[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Reading History opt in on patron application

[Terran McCanna]

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
tmccanna at georgialibraries.org


On Thu, Oct 19, 2017 at 10:53 AM, Geoff Sams <GSams at roanoketexas.com> 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-
> bounces at list.georgialibraries.org] *On Behalf Of *Elaine Hardy
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 19, 2017 7:54 AM
> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group <open-ils-general at 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 <rhamby at equinoxinitiative.org>
> 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:  rogan at EquinoxInitiative.org
>
> web:  http://EquinoxInitiative.org
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:44 PM, Josh Stompro <stomproj at exchange.larl.org>
> 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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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