Capture and retain user department field after loan is anonymized

Current situation or problem: The user record now has a core field of user department. Libraries will want to use that field for reporting purposes for anonymized loans. That means it needs to be included on the loan record, since after anonymization, you can no longer link back to the user record to find information. This is similar to how patron group is retained when the loan is anonymized.

In scope

• adding a user department field to the loan record;

• populating the department field with the patron's user department when the loan is created;

• retaining the department field if/when the loan is anonymized;

Out of scope

• Changes to the departments API

Use case(s)

• Libraries want to anonymize loans, but also want to be able to produce annual reports about loan activity in specific academic departments.

Proposed solution/stories

Links to additional info

Questions

• If a patron's user department changes after the item is loaned, should the department change on the loan record?

• Should this feature also include displaying the user department on the UI for the loan, or is it sufficient for staff to go to the user's record directly if they need to see the department information?