Patron search

Clicking on the link to the Patron module will bring you to a search/browse screen for patrons. From here you can search for a patron by their name or their card number.

Patron search field with hint showing possibility to search for patron's partial name or card number

Note

By default, the search is a ‘Starts with’ search, meaning that you have to search by the beginning of the patron’s name or the beginning of the patron’s card number. You can use the DefaultPatronSearchMethod system preference to change the patron search method to a ‘Contains’ search to be able to search for any part of the patron’s name or cardnumber.

Clicking the ‘More options’ symbol to the right of the search box will open up an advanced patron search with more filters including the ability to limit to a specific category and/or library.

Expanded patron search field showing menu options for search field, search type, library or category

You can also filter your patron results using the search options on the left hand side of the page.

Form showing a search field and several other fields for filtering patron searches

Depending on what you have chosen for the ‘Search fields’ you can search for patrons in various different ways.

Dropdown menu of possible search fields shown in the more options menu of a patron search with the value "Standard" selected

Standard:

Enter any part of their name, username, email address or barcode

Note

You can use the system preference DefaultPatronSearchFields to define other fields to be used for searching with this option.

Surname:

Search for the patron’s surname

Card number:

Search for the patron’s card number

All emails:

Search all of the defined patron fields for email addresses

Borrowernumber:

Search for the Koha borrowernumber

Username:

Search for the patron’s username

All phones:

Will search all of the defined patron fields for phone numbers. Enter the phone number exactly as it is in the system or by using spaces between each batch of numbers.

Example: To find (212) 555-1212 you can search for it exactly as it was entered or by searching for 212 555 1212

Full address:

Search for the patron’s address in all address fields

Date of birth

Birth dates should be entered using the format set forth in the dateformat preference.

Sort field 1

This is a custom field that libraries can use for any type of data about the patron.

Sort field 2

This is a custom field that libraries can use for any type of data about the patron.

First name:

Search for the patron’s first name

Middle name:

Search for the patron’s middle name

Other name:

Search all of the patron’s other names fields

Any patron attribute type marked as searchable will also be listed in this list.

You can also choose to either search for fields that start with the string you entered or contain the string. Choosing ‘Contains’ will work like a wildcard search.

Expanded patron search field with menu option search type highlighted and value "Starts with" selected

You can also browse through the patron records by clicking on the linked letters across the top.

Horizontally sorted alphabet list of letters linking to patron searches

If your search only returns one result, you will be taken directly to the patron’s file. If your search returns more than one result, you will be given a list from which to choose.

Patron search results table

Note

You can customize the columns of this table in the ‘Table settings’ section of the Administration module, under the patrons tab (table id: memberresultst).

Selecting one or more patrons from the list of results by using the checkbox in the leftmost column will show other features you can use for the selected patrons.

Patron search results table with the first two results selected and the dropdown menu "Add to patron list" showing the option to create a new list

Add to patron list:

Add the selected patrons to an existing ‘patron list’ or create a new list

Merge selected patrons:

Allows you to ‘merge the selected patrons’

Batch patron modification:

Sends the selected patrons to the batch patron modification tool

FAQ Category
Koha
Summary
Patron search Clicking on the link to the Patron module will bring you to a search/browse screen for patrons. From here you can search for a patron by their name or their card number. Note By default, the search is a ‘Starts with’ search, meaning that you have to search by the beginning of the patron’s name or the beginning of the patron’s card number. You can use the DefaultPatronSearchMethod system preference to change the patron search method to a ‘Contains’ search to be able ...