Indexing Indexing is a never ending process of generating information to allow documents meeting searchable criteria to be located or listed for further research.
  • Index information grows as actions are taken - by virtue of records od actions being kept
  • Additional information may be added as it becomes available, namely
    • Keywords which are allocated manually - often based on word search's such as Include xxx Exclude yyy
    • Entities such as Work Packages, Zones, Areas, Levels, etc which are allocated at document level

Quick Questions This is usually either to find a known document, or more commonly some information relevant to that document

There are just two situations, illustrated by the following common questions.

  • Have I got the latest revision ?
    • How would I know ? Probably not answerable by me.
    • Is it my responsibility to go and find out ? ISO9001 says NO. Most contracts say NO.
  • Has my subcontractor got the latest revision ?
    • If I dont know I have a serious problem. This is MY responsibility (ISO9001 and Contractually)

There are a number of ways of answering questions:

  • Consult the files
    • Takes a fair amount of time
    • May be impossible if someone else has the file
  • Use some software
    • If it has a "treeview" or drill down capability - very fast
    • If I have to know the answer (???) before I start - often impossible.

Complex Question This is usually to generate a list of possible documents, which seen together can resolve a larger matter
A complex question is one with the following characteristics:
  • It is being run on a large volume of data - probably several thousands of records
  • The filtering can be on many different aspects of the profile simultaneously, for example
    • words found in the title revisions, comments, (xxx AND / OR yyy, etc)
    • relevant date ranges (received, issued) and relevant reasons and or status
    • latest or any revision, document types, orginator, use, etc
  • It results in a report of a chosen level of detail, which may include
    • title or document information (latest rev, latest status etc)
    • revisions (all or latest)
    • movements (receipt, issue, status, comments)
    • keywords and or attached entities

Points to Note
  • Indexing and the ability to answer complex questions quickly are linked,
  • Answering Quick Questions in an unindexed environment can take a lot of time.

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