Enhancing Koha Patron Search with Notes
Patron Search
Patron search is a valuable tool for staff to look for patrons fitting a defined criteria. It is important to understand exactly how this feature works. With improper settings a patron search can inadvertently cause too much strain on your Koha system. Accessing patron search can be done from the search bar (uses auto complete to search as you type) and from the patron module. Both patron searches allows you to enter the following:
- Search: Enter the information you are looking for (examples: name, email, barcode).
- Search Fields: Select the field within the patron record that you want to search.
- Search Type: Choose between 'starts with' or 'contains'.
- starts with: returns only results where the search field starts with the information entered in the search. For example a search for first name 'Jo' will return Jo, Joe, and Josephine but not MaryJo.
- contains: returns results where the search field contains the information entered in the search. For example a search for first name 'Jo' will return Jo, Joe, Josephine AND MaryJo
- It is possible to change the default for search type with the system preference DefaultPatronSearchMethod.
- Category: Choose a patron category based on the available categories in Administration > Patron Categories
Note: If a patron category has been limited to certain branches only those branches will see the option to search that category - Library: Choose a library based on the libraries listed in Administration > Libraries
Warning: Selecting 'Standard' in this field will search multiple fields at once as defined in the system preference DefaultPatronSearchFields. It is not recommended to change this system preference from the default choices of first name, last name preferred name, username, email address and barcode. Adding custom fields to the 'Standard' search can result in a slow or system crashing search particularly for large libraries with many patrons.Known Issues
Default patron Search Fields
As mentioned above, changing the system preference DefaultPatronSearchFields is not recommended. There is Bug 39205 which would allow custom 'search fields' to be added without adding them to the standard search.
Unweighted Patron search
Koha is not currently weighting the patron search results which can result in inaccurate results even when an exact name is entered. This is documented in Bug 36226
Patron Reports
In some cases a report maybe the best way to search for a large defined group of patrons. The Koha Reports Wiki has a large selection of useful patron reports.
Relevant Koha Manual Sections
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