Managing technical illustrations in digital formats
| Date | 01 April 1994 |
| Pages | 83-86 |
| Published date | 01 April 1994 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047939 |
| Author | Pat Carberry |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
MANAGING TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATIONS
IN
DIGITAL FORMATS
Pat Carberry
The CALS Engineering Information
Management Office
at
Fort Meade, Maryland—a
division
of the
Information Systems Security
Organization (ISSO)
of the
National Security
Agency (NSA)—has developed
a
centralized
digital library
to
replace
the
physical library.
Now, customers have instantaneous desktop
access
to any
document stored
in the
digital
library. Graphical documents
are
stored
in a
variety
of
formats.
An
important component
of
the digital library
is the
capability
of
online
evaluation
of
engineering change proposals
(ECPs), which
are
prepared
by
agency contrac-
tors.
The new
digital library makes
all of
these
change proposals immediately available
to
quali-
fied users throughout
the
Information Systems
Security Organization (ISSO). Physical location
and storage
of
documents
are now
transparent.
Allowing many different types
of
graphic for-
mats made
it
necessary
to
identify
a
viewing tool
that would
be
capable
of
handling
all of the
required formats.
The
CADleaf package
met the
basic requirement
of
supporting
all
graphic
formats contained
in the
digital library.
CADLEAF PLUS
Recently,
the
CALS Engineering Information
Management Office
at
Fort Meade, Maryland—a
division of the Information Systems Security Organiza-
tion (ISSO)
of the
National Security Agency
(NSA)—has developed
a
centralized digital library
to
replace
the
physical library.
Now,
customers have
instantaneous desktop access
to any
document stored
in
the
digital library. Graphical documents
are
stored
in a variety of formats thus requiring a capable viewing
and redlining tool.
To
support this requirement,
CADleaf from Carberry Technology, Lowell, Massa-
chusetts,
was
selected
(see
sidebar
1).
In
the
past, according
to
Dana Gift, computer
scientist
at
the
NSA,
it maintained a library of engineer-
ing documentation composed
of
aperture cards, paper
and vellum drawings, hardcopy manuals,
and
more.
These documents were located within
a
network
of
physical storage sites.
If a
customer requested
a
document,
it
would
be
retrieved
and
mailed
or
delivered
to
the
proper parties. This process
was
slow
and
cumbersome, requiring
an
indefinite turnaround time
for customers.
An important component
of the
digital library
is
the capability
of
online evaluation
of
engineering
change proposals (ECPs), which
are
prepared
by
agency contractors. Reviewers
may
provide color
overlay comments
to a
copy
of the
ECP.
In the
past,
ECPs were submitted
as
paper documents that included
both text
and
graphics. When
the
documents were
submitted,
the
agency's review process required that
Carberry
is president, Carberry Technology, Lowell,
Massachusetts.
— MANAGING TECHNICAL
ILLUSTRATIONS
— ISSUE 48
—
12:4 (1994)
83
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