Digital Engineering Document Repository Optimization
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2007-10-04
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TRIS Online Accession Number:01089493
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Edition:Final Report December 15, 2005 – June 28, 2007
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Abstract:Information technology now makes it possible to create digital repositories of previous hard-copy document archives. The benefit of such a system is to “have data at our fingertips no matter where we are and what document contains the data”. However, such a benefit presumes easy document retrieval. Prototypes of such systems indicate that as point solutions, rapid direct retrieval of documents can be achieved. But as the diversity of documents, user groups, and desired retrieval outcomes increases, the ability to retrieve “the” document and its associated data becomes less likely. Instead, lists of documents are frequently found and navigation through these lists is often clumsy at best. Safety concerns require that existing documents be readily available when needed, that such documents are not lost, and that version and ownership control exists. The University of Alabama’s Civil Engineering and Management Information Systems Departments, and the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) collaborated on this project to research the issues and prescribe effective approaches for synthesizing leading practices from existing transportation organizations and the information systems/sciences discipline. This project provides guidance to transportation organizations as they create digital repositories of their technical engineering documents. The goal of the project was to refine digital storage structures beyond that of hardcopy folders, and to refine retrieval capabilities beyond smart PDF capabilities. To achieve this goal, the project: 1) Conducted a literature review of transportation specific document management systems; 2) Conducted a review of current Information System/Computer Science (IS/CS) literature concerning advanced and evolving abstraction techniques and meta tag structures; 3) Benchmarked state departments of transportation for leading practices and unresolved issues; 4) Developed advanced requirements for ongoing and/or historic document acquisition strategies; 5) Developed advanced requirements for document retrieval strategies; and 6) Developed alternative conceptual design for storing and retrieving documents.
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