My Account

From the OPAC patrons can log in and access their account if you have set the opacuserlogin preference to 'Allow'. Once logged in patrons are brought to their account summary. If you would like to get to your account in the OPAC, you can click on your name in the top right of any page in the OPAC.

If you have the OpacResetPassword set to allow patrons to reset their password they can click 'Forgot your password?' link found under the log in box to reset their passwords.

Once clicked they will be presented with a form asking for their username and their email address (patrons must have an email address on file to reset their password).

The system will then email the patron instructions for resetting their password.

From the 'my summary' tab, patrons will see all of the items they have checked out with the overdue items highlighted in red. If you have OpacRenewalAllowed set to 'Allow' then your patrons will be able to renew their books right from the OPAC. If you have HTML entered in the OPACMySummaryHTML preference then you will see that to the right of the 'Fines' column.

If your patrons would like to see the items barcodes on their list of checked out items you can set up a patron attribute with the value of SHOW_BCODE and authorized value of YES_NO.

Then on the patron's record set the value for SHOW_BCODE to yes.

This will add a column to the check out summary in the OPAC that shows the patrons the barcodes of the items they have checked out.

If their guarantee has allowed it via their privacy, when the guarantor logs in they will see a tab labeled "Relatives' checkouts" on their summary tab.

Clicking on the 'Overdue' tab will show only the items that are overdue.

The 'Fines' tab will show just a total of what the patron owes. Clicking on the total will take them to the 'my fines' tab where they will see a complete breakdown of their fines and bills. If you don't charge fines at your library you can turn the display of these tabs off by setting the OPACFinesTab preference to 'Don't Allow.'

Finally, clicking on the 'Holds' tab will show the patron the status of all of the items they have on hold.

Patrons can cancel or suspend (depending on the value of your SuspendHoldsOpac system preference) their own holds if they are not in transit or already waiting for them. When they click 'Suspend' they will be presented with the option to choose a date for their hold to resume.

They can also suspend all of their holds indefinitely or until a specific date if they choose by filling in the suspend options at the bottom of the page.

Note

If you have your AutoResumeSuspendedHolds preference set to "Don't allow" then you will not have the option to put an end date on the hold suspension

If you have flagged your patron's account they may see one of the following error messages at the top of their account.

  • Card marked as lost

  • Patron address in question

    • Note

      this error message will not include a link to the update form if you have OPACPatronDetails set to 'Don't allow'

  • Patron marked restricted

If your library charges fines the next tab on the left is 'my fines.' Opening this tab will show the patron an entire history of their accounting at the library.

If you are allowing patrons to pay their fines using PayPal with the EnablePayPalOpacPayments preference there will be checkboxes to the left of each fine with an outstanding amount.

At the bottom the patron will see the option to pay with PayPal for the items they have checked.

After paying they will be presented with a confirmation

And you will see that the fine was paid using PayPal on the staff side.

If you have your OPACPatronDetails preference set to 'Allow', your patrons will see a form filled in with their contacting information by clicking on the 'my personal details' tab. You can control what fields patrons see and can modify via the OPAC by setting the PatronSelfRegistrationBorrowerMandatoryField PatronSelfRegistrationBorrowerUnwantedField preferences.

Patrons can edit their details in this form and click 'Submit Changes' to have their edits sent to the library for review before their record is updated. Staff will see all patrons requesting modification to their record listed below the modules on the main dashboard along with anything else awaiting library attention.

If the OPACPatronDetails preference is set to 'Don't allow' then patrons will simply see their details and a message stating that they should contact the library for changes.

If your library has TagsEnabled set to 'Allowed' then the next tab on the left will be 'my tags.' This tab will show patrons all of the tags in the system as a cloud and then all of the tags they have applied in a list format. From here patrons have the ability to remove tags that they have added if they want.

Next, if you have OpacPasswordChange set to 'Allow' the next tab will be 'change my password,' where patrons can change their password for logging into the OPAC. Patrons will be presented with a standard form asking them to enter their old password and then their new password twice.

If you have your EnableOpacSearchHistory preference set to 'Allow' then your patrons can access their search history via the 'my search history' tab.

The search history is a record of all searches run by the patron. Clicking on any of the search phrases will re-run the search for the patron. The search history can be deleted by the patron at any time by clicking the 'Delete your search history' link found at the top of this tab or by clicking the little red 'x' next to the 'Search history' link at the top right of the OPAC.

Depending on your library's setting for opacreadinghistory your patrons may see the 'my reading history' tab next. This will show the patron their entire reading history unless they have asked the library to not keep that information via the 'my privacy' tab which will appear if you have the OPACPrivacy preference set to 'Allow.'

If you have HTML entered in the OPACMySummaryHTML preference then you will see that to the right of the 'Date' column.

The 'my privacy' tab will appear if you have both the opacreadinghistory and the OPACPrivacy preferences set to 'Allow.' This tab will allow the patrons to decide how the library keeps their circulation history data.

The patron can choose from three options:

  • Forever: keep my reading history without limit. This is the option for users who want to keep track of what they are reading.

  • Default: keep my reading history according to local laws. This is the default option : the library will keep your reading history for the duration permitted by local laws.

  • Never: Delete my reading history immediately. This will delete all record of the item that was checked-out upon check-in.

Depending on the patron's suggestions the contents of the 'my reading history' tab and the 'Circulation History' tab in the staff client may change.

Regardless of the patron's choice they can delete their reading history in bulk at any time by clicking the 'Immediate deletion' button.

Clicking this button will not delete items that are currently checked out, but will clear the patron's past reading history.

Important

In order for the patron to be able to delete their reading history you must have the AnonymousPatron preference set.

If you're allowing guarantees to grand permission to their guarantors to view their current checkouts with the AllowPatronToSetCheckoutsVisibilityForGuarantor preference they will see that option on this screen.

When the guarantor logs in they will see a tab labeled "Relatives' checkouts" on their summary tab.

If your library allows patrons to make purchase suggestions the next tab will show all suggestions that the patron made to the library and their statuses. To disable this tab and the suggestion functionality set the suggestion preference to 'Don't allow.'

If you have OPACViewOthersSuggestions set to 'Show' then patrons will be able to search suggestions from the top of this list.

If your library has the EnhancedMessagingPreferences and the EnhancedMessagingPreferencesOPAC preferences set to 'Allow' then your patrons will be able to choose which messages they receive from the library (with the exception of overdue notices which the library controls).

If you use an outside driver for sending text messages set with the SMSSendDriver preference, you will see an additional column to receive these messages as SMS (or text messages) and a field for a cell (or SMS) number.

If you are using the Email protocol for sending text messages set with the SMSSendDriver preference, you will see an additional column to receive these messages as SMS (or text messages), a field for a cell (or SMS) number, and a pull down listing cellular providers entered in administration.

If you are using the Itiva Talking Tech service you will see an additional column to receive these messages via Phone.

  • These notices are:

    • Advanced notice : A notice in advance of the patron's items being due (The patron can choose the number of days in advance)

    • Item checkout : A notice that lists all the of the items the patron has just checked out and/or renewed, this is an electronic form of the checkout receipt

    • Hold filled : A notice when you have confirmed the hold is waiting for the patron

    • Item due : A notice on the day and item is due back at the library

    • Item check-in : A notice that lists all the of the items the patron has just checked in

Patrons can choose to receive their notices as a digest by checking the 'Digest only?' box along with the delivery method. A digest is a combination of all the messages of that type (so all items due in 3 days in one email) in to one email instead of multiple emails for each alert.

Important

You must choose a delivery method (SMS or Email or Phone) along with 'Digest only?' if you would like to receive a digest of the messages.

Finally, if your library has the virtualshelves set to 'Allow' then the last tab will by 'my lists.' From here your patrons can review public lists and create or edit their own private lists.

If you have enabled the useDischarge preference then patrons will be able to request a discharge via the OPAC.

From here patrons can request a discharge

And will receive confirmation of their request.