Automatically add date/timestamp to Notes and Messages
It would be helpful if the system automatically added a date/timestamp to Notes and Messages added to Patron and Item records by staff. Currently, we ask our staff to always add thier initials and date to notes and messages when adding them but it doesn't always happen. There are also inconsistnecies in how these are added and no easy way to search for them. We also find that notes/messages are not always removed after they are addressed.
If we had an accurate way to determine the date a note/message was added, it would be possible to develop a retention policy and procedures for record cleanup.
I would like to see a system generated date/timestamp appended to each note/message which can also be searched so that you could search for Notes/Messages added to patron records before a certian date in order to identify Notes/Messages that could be cleaned up in Global update if they are no longer useful.
Sarah Kasprzak
shared this idea
Planned for the Sierra May 2027 release (v7.1)
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MEEP candidate for the Sierra 7.1 release
Functional Requirements (what does it need to do?)
● Timestamp and user ID automatically added to notes and messages added to patron and item records by library staff.
● Stored as formatted metadata at the beginning of the note or message field
● Displayed in staff UI and API.
● Existing notes remain unchanged.
● User can delete notes and messages using standard Sierra delete commands.
● New storage for datestamp may be needed to be able to search -
MEEP candidate for the Sierra 6.7 release
Functional Requirements (what does it need to do?)
● Timestamp and user ID automatically added to notes and messages added to patron and item records by library staff.
● Stored as formatted metadata at the beginning of the note or message field
● Displayed in staff UI and API.
● Existing notes remain unchanged.
● User can delete notes and messages using standard Sierra delete commands.
● New storage for datestamp may be needed to be able to search(Edited by admin) -
Alison Pruntel
commented
It would also be helpful that the timestamp was consistently applied. When viewing the holds queue for a title, you only see the timestamp in the "Not After" column if the patron placed the hold (Discover, mobile app, etc.). If staff places the hold, no timestamp. Usually when I want to see if there is an issue with how staff may be placing a hold (esp. for item-level holds, which we try and avoid), that's when the timestamp is helpful. Much more so than when the patron placed the hold.
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Vanessa Walden
commented
Can we also add the Sierra login name to the timestamp too? In a consortium we're often on the hunt for "Who did that?" Not to slap any hands, but get more information or confer about a patron.
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Ruth Souto
commented
Yes, please! Having a date/time stamp would greatly improve the ability to ascertain whether or not the note/message is still relevant. Even though we require it, staff do not always remember to add this information. Having it automatically generated will enhance the process.
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Jenn Del Cegno
commented
This would be a very valuable and sensible feature. No matter what policy or training says about signing and dating messages, it's just human that some staff fail to do so. The lack of date can be especially confouding in consortia or large systems when you aren't sure if the message is still needed by a different branch or staff person, or how relevant the information still is.
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Jeremy Goldstein
commented
Brilliant! We're currently implementing policy updates around patron messages, largely driven by the lack of maintenance that is generally done with them.
Having date fields, particularly standardized ones, like this would be such a great help when it comes to reviewing this data in the system.
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Shawn P. Farrell
commented
This would be fantastic, Sarah!
As often as we've shared & stressed a desired format for notes & messages, it's never universally maintained. And we have a long history of notes still attached to patron records that were imported into Sierra when CHPL migrated from Workflows back in 2012.
Even many more recently applied notes & messages are long irrelevant & should have been removed by staff but were not.
I'd love to be able to search for & purge anything older than 5 years, for example, to help declutter patron records. We found one record recently that had 144 notes attached to it. Nobody needs that much of a headache!