Linking Documents and Information Stored in Sharepoint Libraries to Geospatial Representations of Reclamation Features

Project ID: 2998
Principal Investigator: Greg Gault
Research Topic: Water Resource Data Analysis
Funded Fiscal Years: 2010
Keywords: None

Research Question

* Can information stored in SharePoint libraries provide greater context and ease of access when they are linked to Reclamation features to which they are related?

* If so, what best practices are needed to ensure that information related to features is maintained and of high quality?

A wealth of information about the lands and facilities that Reclamation manages on the behalf of the American public can be tied to discreet locations and features, such as parcels, dams, and canals. Location is a powerful organizing framework for information that enhances the ability to find information that is otherwise unrelated, but nonetheless relevant.

SharePoint, a colloborative Intranet-based technology, is being implemented in a number of the Regions. Users are already engaged by the relative ease-of-use that this technology provides, particularly with regards to digital documents.

Need and Benefit

The physical and environmental settings in which Reclamations features exist are becoming increasingly important to Reclamation's ability to make timely decisions about operations while considering surrounding resources. Reclamation maintains a great deal of digital documentation, reports, site photos, condition assessments, realty transactions, easements, and much more information that is directly related to specific features.

On a daily basis, Reclamation must respond to specific questions about specific features or resources. The ability of Reclamation personnel to quickly access pertinent information based on its location has the potential to greatly enhance the efficiency of its retrieval, and therefore responsiveness. For example, a common question that Reclamation receives is whether or not Reclamation owns a particular parcel of land, and if so, what is its status. Finding the parcel in question can usually be accomplished far more quickly by using its location as a search tool.

Similarly, as Reclamation's aging infrastructure becomes the focus of increased scrutiny, information about that infrastructure will need to be more readily accessible to operating personnel. The retrieval of documents, such as condition assessments, site photos, maintenance reports, etc., tied to a map location can provide greater situational awareness with direct access to associated information.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Not Reviewed

The following documents were not reviewed. Statements made in these documents are those of the authors. The findings have not been verified.

Conceptual Model Report (final, PDF, 186KB)
By Greg Gault
Report completed on October 07, 2010

The goal of this project is to develop an approach to allow Reclamation personnel to use an interactive web-based map to link documents stored in SharePoint libraries to the associated feature (e.g., land parcel or facility). Once linked, the interactive web-based map provides a simple way to retrieve related documents. The link also provides a way to display the map location of the feature(s) associated with a document.

Recommedations, Best Practces, and Guidelnes for Link Documents in SharePoint (final, PDF, 84KB)
By Greg Gault
Report completed on October 07, 2010

purpose of this document is to compile recommendations, best practices and guidelines for linking documents to features in SharePoint document libraries, or file system structures.

Implementation Manual (interim, PDF, 342KB)
By Greg Gault
Report completed on August 07, 2012

This report describes the issues faced by the research and the development of modified conceptual model and prototype as a alternative approach to the original research direction.

Prototype (interim, PDF, 41KB)
By Greg Gault
Report completed on August 07, 2012

Info for demo web mapping application code.

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Last Updated: 6/22/20