L2 Basics: Accounts, Affiliations, and User Permissions
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There are two concepts within L2 that are intertwined, but separate. These concepts are Accounts and Affiliations.
Accounts
Accounts in L2 allow you to log in, register for events, add information to your learning log, and search the people directory. Every user needs to have a unique email address for their account. This email does not necessarily need to be the one that will be publicly displayed to other logged-in users.
Affiliations
Each account on L2, should have at least one affiliation. The only required type of affiliation for general L2 users to have a fully-functional account is a Location (or, a library building). Beyond that, users can have as many affiliations as are appropriate. See the table below for the types of affiliations and who they are for.
| Affiliation Type | For | Requirements For Affilation Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Staff, library board members, and managers of a library Location (or Building); Note: A Location Affiliation is required for a fully-functional L2 account | The user has a library-related email address or their affiliation with the library Location has been approved by a library administrator. |
| Agency | Administrators of a library Agency | The user's affiliation with the library Agency has been approved by a library administrator. |
| Group | Members or Admins of a Networking Group | The user has been approved by a Networking Group Admin. |
| Catalog Consortium | Staff, board members, and managers of a Catalog Consortium; Note: Approval of Catalog Consortium requires special permissions | The user's affiliation has been approved by Catalog Consortium staff with Admin permissions. |
| Regional Library System | Staff, board members, and managers of a Regional Library System (e.g., CPL, IHLS, RAILS) | The user's affiliation has been approved by Regional Library System staff with Admin permissions. |
| Illinois State Library | Staff, board members, and managers of the Illinois State Library | The user's affiliation has been approved by the Illinois State Library staff with Admin permissions. |
An affiliation on its own will not determine the access that a user has. The affiliation is used in conjunction with the Role/Access Group on each affiliation to determine the access.
Location Affiliations
When you affiliate with a Location, you are affiliating with an individual building. Many libraries only have a single Location, and in these situations, all staff should be affiliated with that Location. However, there are many libraries that have multiple Locations. In these instances, you should affiliate with that building.
You are by no means limited to being affiliated with just one building; you can affiliate with as many buildings as is necessary. A common occurrence for this is with school librarians. Often, they may need to be affiliated with multiple schools as they are responsible for multiple schools.
Board
The “Board” Role/Access Group is designed to be used exclusively for listing board members for a library. These users should be associated with the primary library Location for an Agency. Users within this group will appear in the “Board” section of the library’s Staff List.
Staff
The Location “Staff” Role/Access group is similar to the “Board” role, except these are general staff. Users who are “Staff” appear on the “Staff List” for each of the buildings that they are affiliated with. Staff users have the ability to edit their own affiliation information.
Managers
Those users with the Location “Manager” Role/Access group have the highest level of permission for a Location. Location Managers are able to manage, create, edit, and delete affiliations for any Location that they are affiliated with. Those with the Location “Manager” Role/Access group are responsible for maintaining the Staff List for that Location.
A user with a “Manager” role for a Location may also edit some fields for a Location within the library's directory page. Some of the editable fields include:
Phone Number
Fax Number
Contact Email address
Website URL
Hours for the Location
These are just a few of the fields that a Manager has access to modify.
Location Affiliation Roll/Access Group Permissions | Board | Staff | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
Appear on the Staff/Board Affiliation List for the Location | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Manage Affiliations (Staff List) for location | No | No | Yes |
Edit Location Information | No | No | Yes |
| Title Examples | Trustee, Board President | Librarian, Circulation Staff, Paraprofessional | Library Director, Assistant Director, Department Manager |
Agency Affiliations
Agency affiliations have a lot more access to edit a library's directory information. There are two levels of access for Agency affiliations: “Manager” and “Admin”.
Manager
The Agency “Manager” role has the ability to manage the staff lists for all of an Agency’s buildings, and may also edit the Location information for all an Agency's buildings. This is useful for those libraries that have multiple buildings.
Admin
A user with “Admin” Role/Access Group for an Agency has significant access. Beyond being able to manage the Location affiliations for all of the buildings, they can also add, update, and delete affiliations for an Agency.
Agency Admins also have the ability to edit certain fields on an Agency level. Some of these fields include:
Contracting Library Service Provider
Legislative Districts
Agency Affiliation Roll/Access Group Permissions | Manager | Admin |
|---|---|---|
Manage Affiliations (Staff Lists) for All Agency Locations | Yes | Yes |
| Edit Agency Information | No | Yes |
Edit Location Information for all Agency Locations | No | Yes |
| Title Examples | Department Manager, Assistant Manager | Director, Deputy Director, School Librarian, Superintendent |
Related Pages
- Create a New L2 User Account
- Editing Your Library's Agency Information
- Editing Your Library's Location (Building) Information
- Managing Staff Lists
Contact Us/L2 Help
If you have questions or encounter any issues, visit the L2 Help page or submit a help desk ticket to help@librarylearning.org.