Managing What Students Can Access
Purpose
Control borrower permissions and restrictions in Reading Cloud.
Covers: Group-based permissions; restriction settings; advanced borrower/resource permissions.
Does not cover: Printing cards or labels.
When to Do This
After student records are correct and logins are active.
Instructions
By default, anyone that is added is placed into a built-in group with limited permissions called 'Guest'. Using Group Manager, it is possible to set up additional security groups to be assigned to specific borrowers, giving them unique permissions.
A borrower's security group can be viewed on an individual basis or it can be added to a page view so you can view it for all borrowers. It is important to ensure a borrower is in the appropriate security group.
You may wish to provide specific Borrower's with a Student Librarian account to assist with processes within the library. You can Give certain students access to circulate so that they can issue and return books, but without them having full access to the circulate function or access to management.
You can create different borrower restriction groups, set up the permissions and then add borrowers into them. The borrowers then inherit the Restrictions of their assigned group.
Setting up restriction groups for your borrowers allows you to have different restrictions for different borrowers. Tailoring the settings of the restriction group allows you to adjust the amount of resources a particular tutor group, group of borrowers or even an individual borrower can have out at any one time and allows you to add an extra layer of control to how your resources are issued.
In addition to setting a restriction group on the tutor group or borrower record card, this can be assigned within the restriction settings themselves.
You can now focus on Applying Age Restrictions. For any age restriction to apply, the 'Apply age restrictions' tick box within the restriction settings needs to be ticked.
Defining the settings in the borrower restriction group allows you to set the default loan period allowance and reservation limit for borrowers within that specific group. These restrictions can be further tailored using Advanced Borrower Restrictions.
Tips
- Keep restrictions minimal to avoid blocking legitimate access.
- Test permissions with a sample borrower account.
FAQs
Q: Can I set restrictions by tutor group?
A: Yes – see Tutor Group Restrictions article.
Q: Can I amend the restrictions against an individual borrower's (e.g. Allow an avid reader to access extra books)
A: Yes - see Assigning Restriction Groups
Q: Can I stop younger borrowers accessing books meant for older borrowers
A: Yes - see Applying Age Restrictions
How some of our other customers have phrased this
- How do I stop certain students borrowing books?
- Need to set age restrictions in the library system
- How do I make someone a student librarian?
- Set restrictions for a whole tutor group
- How do I change a student’s restriction group?
- Assign permissions to different year groups
Need Some Extra Help
If you are struggling with an issue please let the friendly Reading Cloud Service Team help. If you are using the chat bot and your issue is urgent, just say “Transfer for help please”. Alternatively if you prefer you can email them with support@reading-cloud.com or give them a call on +44 (0) 330 822 5359.