contain patron requests to require identification or a verbal password in order to access the account. Although identification or a password cannot be required each time a record is used, because patrons may use checkout stations and other remote logins, they can be required for updates or other in-person actions. 

Comments are actions that must be done on the account. Once the situation has been resolved, the Comment should be deleted. Comments about ongoing situations, such as verbal passwords or ID required to update the account, will be retained.

History may document a history of exceptions. Cleared fee History fields may be deleted after 3 years.  History fields about ongoing situations, such as agreements or fee card related accounts, will be retained.

Rationale

Clear documentation of special circumstances and exceptions enables the patron to receive, and staff to provide consistent service throughout the library system.

Application

Alerts and Notes on a patron record must be reviewed before a patron can use a library account. History must be reviewed before clearing fees.