Upload Library Materials

Bulk upload books, journals, and other library resources to the catalog.

Time required: 15-30 minutes depending on volume

Module: openeducat_library, openeducat_library_enterprise

User role: System Administrator, Library Admin

Prerequisites

System Administrator or Library Admin role
Library categories configured
Material data prepared in CSV/Excel
ISBN data available (optional)

Steps

Step 1: Prepare Import File

Create a CSV/Excel file with columns:

Column	Required	Description	Example
Title	Yes	Book title	”Introduction to Algorithms”
Author	Yes	Author name(s)	“Cormen, Leiserson”
ISBN	No	ISBN number	”978-0262033848”
Category	Yes	Library category	”Computer Science”
Publisher	No	Publisher name	”MIT Press”
Quantity	Yes	Number of copies	5

Step 2: Access Import Function

Go to OpenEduCat -> Library -> Media
Click Favorites -> Import records
Or use Action -> Import

Step 3: Upload File

Click Upload File
Select your CSV/Excel file
File preview displays

Step 4: Map Fields

Map CSV columns to system fields:

CSV Column	System Field
Title	name
Author	author_ids/name
ISBN	isbn
Category	category_id/name
Publisher	publisher_id/name
Quantity	qty

Step 5: Configure Import Settings

Setting	Description	Recommended
Create Missing	Create new categories	Yes
Update Existing	Update if exists	By ISBN
Skip Errors	Continue on error	No (review errors)

Step 6: Validate Import

Click Test Import
Review validation results
Fix any errors in source file
Re-upload if needed

Step 7: Execute Import

Click Import
Wait for completion
Review import summary

Step 8: Verify Records

Go to Media list view
Filter by import date
Spot-check sample records

Required Import Fields

Minimum Fields

Field	Notes
Title	Required
Author	At least one
Category	Must exist or create
Quantity	Number of copies

Recommended Fields

Field	Notes
ISBN	For identification
Publisher	Publisher info
Edition	Version number
Year	Publication year
Location	Shelf/rack
Price	Acquisition cost

Sample CSV Format

Title,Author,ISBN,Category,Publisher,Year,Quantity,Location
"Introduction to Algorithms","Thomas Cormen","978-0262033848","Computer Science","MIT Press",2009,5,"CS-A-001"
"Clean Code","Robert Martin","978-0132350884","Programming","Prentice Hall",2008,3,"CS-B-012"
"Design Patterns","Gang of Four","978-0201633610","Software Engineering","Addison-Wesley",1994,2,"CS-B-015"

Handling Special Cases

Multiple Authors

Format	Example
Comma separated	”Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest”
Semicolon separated	”Cormen; Leiserson; Rivest”

Multiple Copies

Approach	Description
Quantity field	Single record with count
Individual	One record per copy

E-books

Field	Value
Type	E-book
Quantity	Unlimited or license count
Location	Digital
URL	Access link

Field Reference

Media (op.media)

Technical Field	UI Label	Type	Notes
`name`	Title	Char	Required
`author_ids`	Authors	Many2many	Author records
`isbn`	ISBN	Char	Unique identifier
`category_id`	Category	Many2one	Library category
`publisher_id`	Publisher	Many2one	Publisher
`edition`	Edition	Char	Version
`qty`	Quantity	Integer	Copy count
`location`	Location	Char	Shelf position

Troubleshooting

Import fails with duplicate error

ISBN or internal reference already exists. Use update mode or change reference.

Category not found

Create category first or enable “Create Missing” option.

Author names not matching

Check name format matches existing author records.

Quantity not updating

Verify quantity field is mapped correctly and contains numbers only.