1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Appendix E
Appendix E. Development of a “Meta Matrix” for Evaluation of Sources of
Data and Information Related to Environmental Factors
The Meta Matrix is the name given to a procedure used to correlate and evaluate sources of information
and data that may be of pertinent interest to the ongoing MCC Environmental Roadmap
development effort. These sources have been identified from known federal and private
activities or as identified by various individuals who were contacted to provide assistance. The
Meta Matrix, by its nature, is not intended to provide more than a compilation and cursory
evaluation of the identified resources. Some of these sources simply point to other sources,
which, in turn, may point to still others. This is particularly true for those found on the Internet,
which has been found to be a very valuable source of highly pertinent data and information. In
some cases the data are directly accessible on the “Net” and can be downloaded into the user’s
computer. Many Internet sites identify or point to activities, publications, or ongoing programs
that may be of considerable interest to the electronics industry with respect to source
reduction/pollution prevention planning, performance, and evaluation. Other sources identified
during the course of the Meta Matrix activity have included publications, reports, computer
software, and individuals that may be of considerable interest to this Roadmap activity.
The Meta Matrix consists of a “meta evaluation” of each of the identified sources in a structured
format consisting of the following elements:
Item identification (1)
Source (2)
Content (3)
Accessibility (4)
Cost factors (5)
Updating/modification/contemporary value (6)
Pertinence and value to the 1996 Roadmap (7)
This approach is, essentially, an attempt to evaluate a number of information sources in a concise
manner. Obviously, this approach suffers from over-simplification and may tend to highlight
less important sources at the expense of more truly valuable sources. However, for the purpose
at hand, the approach makes available an awareness of sources of data and information that could
prove to be of considerable value to both the MCC Roadmap effort as well as individual
electronics industry companies.
A tabular presentation of the Meta Matrix has been developed in an attempt to quantify the
significance and value of each of the identified sources. The numeric values assigned to a
particular source for a given matrix element are completely arbitrary, although an attempt has
been made to be consistent. During the course of the evaluation it became apparent that a
“Future Value” column might serve to enhance several of the sources, which, on the surface,
have little to offer at present.
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