Borrower import

Format 3: SIS (WA Education Dept)

This format contains only 22 fields, which should be downloaded into a data file from the Administrative software (SIS) in the sequence as shown in below.

Please Note: All files must be in a standard .CSV format. Any unused fields should be left blank but included as null fields.

Format 3: All Fields/EDSAS (SA Education Dept)

You must have at least 19 columns, up to 25 columns (with the exception of 22 – see Format 2).

Mandatory Fields: Borrower Shortname (Unique ID/BarCode) and Borrower Type. Additionally, you need to have data in the Location column even if this does not come from your Admin system. If you do not store patron location against the student in your admin system, you can just put a 1 in every line of the file and match this 1 to your library location later.

Please Note: If the data file only contains 19 fields the Guardian details are copied from fields 12 – 16.  Any unused fields should be left blank but included as null fields.

How Records Are Matched

The records will be matched in the following way:

1. Unique ID/Other ID – If the Unique ID/Other ID (BarCode/Ref2) from the file is found in Borrower, then the information for that patron will be overwritten with the data there, regardless of whether or not the name is the same. So if a student changes their surname, the new surname would come across in the import as long as the Borrower ID/Barcode is identical.
2. Surname/Given Name – If no matching Borrower ID/BarCode is found, the system will then do a search for any matching surnames and first names. If there is one match found, the system will overwrite that record with the data in your file.
3. Date of Birth – If more than one match is found for the surname and first name, the system will then try to locate the correct one using the date-of-birth. If a matching date-of-birth for that surname and first name is found, that record is updated. If the birthdates for these Borrowers are null then the Borrowers are considered duplicates (and the system creates a new record with an auto-generated AMLIB BarCode).

In the example below John Goldsmith changed his Surname to Smith. The BarCode in the Amlib borrower record was identical to the Unique Import Key (Unique ID), therefore the details were updated, showing the Borrower details with the new Surname.

• The Borrower Import will remove single quotes from any incoming names – for example: O'Brien becomes OBrien.

Suggested Pre-import Tasks

You may wish to move all year 12 students (or year 6 students – for primary schools) into another class such as Year 13 or Year 7 using Mass Borrower Change. From there you can upgrade all other years and import new students. Any returning year 12 (or 6) students would be updated and moved back to class year 12 (6). All Remainder students can be dealt with as necessary.

Alternatively all students may be mass changed to a generic class via Mass Borrower Change, thus giving all students a single class. When doing then next import, all classes will be changed to the correct class. Any left with the generic class can be dealt with as necessary.

Before starting the import process, check the Type, Group, Class and Location tables in Amlib to ensure all required codes have been created. Check the Location table to ensure that the locations required have a Valid for Borrower setting of Y.

Importing Into Amlib

1. Launch the Amlib client
2. Go to Main > Borrowers > BorrowerImport – the Borrower Import screen will display:
   
3. Click the F1 Open button – the Import File… screen will display:
   
4. Browse to file to be uploaded, select (highlight) it and click on the Open button
5. Your data will appear in the Borrower Import screen and a prompt will display with the following message: All the Type, Group, Class and Location Codes have been loaded from the Import File. Use the ‘Setup’ menu to assign each Imported Code an equivalent Amlib Code before using the ‘Import’ option to update all the Borrowers.
   
   
   
   The data read from the Borrower Import File can be sorted or have the actions calculated prior to importing the data into Amlib.
6. To sort: From the menu, select Sort By > and select the sort field – the data can be sorted by Surname, Given name, Borrower Type, Group or Class.
   
7. The calculate action option (Table > Calculate Action) will read the import data and state whether each student import will be UPDated, NEW or a DUPlicated student record
   
8. If the F4 Import button is greyed out, it indicates the mapping between the imported codes needs to be setup (or adjusted) to match the codes used within Amlib. If it’s is bolded, the skip ahead to step 13
9. From the menu, select Setup and then select one of the following Borrower fields: Types, Groups, Classes or Locations – in the example below, we have selected Types:
   
   
   Please Note: If a selection is greyed out, this indicates there are no codes requiring mapping for that field. Once a field has been successfully mapped a bolded tick will appear at the front of the selection.
10. A Setup screen will display with two columns: The Imported Type and the Amlib Type. The Imported Type will be the data located in your Borrower Type column (Field 6/CSV column F) of your import file. The Amlib Type will be the codes located in the Main > Borrowers > BorrowerTypes screen.
    
11. For each Imported Type, use the Amlib Type drop-down to select a Borrower Type you would like to match (map) it against
    
    Please Note: It is possible to map more than one Imported Type to the same Amlib Type.
12. You will need to do this for all the bolded selections in the Setup menu – when you have finished all the fields, they will all have a bolded tick next to them and the F4 Import button will then be active (bolded):
    
13. Click the F2 Save to save the Setup for next time. This will save all the mapped codes into a configuration file so that the process does not need to repeated for each import. (The configuration file is AMIMPORT.ini which is saved into the Windows folder. On Vista and Windows 7 it is copied to the Compatibility Files folder
    
    NOTE: If the F2 Save does NOT successfully save the file each time, it may be because there are NO Write permissions allowed on that file)
14. Click the F4 Import button – the Borrower Import Files screen will display – this screen allows you to create files to save New, Updated and Duplicate borrowers to. It also allows you to Overwrite Given name(s) and initial(s) and to Use (their) Date of Birth for unique checking.
    
15. Type in the filenames, and tick the settings you would like to use, then click the OK button – a prompt will display asking if you wish to save any changed borrowers to a file for recovery purposes: It is recommended that all changed Borrowers be written to a text file for recovery purposes. Do you want to save changed Borrowers to a file?
    
     

     Caution: This is your insurance for your borrower data and is thoroughly recommended!!

16. If you click the Yes button, a dialog box will display so that you can choose the file name for your original data and where to save it
    
    
    Please Note: In subsequent downloads, the restore.txt or restore.csv file will already exist and a message will display asking if you wish to overwrite this file. You would normally respond Yes to overwrite the file.
17. Once complete, a prompt will display notifying you that: The Borrower Import is complete.
    
    
    Please Note: The import process can take several minutes (for example: 1-3 seconds per borrower). The status of the import displays at the bottom of the screen.
18. If borrowers with duplicate Borrower IDs are imported, then you will receive notification of this as part of the completion notice: The Borrower Import is complete. Some Duplicate Borrower ID’s were detected – these Borrowers have been saved to the ‘Duplicate ID’ saved file.

File Checking

1. An Amlib Unique ID (BarCode) was created for the borrower who had the same ID as someone else (AMLIB0000…):
   
2. If you go into the main Borrower screen (Main > Borrowers > Borrower) and go to File > DisplayFile you will see your three files for new, updated and duplicate borrowers, and a file for any duplicate IDs if your import had any
   

Common Errors

• The chosen file does not contain Borrower Import records.

This could be caused by either having the information in the correct columns or having headings across the top of your document. Remove any headings and double check your file against the Import formats in this document.

• The chosen file does not contain valid records.

This could be caused by having headings across the top of your import file or it being saved in an incorrect format (for example: .xlsx and not .csv). Please remove any headings, ensuring that it only contains Borrower information and make sure it is in one of the three formats mentioned at the beginning of this document.

Please Note: It is always a good idea to run a Borrower Import on your test databases first, to ensure no errors happen. If you do not have a test databases, please contact Support via one of the above methods to find out how to set one up.

Borrower Import Matching

The following explains the exact method in which Amlib matches on borrower imported records:

1. Uses the Unique ID to match on Borrower BarCode
2. If no matches then uses the Unique ID to match on Borrower Ref2
3. If a Preferred Name has been Supplied:
   • Matches on Surname and Preferred EXACTLY
4. If 2, matches on Surname and Preferred EXACTLY
5. If Date-of-Birth Supplied:
   • Searches on Surname, Preferred and Date-of-Birth
6. If no matches and an Initial has been supplied:
   • Matches on Surname, Preferred and Initial
7. If no matches and an Initial has NOT been supplied:
   • Matches on Surname, Preferred and NULL Initial
8. If no Date-of-Birth Supplied:
9. If no matches and an Initial has been supplied
   • Matches on Surname, Preferred and Initial
10. If no matches and an Initial has NOT been supplied
    • Matches on Surname, Preferred and NULL Initial
11. If no matches on Surname and Preferred EXACTLY
    • Searches on Surname EXACTLY and LIKE Preferred (for example: Preferred%)
12. If no matches then matches on Surname and Given EXACTLY
13. If 2, matches on Surname and Given EXACTLY
14. If Date-of-Birth Supplied:
    • Searches on Surname, Given and Date-of-Birth
15. If no matches and an Initial has been supplied:
    • Matches on Surname, Given and Initial
16. If no matches and an Initial has NOT been supplied
    • Matches on Surname, Given and NULL Initial
17. If no Date-of Birth Supplied:
18. If no matches and an Initial has been supplied:
    • Matches on Surname, Given and Initial
19. If no matches and an Initial has NOT been supplied:
    • Matches on Surname, Given and NULL Initial
20. If no matches on Surname and Given EXACTLY
    • Searches on Surname EXACTLY and LIKE Given (for example: Given Name)