The purpose of an online card application is to save people time in the library, and ideally, immediately provide them with a library barcode so that they can use library resources online.

Straightway we’re going to admit that our on the cheap online card application is not the ideal online card application solution. But it costs nothing, takes minimal staff time and saves patrons a bit of time. So. It is better than nothing, which is what most libraries have to offer.

Quick-n-Dirty Online Card Application
It’s a simple idea. Just embed a Google Form on your site. Include the details from your paper card application and tell it to email library staff whenever there’s a new submission. Staff then enter patron details into the ILS and have a card ready for them when they come to the library with whatever identification is needed. A nice touch would be to email or call (depending on what they’ve selected as a preference) when the card is ready for them to pick up. This can also serve as a reminder to bring the proper form of identification.

Ideally these emails would be forwarded to an address that’s checked hourly so that people can be promptly alerted that their cards are ready. Not as ideal but still somewhat within reason would be checking for emails at the end of the day and getting in touch with people then. No one in the circ department checking their email that often? You could always setup a filter in Gmail and forward these messages to a cellphone.

Whether you’re going to check hourly or daily, make sure you clearly state the time period in which people should expect to hear back from you. Then follow through with it.

Here’s what a form embedded in your website could look like:

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Protip: When creating a form like this you can customize the confirmation message people see after submitting the form. So instead of the default “Thanks. Your responses will appear in my spreadsheet” create a message like:

Thanks for joining us!

We’ll be in touch within a couple of hours to let you know when your card is ready. If you have any questions in the mean time, phone us at XXX.XXX.XXXX or email us at info@xyzlibrary.org.

P.S. For people that aren’t comfortable submitting their details online, the online card application page would be a good place for a PDF of the application for them to print, fill out, and bring in.