FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

ANNEX 2
Document Management System
The document management system developed for the Study is an especially valuable asset. It includes all
metadata for all documents produced by the Study and has hypertext links to these resources on secure
servers. The document management system was used to pre-determine long-term disposition of Study
information resources and to anticipate approaches for continuous access to these resources after the
Study is concluded.
Figure J-2: Document management system query
Development of the document management system put initial emphasis on reports, publications,
correspondence and guidance materials. It was significantly expanded to include graphic elements such as
tables, graphs, questionnaire results and geospatial data themes. It allows users to search for background
information and data based on keywords, geographic locations and relationship to performance indicators
used for the Study. In the future, this system is expected to be maintained under the Great Lakes
Information Network (GLIN) as a clearinghouse tool for regional information management.
Web Mapping Application
When the web mapping application was developed for the Study, it was too late to be an important element
in the plan formulation process. This was due to late delivery of geospatial data from the TWGs in the
Study process and corresponding changes in distributed web service technologies. The web mapping
application includes most geospatial data from the TWGs and provides the linkages to related documents
and other materials within the document management system for further information retrieval about a
specific geographic region, coastal unit or performance indicator. Using current web mapping service
protocol, the application allows dynamic access to geospatial data hosted and maintained by Environment
Canada (Ontario and Quebec regions) and by other federal, state and provincial partners. These tools have
been improved and enhanced and are expected to be used well into the future, if adaptive management
approaches are included in IJC outflow control operations.
152 Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows