Koha Question of the Week: Can Other Fields Be Added to Patron Search?

by Kelly McElligott on Jul 22, 2022

Each Friday, we will bring you a new Koha Question of the Week. We will select real questions that we receive and share the answers with you!

Question: Can Other Fields Be Added to Patron Search?

Answer: Yes!

Koha allows libraries to search for patrons with many variables currently, however, a library can add another or more patron fields for searching purposes.

Let's talk about what are the default searches for patrons, below is what Koha will allow a search to be performed on:

System Preference

The system preference, DefaultPatronSearchField, can be added to include other fields that are helpful to your library. For example, if a library wanted to include a patron search for 'other name', this could be added this field would appear in the drop-down, allowing libraries to easily search for a patron by their other name.

At this time, this system preference needs the borrower data fields to be entered. Borrower Data fields can be found here:

Schema

In the example above, a library would enter, othernames, in the system preference

Additional Resources

Patron Attributes can also be searchable! See this helpful blog post on Patron Attributes:

Monday Minutes: Patron Attributes