Account Settings

Depending on where users are when they are navigating Aspen, users will be taken to either Your Account or remain on the page they are on when logging in.

Users will be Routed to Your Account from:

• Browse Category view
• Pin Reset
• Web Builder Pages (Basic and Custom)

Users will stay where they are in:

• Articles & Databases
• Combined Results
• Detailed Records
• Library Catalog
• Library Website
• Lists
• Web Resources

Setting Up SSO

Single Sign On (SSO) allows Aspen to use an external service other than the ILS for user authentication. 

Aspen has implemented SSO for partners using the following services:

• SAML with Google
• SAML with Microsoft 365
• oAuth 2.0 with Google
• LDAP

However, every configuration is different so ByWater staff will need to evaluate your configuration to see if it can be supported. Note that implementing SSO requires the external SSO service to use a value that is unique to individual users. Therefore, because email is typically not unique in the ILS, services that use patron email as a unique identifier might not work for Aspen at this time.

If you are interested in using SSO, please put in a support ticket and we will reach out to discuss your SSO options.

Finding the Staff Log In

Once you have worked with ByWater to set up your SSO configuration, login for staff will be found in the Aspen footer.

If you have multiple scoped instances, you can go to Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Single Sign-on (SSO) > click into your settings > scroll to the bottom and check Libraries that need the login in the footer.

Creating Staff Accounts:

Via Both Aspen or the Koha ILS

To allow staff account creation via SSO by either Aspen OR the Koha ILS, the system preference PatronSelfRegistration must be set to Allow and the system preference PatronSelfRegistrationDefaultCategory must be set to something besides NULL. Even if you are not using Self Registration in Koha or Aspen, these will need to be turned on to allow staff account creation via Aspen or the Koha ILS.

With this configuration, staff can either log in to the footer of Aspen the first time OR log into the Koha Staff Client the first time to create their account.

or  

Via the Koha ILS Only

If you do not have the above System Preferences turned on in Koha, then the accounts cannot be created via the Aspen Self Registration API. In this case, staff members would need to log into the Koha Staff Client first to have their staff account created.

Via Aspen Only  

Depending on the configuration needs, we can work with you to also bypass authenticating with the ILS and only authenticate with Aspen so the users only exist in the Aspen database, not ILS.

Via Bulk Import Via the Koha ILS

Instead of having users manually log in to create accounts, during implementation we can upload a bulk import of accounts for the SSO users into Koha to create accounts in bulk. 

Staff Permissions and SSO

Default permissions can be set for new staff accounts in Aspen.

First, determine the Role and Permissions that you want to give out as a blanket to all staff signing in via SSO. In the majority of cases, we see libraries giving out the Masquerade permission.

Learn more about Users & Permissions here.

Next, go to Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Patron Types > click into the patron type you want to use for general staff > Assigned Role > select that Role from the dropdown.

In this example, all staff signing in for the first time via SSO will be given the P-Type of LIBSTAFF with the Assigned Role of Library Masquerader and the permission to masquerade as any other user if their patron type is unrestricted.

Note: The patron type is only assigned if the user is created in the process. It does not update an existing user. If it exists already, it will continue to use the patron type assigned in the ILS.

Then go to Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Single Sign-on (SSO) > click into your settings > Staff Users > Patron type given to staff users > select that patron type from the dropdown.

If you want to add additional permissions, beyond what the user is getting with the default staff permissions, you do that the same way you do without SSO. From the Koha ILS, you can use either the card number or the username (if set) field to add additional permissions to the user in System Administration > Administration Users > Add Administrator. This is where you would manually assign permissions for full Aspen Admin, Library Level Admin and any other roles you have created.

Learn more about Adding New Administrators.

My Account

Logged in users can access the My Account page by clicking on the hamburger menu and selecting My Account.

If users click under their name once logged in, they can also see shortcuts to a number of options available within My Account.

My Account shows a menu of options in the left hand panel and a summary of the account status in the main panel. The options here will vary depending on the settings (mostly found) in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems.

Account Expiration

If your library has enabled messages for accounts that are expired or expiring soon, they will display above the menu of account options on the left-hand side of the page.

Below is an example of the default message for a card expiring soon:

These warning messages can be enabled or disabled from Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > Show Expiration Warnings.

In addition, you can customize the messages that display in the Expiration Near Message and Expired Message fields. 

These fields will accept basic HTML tags, so you can link to a contact page or other page with more information about account renewal.

My Library Card

My Library Card will take patrons to a 2D scannable barcode of their library card. Since Aspen is mobile responsive, library patrons can easily scan their library barcode directly from their mobile device. 

If a patron has linked any other accounts, they will also see the barcodes corresponding to the linked cards. 

Showing the Library Card Expiration Date

If you want the patron's library card expiration date to show, you can set this in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > Show Card Expiration Date

Configuring the Type of Library Card Barcode

To set the type of library card your library uses, see settings in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > Barcode

There are a number of commonly used Library Barcode Styles to choose from in the dropdown menu. If you are unsure of what type of barcode your library uses for library cards, you can check this site: https://www.barcodefaq.com/barcode-match/ 

In these settings, you can also set any Min and Max Barcode Lengths and a Barcode Prefix if needed.

My Preferences

My Preferences will look different for the user depending on the ILS and depending on the configuration settings the library has selected.

Username

If you are using the Koha or Polaris ILS with Aspen, you can give users the options to update their username. This is helpful for users who do not want to login and remember their long library barcode number and want to set an easier to use username for themselves. To enable this for your users, go into Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > User Profile > Click Allow Patrons to Update Their Username

Translating the Default Username Message

There is a default message under Username in My Preferences "What is this?". The message says: "A username is an optional feature. If you set one, your username will be your alias on hold slips and can also be used to log into your account in place of your card number. A username can be set, reset or removed from the “My Preferences” section of your online account. Usernames must be between 6 and 25 characters (letters and number only, no special characters)." A staff member with translation permissions can translate this message to fit your library's specifications by either entering Translation Mode or finding the message in Aspen Administration > Languages and Translations > Translations

Language to Display Catalog In

If you have multiple language translations available in your Aspen catalog, then users can choose which language to display the catalog in. Once they select a language and save, the user will see an additional menu of options pop up - "Do you want to prefer materials in English?". The options for users are:

• No, show interfiled with other languages
• Yes, show above other languages
• Yes, only show my preferred language

Note: The menu options in the dropdown menu do not automatically translate to the selected language. You can translate these options by either entering translatation mode or going into the Translations section of Aspen.

Display Mode

If libraries have multiple themes enabled, users will see the Display Mode option. See information on adding multiple themes.

From this dropdown, users will be able to select from options such as dark mode and high contrast that the library has set up.

Once they make a selection and click save, the catalog will automatically change for them.

Do not prompt me for reviews after rating titles

"Do not prompt me for reviews after rating titles" will show if a library has reviews and ratings turned on in Aspen. These settings are configured in Aspen Administration > Catalog/Grouped Works > Group Work Display > Catalog Enrichment. If this setting is toggled "ON" then the user will not be prompted to leave reviews after applying a star rating to a title.

Hide Research Starters

Hide Research Starters will show as an option if you have EBSCO EDS enabled and results are being indexed. Users can toggle this ON to hide all Research Starters. 

Research starters show up in Articles & Databases search results like this:

Home Library

The home library is the location the user is registered at. Libraries with multiple locations can choose to allow users to change their Home Library location in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > User Profile > Allow Patrons to Update Their Home Library

The user can set their home library from a choice of all library locations on the system. To be a location in the Home Library dropdown, it requires the location to be configured as a pick-up location in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Locations > ILS/Account Integration settings. 

Preferred Pickup Location

Users can also set their Preferred Pickup Location if this differs from their home library. An example of this would be if you have a "home" library but you pick up your holds at the library nearest to your work. Like the other location options in My Preferences, locations will only show if they are enabled as a valid pickup location in the Locations settings.

For this setting to show, libraries can configure this in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > Holds > Allow Patrons to Update Their Pickup Location

Alternate Pickup Location 1, Alternate Pickup Location 2

Users can set their Alternate Pickup Locations if libraries turn this on in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > User Profile > Allow Patrons to Update their Alternate Libraries.

When users place a hold, the preferred pickup location will be selected by default, followed by any alternate pickup locations specified, followed by the rest of the locations. This setting can be helpful for library systems or consortia with a lot of locations, so patrons don't have to search through a long list if they decide to change pickup locations.

Bypass pickup location prompt when placing holds

For libraries with multiple locations: if a user only picks up at one hold location, they can choose to bypass the pickup location prompt when placing holds. If this is not enabled, users will have a choice when placing a hold to select their pickup location.

Allow Auto Renewal

If auto renewals are enabled within your ILS, this functionality is turned on automatically. Users can choose to manage their checkouts manually within Aspen by toggling Allow Auto Renewal to OFF.

The Contact Information page will vary depending on the ILS settings.

The fields that are grayed out are not able to modified within Aspen.

Koha and Polaris typically look similar to this:

Sierra and Symphony typically look similar to this:

Libraries can choose which fields they want to allow patrons to modify in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > User Profile

Whatever libraries decide to allow users to update in Aspen, make sure this is also allowable to update in the ILS.

Pronouns

 As of the Koha 22.11 release, Aspen will now show a free text pronoun box in Contact Information. 

This field shows in Aspen if PatronSelfModificationBorrowerUnwantedField in Koha does not have Pronouns checked. This field can be found in Koha in the patron account under Patron Identity > Pronouns:

Prior to this development, some Koha libraries were using a PatronAttribute to create a pronoun field in Koha Admin > Patrons and Circulation > Patron Attribute types. 

If a library was using this, you will see an Additional Information dropdown in the Contact Information area of Aspen:

In the Patron Account in Koha, it would show up in the Additional attributes and identifiers section.

Depending on the ILS configuration, this page enables the patron to update their notification preferences.

If you are using the Koha ILS, users have the option to set their Preferred Language for notices from the dropdown menu.

Note: If you need to hide specific fields from appearing as options in messaging settings, you can do so using CSS in your Theme settings.

Reset My Password Prior to Logging In

Before a user logs into Aspen, libraries can give them an option to reset their password if they have forgotten it.

To enable this, go to Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > User Profile > Enable Forgot Password Link

Once enabled, a link will automatically show up on the log in screen.

The user must have an email associated with their account in the ILS. If you are not collecting or requiring this information, you may consider doing so to make it easier for users to reset their PINs/passwords.

A screen like this will pop up once the user clicks on Reset My Password:

See the PIN/Password Reset Email Notifications section below for more information

Reset PIN/Password from My Account

Note: This functionality is available for CarlX, Evergreen, Koha, Polaris, Sierra, and Symphony

Libraries can choose to allow users to reset their PIN/password once they are logged in via My Account > Reset PIN/Password

To enable this functionality, go to Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > PIN/Password > Allow Pin Reset

Once this setting is checked, users will see a Reset PIN/Password option, where they must enter their old PIN/password and create a new one.

If you have specifications set in Aspen about the length of the password and/or if it can only contain numerical digits, a message will show above the PIN/password fields. 

Setting Password Requirements in Aspen

If you want to require that passwords be a certain length and/or only numerical digits, you can find these settings in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > PIN/Password

Before enabling this feature, check your ILS and other systems (example: self-checkout machine) for consistency to make sure you are not restricting access to any systems based on the PIN/Password settings you applied in this setting.

Once you enable this setting and set up specifications in Aspen, these would ONLY apply to any users resetting their passwords via Aspen.

Examples:

Patron 1: My current password is IloveAspen. I want to reset my password in Aspen. I go to My Account > Reset PIN/Password. In Aspen, the settings in the above picture are applied. I cannot change my PIN/Password to IloveAspen2. Even though I want my password to be IloveAspen2, to match the specifications, I change it to 33703 (between 4-6 length, all digits). 

Patron 2: My current password is IloveAspen. I want to reset my password in Aspen. I go to My Account > Reset PIN/Password. In Aspen, the settings in the above picture are applied. I see the messaging about the pin requirements. I talk to a library staff member. I asked them to change my password in the ILS to IloveAspen2. They can do this because it matches the password requirements set up in the ILS.

Aspen cannot override the ILS PIN/Password restrictions, and we can't make the PIN/Password less restrictive than the ILS. 

Some special characters in passwords/PINs may cause issues with vendors requiring SIP authentication from your ILS. One such noted example is ampersand (&), which can cause errors with OverDrive.

PIN/Password Reset Email Notifications

CarlX, Polaris and Sierra send PIN/Password reset notifications via Aspen's email messaging system. The text of these notices are hardcoded and cannot be configured via Aspen settings at this time.

Koha, Evergreen, and Symphony send the reset notifications via the ILS email messaging system and customization of those notices take place from the ILS.

All other ILS don't have the password reset capability *yet*.

Setting Up PIN/Password Reset Notifications in Koha

Blog Post

Now that you have enabled this functionality within Aspen Discovery, your PASSWORD_RESET notice in Koha needs a little tweaking.

In Koha go to Notices & slips within the tools module. If this notice has not been edited the default will have a portion directing the patron to the Koha reset link.

Note: You might also want to change the Message Subject from "Koha password recovery" (default) to something like "Library Password Reset"

You'll want to change the notice to:

If OverDrive is enabled and configured, the user can access and update their email address for OverDrive hold notifications.

Users can also set OverDrive Default Lending Periods.

Note: These only relate to checkouts within Aspen, this will not push these choices to their Libby App/OverDrive account.

If Hoopla is enabled and configured, users can toggle ON or OFF for Aspen to ask for confirmation before checking out from Hoopla. 

Users who have been assigned administrative permissions in Aspen will see a menu option in their account for Staff Settings. This can be accessed by clicking your username, then clicking Staff Settings in the account menu.

This section will show any role the staff member is assigned (if applicable). Staff settings will also show for anyone logging in with a patron type which has been marked "Treat as Staff." Click here to read more about settings by Patron Type.

Within staff settings, users will also see a Bypass Automatic Logout toggle. If IP Addresses are configured for your library location in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > IP Addresses with "Treat as Public OPAC" checked, and staff use Aspen on that same IP address, then Aspen will not know the difference between the staff user vs. a patron and will attempt to refresh the session.

In order to avoid being automatically logged out according to Location settings, individuals can log into their account, navigate to Staff Settings, and toggle Bypass Automatic Logout to ON.

This page requires Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and system emailing to be configured in System Administration and a profile to be in place for the patron's patron category.

On this page the patron can set up 2FA and turn 2FA on and off. The patron can also access access and refresh their Backup codes.

Linked Accounts allows patrons with access to multiple library cards to easily view and manage their library card barcodes, checkouts, holds, and fines. This is great for families with multiple children's cards, caregivers, neighbors, and any other situation where a user needs to manage multiple accounts. Aspen does not make any decision about relationship, type of card, or other patron factors besides having the user's login and password. 

If libraries want users to be able to utilize Linked Accounts, this can be turned on in Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Library Systems > ILS/Account Integration > Allow Linked Accounts

Once enabled Linked Accounts is enabled in your Aspen system, users will be able to see this in their Account > Account Settings > Linked Accounts.

From here, users can click on Add Account to add additional library card(s). They will be prompted to a screen that looks similar to the sign on screen where they will need to enter the other library card number and pin/password in order for the accounts to be linked.

Once the account is linked, the user name and home library will show up under "Additional accounts to manage".

If another user has linked to your account, the user that has linked to your account will show up under "Other accounts that can view this account."

If a patron account is linked to by someone else, they are notified with this message that says, "Other accounts have linked to your account. Do you want to continue allowing them to link to you?" :

Clicking “Yes” or the “x” in the top right corner will simply dismiss the message, while “Manage Linked Accounts” will bring the user to their Linked Accounts page and dismiss the message.

If a user clicks on “Learn more about linked accounts” the message will remain and they will be brought to their Linked Accounts page. By bringing the user to their Linked Accounts summary page, they will be able to see the accounts that have linked to them and remove them accordingly if needed.

If they do choose to remove an account that linked to them, that account will receive this message,

"An account you were previously linked to, {user's name}, has removed the link to your account. To learn more about linked accounts, please visit your Linked Accounts page."

Again, we direct the user to their Linked Accounts page to manage their Linked Accounts if needed. If the account that linked to them broke the link by disabling account linking and the user tries to add that account again, they will receive the following error message,

"Sorry, this user does not allow account linking"

Once a link has been set up, the linkee will see a notification in their My Account right when they log in that will say,

"You account is linked to by {user that linked to you - home library} Learn More about Linked Accounts". 

If they click on Learn more about Linked Accounts this will take them into the Linked Accounts section and settings.

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Once you have added a Linked Account, you will now start to see the user's checkouts, holds, library card barcode and fines interfiled with your information. 

Checkouts

You will now see the checked out items for accounts you linked to specified by the field "Checked Out To" in My Account > Checked Out Titles.

You can sort by Library Account to group and sort these checkouts.

Holds

You will now see the holds for accounts you linked to specified by the field "On Hold For" in My Account > Holds.

You can sort by Library Account to group and sort these holds.

eContent Checkouts and Holds

When checking out econtent or placing a hold, you can choose from a dropdown which account the hold/checkout the item should go on.

Library Card Barcode

You can view any of the barcodes for linked accounts that you have in My Account > My Library Card.

Fines

If you have one of the payment integrations set up in Aspen, you can manage the fines, fees, and payments of linked accounts. In this example, I am logged in as Kal M. but can see, manage, and make payments on my test kid's library card. 

Linked Account Reading History

For privacy purposes, Reading History will not show on linked accounts. 

Prior to the 22.12 Aspen release, we allowed removing accounts that a patron manages, but there are many scenarios where patrons may want to remove accounts that have linked to them. This used to be achieved by patrons changing their PIN/password, which would disable account linking until they accepted the message. To give patrons better control over their Linked Accounts, we have removed this functionality and added a new one.

When looking at the Linked Accounts page, if there are accounts that have linked to a patron, they will now see a “Remove” button next to their name. You will also notice the addition of a “Disable Account Linking” button.

Linked Account Removed - With Pin/Password Reset

Upon removing an account that has linked to them, patrons will receive the following message if their library allows password changes,

"Linked Account Removed - Successfully removed linked account. Removing this link does not guarantee the security of your account. If another user has your barcode and PIN/password they will still be able to access your account. Would you like to change your password?"

Linked Account Removed - Without Pin/Password Reset

If their library does not allow password changes, this is the message they will receive,

"Linked Account Removed - Successfully removed linked account. Removing this link does not guarantee the security of your account. If another user has your barcode and PIN/password they will still be able to access your account. Please contact your library if you wish to updated your PIN/Password."

Tip: Both of these messages are translatable, so if your library has different needs in terms of messaging, you may change them accordingly in Languages and Translations > Translations.

In some scenarios, you may have patrons who want to disable account linking altogether. This is possible with a simple press of a button.

When a patron clicks on this button, they will first be notified that disabling account linking severs any current account links and will prevent any new ones with the message,

"Disable Account Linking - Disabling account linking will sever any current links and prevent any new ones. Do you want to continue?"

If they accept this message, account linking will be disabled and they will receive a message regarding their account security and resetting their PIN/password.

Note: Much like removing account links, this messaging will differ if their library allows or disallows changing their PIN/password.

Once account linking is disabled, their account page will only show the following message and an “Enable Account Linking” button:

To enable account linking again, all a patron needs to do is click the button and then click “Accept” in the following message,

"Enable Account Linking - Re-enabling account linking will allow others to link to your account. Do you want to continue?"

In Aspen Adminstration > Primary Configuration > Block Patron Account Linking, Admin with permissions can input two library barcodes to prevent future links to be made with those accounts.

By checking, Check this box to prevent the blocked barcode from accessing ANY linked accounts, you can prevent that user from linking to any account in the future.

In Aspen Administration > Primary Configuration > Patron Types > click into a patron type > Account linking setting > you have the following options for Linked Accounts per patron type:

• Allow to be linked to and link to others (default)
• Allow only to be linked to
• Allow only to link to others
• Block all linking (no linking either way allowed with this patron type)

These settings will give you flexibility per patron type of what/who you want to link to who.

Example: Our library only wants to use Aspen's Linked Accounts to allow Adult cards to link to Juvenille cards. So, we would click into Juvenile patron type and select: Allow only to be linked to and then in our Adult patron type we would select: Allow only to link to others. 

Allow to be Linked to and Link to Others

This is the default setting for all patron types, which allows all patrons to link to others and allows them to be linked to by other patrons. Any patron with this setting won’t see much of a change in how their linked accounts work.

Any patron with this setting will see the full page, which looks like this:

Allow Only to be Linked to

This setting will only allow patrons to be linked to, and they won’t be able to link to others. If you switch to this setting from “Allow to be linked to and link to others” or “Allow only to link to others,” any linked accounts a patron with this patron type has linked to will be removed. If the patron has linked accounts where they are the ones who have been linked to by another, these links will remain.

If a patron with this setting tries to link to another patron, they will receive the following message:

 They will no longer see the option to link to another patron - here is what their linked accounts page will look like:

Allow Only to Link to Others

This setting will only allow patrons to link to others, and they won’t be able to be linked to. If you switch to this setting from “Allow to be linked to and link to others” or “Allow only to be linked to,” any linked accounts where they are the ones who have been linked to will be removed. If the patron has linked accounts where they are the ones who have linked to another patron, these links will remain.

If a patron tries to link to a patron with this setting, they will receive the following message:

Patrons with this setting will no longer see the section that would show accounts that have linked to them - here is what their linked accounts page will look like:

Block All Linking

This setting will block all linking to and from the patron. If a patron has any linked accounts, those links will be severed upon this setting being applied.

For our current release, if a patron with this setting tries to link to another patron or if another patron tries to link to them, they will receive the aforementioned error messages.

These users will no longer see any account linking options - here is what their linked accounts page will look like:

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