Note: A printable version of these instructions, including screenshots, is available at the bottom of this article.

Situation:

• Have you discovered or accidentally created two records for the same patron in Leap?

OR:

• Have you saved created an account for a patron where a pop-up appears warning that the account "may already be a duplicate" of an existing account?

If so, you can solve this problem by merging patron records in Leap.

Requirements:

• You will need Tier 4 (Manager) Leap/Polaris permissions to merge patron records
   

Instructions – How to Merge:

1. Open the patron account you want to keep (the active patron account).
   • • Scan or type in the barcode and click the magnifying glass or hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
2. Click the “Registration” button to open the account registration.
3. 
   Click the “Merge” button in the Registration screen.
4. The “Merge Patron Records” window will open. Click “Select record to delete”.
5. The “Find Tool” window will open. Enter the first and last name of the patron you wish to merge and click the magnifying glass or hit the “Enter” key on your keyboard to search.
6. From the list, locate the account you wish to remove (the inactive account). Important: Ensure that the account you select belongs to the same person– it is not uncommon for two different people in the TRAC system to have the same first and last name. Use birth dates rather than names or addresses to tell people apart. (Families may have multiple individuals with the same name living at the same address).
   • • To view the full birth date in the finder, hover your mouse over the line beside “Birth Date”, then click and drag it to the right to expand the column.

7. Once you are certain you have the right account, select it by clicking the checkbox to the left of the barcode.
8. Click the “Open” button.
9. The “Merge Patron Records” window will appear again with the account you selected in the second slot, allowing you a final chance to compare them and ensure that you are merging and deleting the correct accounts. Click the “Merge” button.
10. A “Merge Patron Records” warning will appear. Click the “Continue” button.
11.  Success! Close the account.

An example of why checking birthdates is important

In the example below:

• • The first, middle, and last names of the first two accounts match (green).
  • The third account matches the first and last names, but has no middle name (orange).
  • The addresses of all 3 accounts in the list match (green).
  • The birth date of the second account does not match the other birth dates, indicating that this account is likely to belong to a different person.
  • The account matching the birth date of the open account – in this case, the third one – is the one that belongs to the same person and can be merged.

Prevention: Avoid creating duplicate accounts

If you have a new patron who has moved from another Northern Lights Library System library, you do not need to create them a new account. You can instead change the Home Branch in the patron’s existing account.