Illinois EPA presents nearly all of the site data and written information open to the general public by internet browser
Building organized libraries, of information, allows the State of Illinois to present images and data from differing systems to the public transparently. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has over the years converted much of the paper, photos, and drawings into indexed content. Using Docuware as it’s common Content Manager, the system contains a dataset of documents held in volumes in an electronic library. This content used to be held in many file cabinets, paper boxes, and storage shelves throughout the State of Illinois.
Building a solid image library was just the beginning.
Along with the converted data, the GIS (Geographic Information System Mapping) area of IEPA precisely cataloged the locations of all sites by the common identifiers. The common Identifier is the IEAP Site#. The interesting issue for IEPA is that other agencies, both State and Federal, will work on a site and create their own Identifiers for the project creating multiple dissimilar methods for finding the same data. All of this information is held in multiple data silos in the agency.
Many ID’s into one
Agencies, departments, programs, and divisions all have Identifiers for many reasons. The confusion comes when adding those to the ID’s coming in from outside the State. IEPA matches all ID’s to the IEPA Site# so that there is one key, allowing everyone to communicate together.
IEPA Site# as the key to all data
IEPA links public users online to live site data and cross-links documents in Docuware to present images, to any user on their website. Users do not need to know the site number because the Name, Locations, Map Coordinates, and Site# are all linked together. This nearly eliminates the need of the users to request information from a file room and waiting for paper files to be found and delivered. Let’s see how that works.
IEPA Document Explorer walkthru
This website is https://external.epa.illinois.gov/DocumentExplorer/Geography
There is a map a user can use to zoom in to a location and see the data and images for that location.
Use the examples below to create your own search.
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What Users See on IEPA
What Users See on IEPA
The user sees an interactive map. You can find a location using 'search' or zoom to an area. Site markers are seen by the user as dots on the map as the area gets smaller.
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Orange and Grey Markers
Orange and Grey Markers
Grey Dots represent sites that do not yet have public documents available. Hover your mouse over these sites the location information can be seen. Orange Dots indicate active site documents are available. Double-clicking on these dots brings up a list of available documents.
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Categories of Documents
Categories of Documents
Available Documents are listed by Category with an item/page count and the originating Bureau. Clicking on any of these categories will list the documents in that category.
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Items Found In Docuware
Items Found In Docuware
The list of documents contains the Program ID, Site Name and Item Date. Clicking on any of these items will present the document using Docuware web viewer.
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Displayed in Docuware
Displayed in Docuware
The list of documents contains the Site ID, Program ID, and Item Date, clicking on any of these items will present Documents via Docuware web viewer. There are no apps or plug-ins for the user to download. The user can print/download documents as needed.
IEPA and CMCiMaging working together, creating functional designs
The logistics for processing the millions of documents were designed and implemented using the CMC iMaging’s team of Document Scanning Specialists.
The design allows for the management of all of the data coming from IEPA site data to be married to and linked to those documents received and scanned at the CMC Imaging conversion center. The images are tagged and processed so that all tracking and auditing information is attached and follows the work thru the system and remains with the final document.
Building a solid foundation by including all of the key fields needed to marry images, location, and data, allows IEPA to deliver site information directly to the public.
Unlike paper files which are often misfiled, misplaced, or have images removed, digital documents have high levels of security keeping documents safe.
Every record is stored in a safe location, controlled by IEPA accurately providing information to everyone.