Koha Question of the Week: What is a Statistical Patron?

by Hebah Amin-Headley on Jan 5, 2024

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: What is a Statistical Patron?

Answer: Creating a statistical patron account is a controlled way for libraries to record local usage on materials that either don't circulate or were only used in the library but not checked out. We have a fabulous Monday Minutes about how to set up these accounts.

Items that get picked up from around the library at closing can then be "checked out" to these statistical users, but instead of a checkout, the transaction is captured as a local use, which can then be reported on.

There is no limit on allowed number of statistical users, so libraries can use these accounts to set up branch-specific local usage accounts, or a library can even set up multiple statistical user accounts to more granularly track how materials move around a larger facility. Reports are currently the only way to view local usage statistics.

Some recent bug fixes have made improvements to statistical user workflows. Bug 27992 has fixed a long-standing issue where items that made it back to the library while still on an account will now be checked in when the statistical use is recorded. This is coming in 23.05.06, which is coming to the majority of partners in the upcoming upgrades the week of January 15. This same bug fixes some other issues - lost items will be un-lost if recorded with local use, and for circulating items, the screen will also prompt staff to check in the item for things like the item having a hold, unresolved claim, or pending recall.

Another bug, bug 16122, is currently winding its way through the development pipeline, which would add local use statistics to item records, making that usage easier to find.

Additional Resources

Local Use Reports in Koha Report Wiki

Monday Minutes: Statistical Patron and Local Use