That's a great idea - I'll pass that along to our libraries, too. Terran McCanna PINES Program Manager Georgia Public Library Service 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 Atlanta, GA 30345 404-235-7138 [email protected]
On Thu, Oct 19, 2017 at 10:53 AM, Geoff Sams <[email protected]> wrote: > We’ve created a document that stays in stock at the front desk that our > staff are trained to hand out that details how to enable checkout history. > This allows those that want to use the feature the option to do so without > much trouble. > > > > Those that are less able will always get help enabling the feature. > > > > We try to let people know up front about that option, it doesn’t always > happen but we do try. > > > > Thanks, > > Geoff Sams > > Library Manager > > Roanoke Public Library > > 817-491-2691 <(817)%20491-2691> > > > > *From:* Open-ils-general [mailto:open-ils-general- > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Elaine Hardy > *Sent:* Thursday, October 19, 2017 7:54 AM > *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group <open-ils-general@list. > georgialibraries.org> > *Subject:* Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Reading History opt in on patron > application > > > > > > > > From ALA's statement on privacy: > > > > > > "In all areas of librarianship, best practice leaves the user in control > of as many choices as possible. These include decisions about the selection > of, access to, and use of information. Lack of privacy and confidentiality > has a chilling effect on users’ choices. All users have a right to be free > from any unreasonable intrusion into or surveillance of their lawful > library use." http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/ > interpretations/privacy > > > > There may also be local and state laws that govern how a patron opts out > of something that effects their privacy. > > > > Rather than creating a potential avenue that would compromise patron > confidentiality, I think it more appropriate to train front line staff to > inform patrons of this functionality and give them instructions on how to > utilize it. If the patron then needs further assistance, it can be given. > > > > > > > J. Elaine Hardy > > PINES & Collaborative Projects Manager > > Georgia Public Library Service/PINES > > 1800 Century Place, Ste. 150 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1800+Century+Place,+Ste.+150%0D+%0D+Atlanta,+GA+30045&entry=gmail&source=g> > > Atlanta, GA 30045 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1800+Century+Place,+Ste.+150%0D+%0D+Atlanta,+GA+30045&entry=gmail&source=g> > > 404.235.7128 <(404)%20235-7128> Office > > 404.548.4241 <(404)%20548-4241> Cell > > 404.235.7201 <(404)%20235-7201> FAX > > > > On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 6:05 PM, Rogan Hamby <[email protected]> > wrote: > > There's a lot to think about here. I do like the idea of the setting > being on the patron registration page so that staff can turn it on and off > for patrons as an assistance. Actually, I think we should have had that > for a long time now. If you're doing this as a local hack how you do it is > certainly up to you but if it's an actual change to Evergreen code the idea > of tying it to a nightly cron job unnecessary. There is a question about > if older circs should get fed in but that might be tangential here and more > about how the reading history works. > > > > I'm not fond of giving staff access to the history though. Staff trusted > with reporter permissions can do that anyway, to the extent that you > haven't aged out circulations anyway. It feels like an unnecessary > threshold to cross or at least one that we shouldn't cross, on principle. > It does mean that patrons that want staff to see their reading history have > to go to the step of giving it in some form to the staff but I feel like > that's an acceptable price to pay for privacy. But I know that some > communities will probably see me as paranoid in that regard. > > > > If it was implemented I feel library options, patron toggling, protection > for patron toggles, etc... would be needed. It would be it's own viper > nest of issues to sort through. > > > > > > > > > Rogan Hamby > > Data and Project Analyst > > Equinox Open Library Initiative > > phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457) > > email: [email protected] > > web: http://EquinoxInitiative.org > > > > On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:44 PM, Josh Stompro <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hello, we are running into the fact that many of our patrons that want to > make use of a reading history, don’t find out about it until long after > they sign up for an account. Many of these patrons are also non > computer/online catalog users, so there is no chance that they would ever > find the option to enable it themselves, and even if they knew about it, > they wouldn’t be able to set it themselves. So they find out about it > after talking with staff, and then get mad when they find out that it will > only have their history starting at the point they sign up. Since they > don’t use computers, they need staff to walk them through (do it for them) > logging into their account and finding the option, so it would be handy if > staff could just do it for them. > > > > We could set the library setting to default the checkout history to being > enabled, but we really don’t want to make that decision for everyone, and > then put the onus on them to figure out how to use the catalog to turn it > off. > > > > So we are considering adding an opt in checkbox to the patron application, > along with a user setting that staff can check, to allow staff to enable > the circ history at patron registration time. The user setting being > checked or unchecked would trigger a nightly process that would > enable/disable the reading history for that account. > > > > In theory, this could result in a customer saying that they never signed > up for the feature, saying that staff did it on their own. But since it is > already trivially easy for staff to log into the catalog as a customer, it > seems like that would already be a problem. (staff know what the default > pin numbers are based on, or could just change the pin, a customer that > never uses the catalog would never know that the pin was changed) > > > > Has anyone else done this or something like this? Is this a horrible idea? > > > > I think staff would also like to be able to access the patrons history > from their staff stations, which would make readers advisory easier. > “Which Louis L’Amour titles haven’t I read yet”. > > > > We have had problems in the past with patrons physically marking books > that they have read before, to make it easier for them to find the ones > they haven’t read. > > > > Josh > > > > Lake Agassiz Regional Library - Moorhead MN larl.org > > Josh Stompro | Office 218.233.3757 EXT-139 <(218)%20233-3757> > > LARL IT Director | Cell 218.790.2110 <(218)%20790-2110> > > > > > > >
