Patron Empowerment Setup Questionnaire

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Welcome to EBSCO's Patron Empowerment Setup questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to help us configure and customize your patron empowerment experience in either Locate instance and/or EDS (EBSCO Discovery Service). The answers you provide will be used by the EBSCO Implementation team to better facilitate the setup, testing and deployment of your new Locate service and/or the patron empowerment functionality within EDS. 

The estimated time for completion of the questionnaire is 30 minutes. In order to complete this questionnaire, you will need to have a working proficiency with your organization’s SSO capabilities and be able to provide a link to the IdP (Identity Provider) SAML metadata file (Note: You may need assistance from your IT department for this information.). If you are unsure or unable to complete the questionnaire, please contact your Implementation Project Manager (IPM) or email us at ebscosaasimplementations@ebsco.com, and we’ll be glad to assist you.

The questionnaire will cover the following topics:
  • Search, discovery and patron empowerment options
  • Authentication configuration
  • Identifying and confirming the user group access
  • Customization options such us format mappings, pickup locations, place hold display and branding
Please note that you may, at any time, save this form to resume it later, as well as advance past required fields (noted with a red *) to come back to. It is only when you attempt to submit the form that you will be warned of the required fields remaining to be completed.

FOLIO Patron Empowerment encompasses a variety of patron functions that a user can perform on catalog materials including placing holds, cancelling holds, renewing checkouts, and viewing fees. 

Learn More: FOLIO Patron Empowerment in the New EBSCO Discovery Service

About Locate:
Locate, EBSCO’s OPAC solution for FOLIO, brings all library services under one roof, making integration, service and support seamless. Using Locate, patrons can search and browse their library’s catalog, add titles to their bookshelf, and place a hold on a title to pick up at the library.

Learn More: Locate - Quick Start Guide


Contact Information

Please provide your contact information. We will contact you to review your submitted questionnaire and your setup status.

Search, Discovery and Patron Empowerment Options





Patron Empowerment Functionality Verbiage

We have the ability to customize labels in the patron folder and links in the record by selecting either "Holds and Checkouts" or "Requests and Loans".
Holds and Checkouts

Patron Empowerment Customizations





Authentication Configuration

In order to enable patron empowerment for your patrons, we need to establish how they will be authenticating into your selected interface(s).

Barcode/PIN from FOLIO is only valid for Locate (not EDS)



SAML Metadata


i.e. If you have Google Workspace, download it from the Google Identity Provider details page, then upload to a site of your choice to obtain the URL link. For more information, please visit the following Google support document: Set up your own custom SAML application


SAML Attributes

How do our patron empowerment interfaces manage user accounts?

 

User details and library transactions (circulation, requests, fees) are tied to the FOLIO user account. Our patron empowerment interfaces maintain a "shell" patron record with the minimum information required (first name, last name, email and external system ID) for the user to authenticate into them and match the user to their corresponding user account in FOLIO.


The Persistent User ID must match the External System ID in FOLIO in order for the user to log in and be able to place requests and display check-outs/loans and fees. 


For this reason, please indicate which field you are using for the External System ID in FOLIO and in EDS, Locate or both. This value must be available in your directory and released to the interface(s) you selected to have patron empowerment turned on. If you're not sure, please write N/A and we will discuss this further with you.

Please indicate the Attribute Names that your organization will be including in your SAML Assertions. 


Note: A unique, persistent user ID is a required attribute for EBSCO’s SSO integration. Examples of the Attribute Names we’re looking for below can be found here and here. Please indicate exactly how the Attribute Name appears in your Identity Provider.
* this attribute is required for Locate
* this attribute is required for Locate
* this attribute is required for Locate

User Information

In order to set up the best access and authentication solution for your library's interface(s), we'd like to learn more about your library's users.

Most importantly, we need to know:
  • What type(s) of users (groups) have library patron accounts?
  • Which user groups should have patron empowerment functionality? This includes viewing and renewing loans; placing, viewing, and cancelling requests; and viewing fees/fines.
  • How and where are the accounts managed?






Test User Information

Providing EBSCO's implementation and support teams with a test user account for your library will greatly decrease the turnaround time for your setup and is extremely helpful in troubleshooting issues that we we may encounter during the setup process. 

Setting up SSO authentication in EDS, Locate or both requires that the test account be configured with the same user data attributes to be used for production users, and that it also exist as a patron record in FOLIO, and the persistent ID must match the external system ID in FOLIO. 

Thank you! Please make sure that the test user is setup in the same group and with the same permissions in your Identity Provider and/or FOLIO as your patrons/users, so we can fully test access and patron empowerment functionality. 

The Implementation Project Manager (IPM) will reach out soon to securely obtain the test credentials. Please proceed to the next page.


IF THERE ISN'T ANYONE WHO CAN COMMIT TO RUN VERIFICATION TESTING WITH US WE WILL HAVE TO HOLD YOUR IMPLEMENTATION UNTIL SOMEONE CAN BE AVAILABLE OR UNTIL YOU CAN PROVIDE TEST CREDENTIALS. 
IMPORTANT! Test accounts are highly recommended to help facilitate the confirmation of the Locate-FOLIO connection.

Format Mappings in Locate

EBSCO can map Instance Formats and Item Material Types to a customized Format filter. If the item record has a Material Type, that is chosen to display in Locate, if none exists, Locate uses the Instance Format.

 

For example, here are the item material types and instance format types that would be pulled from this FOLIO tenant to populate the Format filter:


FOLIO Demo tenant - Material Types
FOLIO Demo tenant - Format Types
Locate Demo - Format filter


Pickup Locations 

Our patron interface exposes service points as pickup locations when the pickup location value is set to Yes in FOLIO.

However, if the library does not want to expose a service location to patrons, but the pickup location value is set to Yes in FOLIO, we can still hide that location from displaying. 

For example, you may have a pickup location that is designated for ILL, or one that may be temporarily closed.




How to find your location information:
Location UUID

Hiding the "Place a hold" button based on Location

By default, the "Place a hold" button will appear for all item records.


In order to hide the "Place a hold" button on certain items, you would need to provide a list of those items' specific locations. 

For example, you may wish to hide the "Place a hold" button on library-use only items, such as archives and special collections, or on electronic items.


Your Locate Branding

When setting up your Locate instance, we will utilize the logo that is stored in FOLIO. The logo appears in the top left corner of your Locate interface.







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