What should a public registry look like?

In part 1 of this series we talked about what a public registry is used for and showed a couple of examples of registries that were very simple or medium level amounts of details.  In this post we’ll show an example of a public registry that shows much more data than most and then we’ll talk about the next generation of public registry for association management.

What should a public register contain?

High Details

Regulatory bodies in Ontario are required to show much more information about the registrant.  The search page is similar to others, but includes a search by city and postal code – allowing users to find registrants close to their location.

In order to protect their members privacy, this College has a few options built into their association management software for limiting the display of registrant information on the public registry including the following list.

Controlled by the member:

• Display home address if the primary business address is the home address?
• Display registrant email address?

Controlled only by the College:

• Don’t display registrant on registry at all (used for stalking cases)
• Display conditions on the registry (certain license conditions are internal use only)
• Display discipline cases on the registry (the College can determine what cases to display)

The details page for each registrant shows much more information including a summary, conditions on the registrant’s license, and even completed discipline cases for the registrant.

The Next Generation of Public Register

In the era of mobile responsive design and with software that is able to be configured by the end-user, Alinity incorporates the best practices of public registries from regulatory bodies across the country and adds some new features!  Mobile responsive design is one of the more important details meaning that the public registry must look great no matter what device you’re using – your desktop computer, an iPhone or Android phone or your iPad.

The College should be able to configure how people search and what details are displayed to them.  The college should be able to configure the level of detail shown on summary cards and the level of details shown when a user clicks one of the cards.

What the Public Sees…

Users in general have become accustomed to a single search box allowing them to do Google-style searches.  Modern association management software should be able to recognize search patterns and return the results that make the most sense.  Since the most common searches are for name, registration number or location, those should be the primary search types.

When a user clicks on a result, the details displayed to them are simple and well layed out.  On the configuration screen above, the College decided what details to display to the public.  If something is missing, then College staff can change what details are there.

Association Management Software

The right association management software allows you to display the right level of detail to the public as required by local, provincial and federal laws as well as your own by-laws. If you’re considering setting up a public registry for your members – keep these options in mind as you decide what to show the public.