BiblioViva Documentation
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Step-by-step guide

Import the open loans

This guide explains how to bring into BiblioViva the books currently on loan, when switching from another program. It is for whoever administers BiblioViva and is done only once, on the day of the switch.

  • Time: about 20 minutes.
  • Account: admin. No other account can import loans.
  • Requirements: the list of open loans, with the card number and the copy barcode of each one; the students, teachers and catalogue already imported.

Every imported loan keeps its original date and due date; those already overdue appear at once among the late loans. BiblioViva checks the whole file before writing anything and imports only if there are no errors.

Procedure

Before starting

  1. Import the students: see Import the students.
  2. Import the teachers: see Import the teachers.
  3. Import the catalogue: see Import the catalogue.

The loans file refers to people and books already present: without the previous steps every row would be an error.

Prepare the file

  1. Press Administration, then Imports, then Open loans. The Import the open loans page opens.
  2. In the The template of the file box choose the columns and press Download the template.
  3. Open the template with a spreadsheet and write one row per loan.
  4. Save the sheet in CSV format.

The columns, with English names as in the template:

ColumnContentGroup
card_numberthe card number of the patron, already importedrequired
barcodethe barcode of the copy, already importedrequired
issued_onthe date of the loan, YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY; if missing, todayoptional
due_onthe due date, in the same format; if missing, it is calculated as at the deskoptional

Without the due_on column the due date is calculated with the loan rules and the calendar: see Set the loan rules.

Upload and check

  1. In the File step, in the CSV file field, choose the file and press Upload.
  2. In the Columns step check that each column is matched to the right field: Card, Barcode, Issue date, Due date. The others are ignored with — ignore —. The page warns if the dates are missing.
  3. Press Check the file.
  4. In the Check step read the Result column of each row: New or Error, with the explanation in Details. To see only the rows to correct tick Show errors only.
  5. If the page says that some loans are already overdue, check that the dates are right: those loans are imported and appear among the late loans.
  6. If there are errors, correct the file, press Back to the columns, upload it again and check once more. With even one error Import the loans stays off.

Import

  1. Press Import the loans. BiblioViva writes everything at once.
  2. Read the summary of the Completed step: "… loans imported, … of them already overdue".

Important. The import is meant for the day of the switch and is run only once. A second file with the same loans gives an error, because the copies are already on loan.

Result

The books on loan are recorded on the right patrons, with the original dates. Opening Loans, then Books on loan, shows the same loans as in the old program; whoever returns them goes through the Returns page as usual. The original file stays stored on the BiblioViva computer.

After the import it is worth doing a spot check: read a few cards and a few labels with the barcode scanner and compare the loans with the old program.

Possible problems

Import the catalogue
Set the loan rules
Return a book
Imports

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