Another terminology survey: Debarred, restricted, etc.
Nicole writes in Bug 4947 (http://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=4947):
In the patron management and overdue notice settings you can 'debar' a patron, but when you do that the patron record says they're 'restricted' - we should use the same language so that it's clear that this is why the patron cannot check out
"Debar" is the term Koha originally used. When we were working on 3.0 we were doing an "audit" on librarian-speak and trying to come up with more user-friendly terms. "Restricted" was chosen for the staff client because it seemed to be a more commonly understood term. To make matters more confusing for us, the term "frozen" is used in the OPAC. In my opinion as a speaker of American English, "Restrict" is better and we should be working to eliminate "debar." I don't mind that the patrons see "frozen" because I think that best reflects their status from their point of view. What does everyone else think? -- Owen -- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org
Agreed. When explaining this to others, I've had several people ask if Koha was going to revoke the patron's license to practice law. "Restricted" or "suspended" would be much clearer than "debarred", at least for Americans. Cheers, -Ian On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 9:47 AM, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote:
Nicole writes in Bug 4947 (http://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=4947):
In the patron management and overdue notice settings you can 'debar' a patron, but when you do that the patron record says they're 'restricted' - we should use the same language so that it's clear that this is why the patron cannot check out
"Debar" is the term Koha originally used. When we were working on 3.0 we were doing an "audit" on librarian-speak and trying to come up with more user-friendly terms. "Restricted" was chosen for the staff client because it seemed to be a more commonly understood term. To make matters more confusing for us, the term "frozen" is used in the OPAC.
In my opinion as a speaker of American English, "Restrict" is better and we should be working to eliminate "debar." I don't mind that the patrons see "frozen" because I think that best reflects their status from their point of view.
What does everyone else think?
-- Owen
-- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
-- Ian Walls Lead Development Specialist ByWater Solutions Phone # (888) 900-8944 http://bywatersolutions.com ian.walls@bywatersolutions.com Twitter: @sekjal
On 07/07/10 14:52, Ian Walls wrote:
Agreed. When explaining this to others, I've had several people ask if Koha was going to revoke the patron's license to practice law.
"Restricted" or "suspended" would be much clearer than "debarred", at least for Americans.
There is a a semantic difference though, isn't there? between restricted and suspended. Suspended like debarred suggests that the borrower's privileges are removed (albeit temporarily). Restriction suggests some less absolute reduction (You can still borrow books but only on Tuesdays and if you wear an orange bowtie) C. -- Colin Campbell Chief Software Engineer, PTFS Europe Limited Content Management and Library Solutions +44 (0) 208 366 1295 (phone) +44 (0) 7759 633626 (mobile) colin.campbell@ptfs-europe.com skype: colin_campbell2 http://www.ptfs-europe.com
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 10:13 AM, Colin Campbell <colin.campbell@ptfs-europe.com> wrote:
On 07/07/10 14:52, Ian Walls wrote:
Agreed. When explaining this to others, I've had several people ask if Koha was going to revoke the patron's license to practice law.
"Restricted" or "suspended" would be much clearer than "debarred", at least for Americans.
There is a a semantic difference though, isn't there? between restricted and suspended. Suspended like debarred suggests that the borrower's privileges are removed (albeit temporarily). Restriction suggests some less absolute reduction (You can still borrow books but only on Tuesdays and if you wear an orange bowtie)
I agree with Colin here. Suspended would probably be more accurate. Now, off to look for my orange bow tie.... ;-) Kind Regards, Chris
I agree with Colin here. Suspended would probably be more accurate.
Okay, several votes for "suspended" already. I like this one too in that it would work well in the staff client and OPAC both. -- Owen -- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org
Hi, On Jul 7, 2010, at 10:37 AM, Owen Leonard wrote:
I agree with Colin here. Suspended would probably be more accurate.
Okay, several votes for "suspended" already. I like this one too in that it would work well in the staff client and OPAC both.
+1 "suspended" Regards, Galen -- Galen Charlton VP, Data Services Equinox Software, Inc. / Your Library's Guide to Open Source email: gmc@esilibrary.com direct: +1 352-215-7548 skype: gmcharlt web: http://www.esilibrary.com/
Also a vote for 'suspended'. Kyle http://www.kylehall.info Mill Run Technology Solutions ( http://millruntech.com ) Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) Meadville Public Library ( http://www.meadvillelibrary.org ) On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Galen Charlton <gmc@esilibrary.com> wrote:
Hi,
On Jul 7, 2010, at 10:37 AM, Owen Leonard wrote:
I agree with Colin here. Suspended would probably be more accurate.
Okay, several votes for "suspended" already. I like this one too in that it would work well in the staff client and OPAC both.
+1 "suspended"
Regards,
Galen -- Galen Charlton VP, Data Services Equinox Software, Inc. / Your Library's Guide to Open Source email: gmc@esilibrary.com direct: +1 352-215-7548 skype: gmcharlt web: http://www.esilibrary.com/
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+1 suspended - and I note that it should used the same way across the board - all occurrences of restricted or debar should be replaced so that it's clear what we're talking about. Nicole 2010/7/7 Kyle Hall <kyle.m.hall@gmail.com>:
Also a vote for 'suspended'.
Kyle
http://www.kylehall.info Mill Run Technology Solutions ( http://millruntech.com ) Crawford County Federated Library System ( http://www.ccfls.org ) Meadville Public Library ( http://www.meadvillelibrary.org )
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 10:41 AM, Galen Charlton <gmc@esilibrary.com> wrote:
Hi,
On Jul 7, 2010, at 10:37 AM, Owen Leonard wrote:
I agree with Colin here. Suspended would probably be more accurate.
Okay, several votes for "suspended" already. I like this one too in that it would work well in the staff client and OPAC both.
+1 "suspended"
Regards,
Galen -- Galen Charlton VP, Data Services Equinox Software, Inc. / Your Library's Guide to Open Source email: gmc@esilibrary.com direct: +1 352-215-7548 skype: gmcharlt web: http://www.esilibrary.com/
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_______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
We are currently using with a certain ILS, but dislike, two different terms. A patron can become "blocked" for fairly minor peccadillos, like overdue materials, which is set by the system but controlled with sysprefs, or simply a yearly renewal of their card/account. A staff member can "bar" a patron for more serious situations--vandalism, a number of seriously overdue items, etc. The system automatically "unblocks" a patron when the items are returned, but to be unbarred requires staff intervention. These are actually set under a patrons "privilege" and "status". "Restricted" implies to us there are things you can do, and other things you cannot. For example, in driving you may be restricted if you are required to wear glasses, or if you can drive during the day but not at night. An ILS equivalent might be that a young patron could not check out adult materials (i.e. "The Joy of Sex"). I/we do not take a position on this matter, except to point out what I perceive the term "restricted" to mean. "Suspended" seems to be a good term, and would seem to be well understood. One place where these categories and terminology becomes important is for related computer systems, like public access control systems "PACS", that need to access these categories when checking the ILS for authentication. The "PACS" need to be able to read these fields in the database, and have system options that either grant or deny access to the computer based on system preferences. It also may be that the library would chose to permit different access based on different database fields. For example, using our case of "blocked" and "barred", we might permit a "blocked" user to login to the computer locally with full access to the installed software, but not grant Internet access, while a "barred" patron would get no access at all. In short, I'm not stating a strong case for any particular terminology, except to note again that "blocked" and "barred" are not very good, and that "suspended" probably has some merit. Greg ================================= On 07/07/2010 08:47 AM, Owen Leonard wrote:
Nicole writes in Bug 4947 (http://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=4947):
In the patron management and overdue notice settings you can 'debar' a patron, but when you do that the patron record says they're 'restricted' - we should use the same language so that it's clear that this is why the patron cannot check out
"Debar" is the term Koha originally used. When we were working on 3.0 we were doing an "audit" on librarian-speak and trying to come up with more user-friendly terms. "Restricted" was chosen for the staff client because it seemed to be a more commonly understood term. To make matters more confusing for us, the term "frozen" is used in the OPAC.
In my opinion as a speaker of American English, "Restrict" is better and we should be working to eliminate "debar." I don't mind that the patrons see "frozen" because I think that best reflects their status from their point of view.
What does everyone else think?
-- Owen
participants (8)
-
Chris Nighswonger -
Colin Campbell -
Galen Charlton -
gsl -
Ian Walls -
Kyle Hall -
Nicole Engard -
Owen Leonard