Ingesting legacy data using mermaidr
If you are new to MERMAID but have data from past surveys in other formats, you may be trying to figure out how to import your legacy data into MERMAID. The mermaidr package is a way to ingest your old data into MERMAID. However, the ingestion process requires a fair amount of time to prepare your data in the correct format.
Ingesting data should only be used for legacy data. For an ongoing project, it is easier to use the app directly.
Steps for ingestion using the mermaidr package:
- Create a project in MERMAID with sites, management regimes, and users added.
- Adjust your data format to the MERMAID template. You can download the template for each method using the mermaid_import_get_template_and_options function from the mermaidr package. More information on how to use it can be seen here.
- Ensure the mandatory fields are filled. Mandatory fields include an asterisk (*) sign in the column name.
- Check each field to make sure it matches allowed field options for importing data for a given method. To check each field, use the mermaid_import_check_options function from the mermaidr package. More information and example on how to use it can be seen here. A field that matches will produce a green check sign.
- After all fields have passed the checking process, you can import your data using the mermaid_import_project_data function from the mermaidr package. Detailed information and an example can be seen here.
All ingested data will appear on the Collecting page. These data will need to go through the regular validation and submission process. For an example how to ingest your legacy data using the mermaidr package, head to the ingesting fishbelt data example.
Unsubmitted ingested transects appear on the Collecting page of the user who did the ingesting. To transfer unsubmitted sample units to another user, a project admin can use the project's Users page.
We have also prepared below a video to walk you through the ingestion steps, using the historical fishbelt data as an example.