When you leave an opac note on the patron record it used to show on the checkout screen in black font under Notes - it no longer does. I know that it's an OPAC note, but there are messages that are OPAC specific and those show in the staff client as well - and so should this.
Nicole I can't find a revision of circulation.pl which shows the OPAC note. I wonder if we shouldn't focus instead on eliminating altogether the notes fields which are added via the patron edit screen. Why not use the messages system on circulation.pl?
Owen, Notes are used for more permanent things like 'Signed Internet Permission Form' or 'No computer access' - whereas messages are for things that require action. Or at least that's how its used. I would not be the one to say we can remove those fields - not when so many libraries have data in them already.
Even so the OPAC note + messaging *is* redundant, and the argument kind of falls down there - everything in the OPAC is transient.
Please also keep in mind that OPAC note and internal note in the borrowers table can be filled with data using the patron import tool. Messages can't be imported.
I'm closing this because the original bug doesn't seem to be valid. The other issues about permanent vs. temporary notes can be addressed in a new bug if someone feels strongly about it.