Importing Patron or Student Records

To import/update patrons or students, it is better to first create an Excel file to have a better look at the information being imported into Mandarin. The minimum information recommended would be a unique identifier for each patron (it could be a student ID from your SIS), last name, and first name. Additional fields are always good to have, like Grade, Homeroom, Teacher, Email. (see sample file)

Create a different spreadsheet if necessary for each group of patrons you are importing, like for staff or teachers

Once you create an Excel file we can help you import it, email it to us and provide as much detail about the data in the email. We'll go ahead and import it for you and if you request it, we can remove any student that is not on the list (implying that they are not in school any longer because they graduated or left the school) 

IF YOU WANT TO TRY YOURSELF, BELOW ARE THE STEPS

Notes

• If the student ID in the file you are importing is already in Mandarin and the Student ID (barcode) matches up, the system updates the patron information based on what is in the file you are importing. If the student is not in Mandarin, they are simply added.

• Mandarin will never remove any students automatically from your database, librarians have to inspect and remove them either manually or through a global change

Here are the import process steps:

• Open the Excel file and make sure the information lines up in every column with the information the library needs. After this, the file will be saved as "tab delimited".

• In the “catalog” button, click on the drop-down arrow and select "Cataloging Tools". On the column to the left, select "import"

• From “select table”, choose “patrons”, then click the blue folder and navigate to the patron file location. Next, select “upload”.

• Click “import” on the right. At step 1 of 4,  click “next”. On step 2 of 4, the patrons on the file will be listed. Click “next”.

• MAPPING: At step 3 of 4 a check mark will be placed next to the fields to be imported. Select the fields where import each row as shown below.

Field mapping list for patrons

• At step 4 of 4, click the down arrow for the patron group where these will be imported (a group assignment rule can be applied as well). Finally click “finish” to import the patrons.