Adding a New Borrower Record

You can add new borrowers to Circulation by adding a new borrower record. You can collect information from potential borrowers on a form and add several borrowers to your database at once. You can also collect information from a borrower in person and add them as a borrower when they are checking out.

If the borrower is in a hurry, or if you have a crowd of borrowers waiting for help, you can add just the necessary information for circulation purposes. This is called Borrower Fast Add. You can later edit the new borrower record and add remaining information to complete the record. (For more information, see Fast-Adding a Borrower Record.)

When adding a new borrower, Horizon allows you to check for a duplicate borrower. Horizon will run a check for any matching information such as name, phone number, address or email. Depending on how your library has it set up, Horizon will either automatically check for duplicates after you click Save or display a Check for Duplicates button before you choose Save. If you choose Save before checking for duplicates, Horizon can no longer check for duplicates because the record would then already exist in the system. For information about detecting duplicate borrowers, see Avoiding Duplicate Borrower Records.

To add a new borrower record

1 Open the Checkout or the Checkin/Request Processing window.
2 Choose Borrower, New Borrower.

Horizon displays a blank Edit New Borrower window:

3 Complete these fields:

Field

Action

BType

Enter or choose the code for a valid borrower type.

The BTYPE determines the borrower circulation privileges, such as loan period, fine rate, and whether fines are charged for closed days.

Exp. Date

If needed, edit the expiration date.

When you assign a location in the Location field, the date that the borrower’s registration expires displays automatically in the Exp. Date field. However, you can change the date. (For example, if the borrower is a visiting professor who is local for only a short time, you can enter the professor’s departure date here.)

Location

Enter or choose the code for the location where the borrower is a patron.

Name

Enter the borrower’s last name, then first name.

ID

Enter a second ID for the borrower.

This ID could be a social security number or
e-mail alias. (Your library determines what the ID should be.) The ID becomes an alternate way to search for and identify a borrower.

Phone and Type

Enter one or more phone numbers for the borrower.

For each phone number you enter, you must enter or choose the code for a corresponding type, such as home or work.

Barcode

Enter one or more barcodes for the borrower.

4 Click Page Down or resize the window to display the Addresses group:

5 Complete these fields:

Field

Action

Addr. Type

Select one of these:

Street: specifies that the address is permanent. This is the physical residence of the borrower. This may be an email address.
Temp: specifies that the address is temporary. A library user may submit a temporary address if they want to receive correspondence from the library during a specified time range. This may be an email address.
Mailing: specifies that the address is for mail delivery. This is the library borrower's preferred address. For example, they may have a post office box where they prefer to receive mail. This may be an email address.

A borrower can have only one mailing address.

The address types have a definite hierarchy of use. The Street address is the basic address for printed correspondence. If no other address is provided, this address is used. The Mailing address overrides the Street address when it is provided. The Temp address is used over both the Street and Mailing addresses during the time period specified in the Time Begin and Time End fields.

Important: When entering an email address as the Mailing address to override the Street address, remember to check that Notice By is set correctly. Otherwise, the patron might not receive notices by the expected means.

Begin and End

If you marked Temp or Street in the Addr. Type field, enter the beginning and ending dates that the address is valid, if applicable. A mailing address cannot have beginning and ending dates.

Lines

Enter the address.

You may want to specify a company name, the street number, a post office box, an office number, or any other identifying address information. (You do not need to use all four lines.)

Note: If your system administrator has not established city and state codes for your borrowers’ addresses, you can enter the city and state in line 4 of this field. Do not enter city and state information here if it exists in the City, ST field of the record.

Postal Code

Enter the postal code.

City, ST

If your system administrator has established city and state codes for your borrowers’ addresses, enter or choose the appropriate code.

Mail Sort Type

Enter or choose the code for the way mail to the address is sorted, such as domestic (zip code) or foreign (country).

Notice By

Specify whether notices are sent by standard form (mail) or e-mail.

Email: Name

If you chose to send notices by e-mail, enter the borrower’s name in this field.

This field is for information only. The data you enter in this field is put on the e-mail header.

Internet Addr.

If you chose to send notices by e-mail, enter the borrower’s entire e-mail address in this field.

Horizon uses this address to send e-mail notices to borrowers.

Allow Email Checkout Receipt

Mark this box if the borrower wants to receive checkout receipts via email. For more information on emailing checkout receipts, see Emailing Checkout Receipts.

Note: The borrower must have a valid email address specified in the Internet Addr. field in the borrower record to receive checkout receipts via email.

Allow Print Checkout Receipt

Mark this box if the borrower wants to receive printed checkout receipts.

6 Click Page Down or resize the window to display these fields:

7 Complete these fields:

Field

Action

Pin#

If the borrower needs a special code to access some of your library’s features, such as remote access, enter the code or pin number here.

Language

If the borrower primarily speaks another language, you can enter or choose the code for that information here.

8 Click Page Down or resize the window to display the PAC Access Type group:

9 If you have defined flavors for PAC, enter or choose the code for the borrower access type in the Access Type field.
10 Click Page Down or resize the window to display the Photo group:

11 If desired, add a photo to the borrower's record by clicking Update Image. For more information on how to add or edit a borrower photo image, see Adding or Editing a Borrower Photo.
12 If the borrower requests, complete this field:

Field

Action

Preferred ID

The borrower can choose a custom username to assign to their account. The username must be at least eight characters in length and must be unique.

For security, after you enter the Preferred ID, it will be masked and will not be revealed through Horizon. It is stored in Horizon as an encoded string. You can change the Preferred ID for the borrower but will not be able to tell them what their Preferred ID is.

13 Save your changes.

Note: If your location has enabled Borrower Duplication Alerts, the Duplicate Borrower window may open if key fields match an existing borrower record. For more information about duplicate borrower records, see Avoiding Duplicate Borrower Records.

Horizon displays the borrower’s name in the Checkout window.

 


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