Legal Names vs. Preferred Patron Names

• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 20

Description:
The global patron record in the z303 provides for a only a single form of name. There may be situations where the library may want to retain both a legal name and a preferred name. The legal name stated in legal identification would be necessary in the event that a patron 's unpaid bills had to be sent to collection, while a patron might prefer a different form be used in customary interactions with the library, for instance a "maiden" name used professionally before marriage or a name reflecting a gender change. Has this issue been raised and addressed?

Resolution:
I'm pretty certain that this issue has not been raised previously. It seems to me that you could store this information (the legal form of the name) in a Z303-NOTE field, with a distinctive prefix to identify it, and, then, when you are printing or exporting this patron's info to the collection agency, you could have a script (SQL or perl) which would read the Z303-NOTE and substitute the value found there for the normal z303_name.

The other approach would be to add a field to the z303 containing the legal name. If you want to pursue that approach, I think it would need to be done as an ELUNA Circ SIG Enhancement Request.

• Article last edited: 10/8/2013