MyLibrary

Again, complete MyLibrary implementations include: 1) librarians, 2) information resources, 3) users, and 4) a controlled vocabulary creating relationships between the first three. This posting introduces the objects of MyLibrary, the things for which libraries are created — users.

Libraries do not exist in a vacuum. They are not a means unto themselves. Rather they exist to serve the purposes of others — the patrons as it were. The “purposes of others” is defined differently for different types of libraries, and even within these libraries the purposes vary from person to person. Be that as it my, libraries would not have very much purpose if they did not have patrons. Therefore, users (patrons) are a part of MyLibrary systems.

The module MyLibrary::Patron is used to create and manage patron information. It is akin to aspects of a circulation module in integrated library systems. It is used to list and keep track of who uses your library.

Users are simply described; there are only a few characteristics used to uniquely outline who they are. The first few characteristics are simple name and address types:

1. username - the system-wide “key” for this person
2. first name - the user’s given name
3. last name - the user’s sur name
4. email - their email address
5. address - their postal address

The next few describe the “aboutness” of the person:

6. image - a picture of the person
7. url - the home page of the user
8. organization - an institution to which the user belongs
9. terms - one or more controlled vocabulary terms used to create relationship between patron, librarians, and information resources; can be used to answer questions like “People like you also used…”

These are things the patron has “checked out”:

10. links - URL’s outside MyLibrary of interest to the patron
11. resources - pointers to information resources inside the MyLibrary implementation

Finally, these are for administrative use:

12. can contact - is the library “permitted” to send this patron news and information?
13. remember me - does the patron want to stay logged in?
14. last visit - when was the last time/date the person visited; used to calculate things like “What’s new?”
15. total visits - used to calculate how often the user visits your MyLibrary

Don’t get scared. If you are going to include patrons in your MyLibrary implementation, then the only required patron field is username. All of the other things are icing on the cake.

Tags: General Information //