BiblioViva Documentation
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Step-by-step guide

Import the catalogue

This guide explains how to load the books and copies into BiblioViva from a file, for example when leaving another program. It is for whoever administers BiblioViva and is usually done once, at the start.

  • Time: 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the size of the catalogue and how clean the file is.
  • Account: admin. Another account can import the catalogue only if the role configuration grants it the Import catalogue permission.
  • Requirements: the catalogue in a spreadsheet, with one row for each copy.

BiblioViva checks the whole file before writing anything and imports only if there are no errors: there are no half-done imports. The file is a CSV, that is a text file with one row per copy and the data separated by ;, , or tab; every spreadsheet can save one. The data of the book (title, author, publisher…) are repeated on the rows of its copies.

Procedure

Prepare the file

  1. Press Administration, then Imports, then Catalogue. The Import the catalogue page opens.
  2. In the The template of the file box choose the columns and press Download the template. The file contains only the header row.
  3. Open the template with a spreadsheet and write one row for each copy.
  4. Save the sheet in CSV format.

The column names are in English and must be left as in the template. The main ones:

ColumnContentGroup
title, author, publishertitle, author (Last name, First name), publisherrequired
biblio_keythe book's code in the old program: keeps the copies of the same book togetherkey
barcodethe barcode already on the copykey
classificationthe code of the genre (fiction) or of the subject (non-fiction)optional
reading_levelthe reading level (fiction)optional

Also optional are isbn, subtitle, publication_place, publication_year, physical_description, series, series_number, subjects, notes, call_number (the call number), item_type (the material: book, DVD…), status, not_for_loan (sì for reference copies), acquisition_date (YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY), item_notes and others: the complete list is in the The template of the file box. The status is written available, lost, damaged, in_repair or withdrawn; the Italian words (disponibile, perso, danneggiato, in riparazione, ritirato) are accepted.

The keys can be left out. Without biblio_key the copies of the same book are grouped by ISBN; without barcode BiblioViva generates the code of each copy and at the end the labels are printed. A book without classification is imported all the same, but it ends up in the To classify list and its copies cannot be lent until someone classifies it.

Note. The barcode of a copy cannot have the form of a card number: copies and cards can never be confused (see Choose the barcode formats).

Upload the file

  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. Columns with the names of the template are recognised automatically; for the others choose the field in the menu, or — ignore — to leave them unused. The choice is remembered for the next import.
  3. Read the warnings under the columns: if the keys or the classification are missing, the page says what will happen.
  4. If the author or the publisher is missing in some rows, tick the box "Special values when the author or the publisher is missing": in the empty fields BiblioViva writes Anonimo and s.n., as in cataloguing. Without the tick those rows are errors.
  5. Press Check the file.

Check the file

  1. In the Check step read the Result column of each row: New, Update, Unchanged or Error. The Details column explains the errors. To see only the rows to correct tick Show errors only.
  2. Above the rows the page summarises the new titles and those already in the catalogue, the copies that will receive a new code and the titles to classify.
  3. If copies of the same book have different reading levels, the page asks whether to switch on the level per copy. Press Yes, level per copy to keep the level on each copy: the choice applies to the whole catalogue and moves the level of the books already present onto their copies. Press No, they are errors to fix to correct the file.
  4. If there are errors, correct the file, press Back to the columns, upload it again and check once more. With even one error Import stays off.

Import

  1. Press Import. BiblioViva writes everything at once. The Completed step summarises the numbers: new titles, copies added, titles already present, copies skipped.
  2. If some copies had no barcode, press Print the labels of the copies without a barcode: see Print book labels.
  3. Press Go to the catalogue to check the books.

Result

The books and copies are in the catalogue. Copies with a barcode already on the copy keep the labels they have; the others have a new code, to be printed. Books without classification are in the To classify list: see Classify books. The original file stays stored on the BiblioViva computer. Importing the same file twice does not create duplicates: copies already present are skipped.

Possible problems

Import the open loans
Change the classification and the reading levels
Choose the barcode formats
Catalogue a new book
Imports

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