Locate Shell Records
(Why some patrons get an HTTP 500 Internal Server Error in Locate)
Here's what's happening...
The first time a user signs into their My Bookshelf area of Locate, a “shell” patron record is created with the following basic information:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Username
- Email Address
- External System ID
The shell patron record is stored in Locate with the information from the original sign-in. The next time the user logs into Locate, the system checks against the existing shell records to see if there is a match.
If something changes in the FOLIO user account (such as email address), the data points between the FOLIO record and the Locate shell record do not match. The system finds a shell record with a matching External System ID, but the validation of the other attributes (email address) fails. This causes an error.
Depending on the type of change to the FOLIO user account, patrons may see different errors. An email address change will cause an HTTP 500 Internal Server Error:
Barcode/PIN sites might see a Page Unavailable error if a user’s External ID changes:
To correct these errors, EBSCO must either clear the original shell patron record from Locate (allowing the system to see them as new patron and creating the shell record over again) or they must change the data in the shell record to match what is currently in FOLIO.
Currently, these changes to the shell records must be made by the Locate team at EBSCO. If you see this happening, and you know that an attribute has been updated, enter a ticket to have the shell record cleared or updated.
