[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Deleting Patron Accounts

[Rogan Hamby]

The short answer to both questions is, yes.

Obliterating a patron wipes associated records.  So for example circ
records require a link back to a patron account, you can't not have it.
So, to delete a patron account you have to delete those circ records and
that will affect reports later.




On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 3:26 PM, Scott Thomas <scott at albright.org> wrote:

> Hi Rogan,
>
>    Thank you for replying.  One thing you mentioned has piqued my
> interest. It might be easier if I gave a scenario instead of trying to
> describe what I mean. Say, on January 2, 2016, I run a report on
> circulation for 2015 and then, a month later, delete many patrons some of
> whom had checked out materials in 2015. If I ran the same 2015 report again
> after the deletions, would the numbers be different because the patrons
> were purged? In other words, when a patron is deleted, do their countable
> circ transactions go with them?
>
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Open-ils-general [mailto:
> open-ils-general-bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] *On Behalf Of *Rogan
> Hamby
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 04, 2015 1:33 PM
> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group <
> open-ils-general at list.georgialibraries.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Deleting Patron Accounts
>
>
>
> There are a few different kinds of deleting in Evergreen.  One is to turn
> on the deleted flag on the account.  That doesn't do much other than hide
> the account from the staff client pulling it up and is relatively harmless.
>
>
>
> The other kind of deleting is obliterating the account.  This is the
> delete option that is on the "other" menu in the staff client and comes up
> with this warning:  "Completely OBLITERATE this patron account, including
> bills, payments, bookbags, etc?  This is IRREVERSIBLE."  And it has a
> checkbox.
>
>
>
> The good?  It deletes it and it's gone forever.
>
>
>
> The bad?  As the message warns, gone forever is also anything tied to it.
> My accountants would throw a fit at bills and payments and other records
> disappearing from the system and we're audited every other year.  So,
> whether or not it's bad will depend on your circumstances, your accounting
> environment, etc...
>
>
>
> As a result it can also throw off counts of circulations, holds, etc... if
> you want to go back and run numbers on old data sets.
>
>
>
> If we want to truly remove a patron I run an anonymization script that
> strips out their address except for zip code, names, phone numbers, email,
> etc.... and leaves a generic patron in place but leaves all of their
> associated records.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 1:21 PM, Scott Thomas <scott at albright.org> wrote:
>
> Our old ILS would not allow you to remove a patron until all outstanding
> bills, holds, and checkouts were cleared. We were thrilled that Evergreen
> would simply allow you to remove the patron. However, I have heard from
> various sources that, while EG will allow you to remove a patron with
> impunity, it is not good practice to remove a patron with outstanding
> transactions and bills. Can anyone clarify this?
>
> Thank you,
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
> Scott  Thomas, MLS
>
> Head of Information Technologies and Technical Services
>
> Scranton Public Library
>
> Lackawanna County Library System
>
> 2006 N. Main Ave.
>
> Scranton, PA 18508
>
> Ph: 570-207-2379
>
> Fx: 570-348-3020
>
> Email: scott at albright.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA
>
> Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services,
>
> York County Library System
>
>
>
> “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit
> me.”
> ― C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
>



-- 

Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA
Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services,
York County Library System

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit
me.”
― C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
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