1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the Operational Concept Description

1.2 References

2 Domain Description

2.1 Organization Background

2.2 Organization Goals

2.3 Description of Current System

2.3.1 Overview of Current System

2.3.2 Current System Shortfalls

2.4 The Entity Model

2.4.1 Entities

2.4.2 Entity Specification

2.4.3 Diagram of the Entity Model

2.5 Organization Activity Model

2.5.1 Organization Activity Model of the Current System

2.5.2 Organization Activity Model of the Current System Once the Books are Stored Remotely

2.6 Interaction Matrix

3 System Analysis

3.1 Statement of Purpose

3.1.1 Overview of Proposed System

3.1.2 How the Proposed System Addresses the Current Shortfalls

3.2 Project Goals

3.3 System Responsibilities

3.3.1 World War I - Access Enhancement Database System Responsibilities

3.3.2 World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Responsibilities

3.4 Quality Goals

3.5 Changes Considered But Not Included

4 Concept of Operation for the Proposed System

4.1 Operational Overview

4.1.1 Operational Stakeholders

4.1.2 Organizational Relationships

4.1.3 Operational Policies and Constraints

4.2 Operational Impacts

4.3 Organizational Impacts

5 Operational Scenarios

5.1 Operating the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine

5.1.1 Search Engine Mainstream Scenarios

5.1.2 Search Engine Support Scenarios

5.1.3 Search Engine Exception Handling Scenarios

5.2 Operating the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem

5.2.1 Administrative Subsystem Mainstream Scenarios

5.2.2 Administrative Support Scenarios

6 Analysis Results

6.1 Summary of Advantages

6.2 Summary of Disadvantages/limitations

6.3 Alternatives and Tradeoffs Considered

7 Common Definition Language for Domain Description

8 Appendix 

1 Introduction

This section describes general purpose of this Operational Concept Description (OCD) and the list of reference documents it will be referencing to support its descriptions.

1.1 Purpose of the Operational Concept Description Document

The OCD for the proposed World War I Access Enhancement System describes the context in which the proposed system is to be built to the stakeholders. Also it illustrates what the system is and how it will work in practice. Its intent is to provide a clear understanding of how the system’s operational stakeholders interact with the system, and how they interact with each other in the context of the system. Its main goals are to enable the operational stakeholders to evolve knowledgeably from their current operational concept to the new operational concept; and to enable the stakeholders to collaboratively adapt the operational concept as new developments arise.

• Name of the System: World War I Access Enhancement System
• Operational Stakeholders:
  1. Customer
     • Role: Kenneth Klein, Head of Von KleinSmid Center Library, is the interface between user and developer.
     • Organization: The Von KleinSmid Center Library (VKC Library), a division of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Library System.
  2. User
     • Role: Uses the system to search the books
     • Organization: Students, faculties, and librarian of the University of Southern California and general public with Internet access
  3. Librarian
     • Role: Assisting the users to locate the books
     • Organization: The Von KleinSmid Center Library (VKC Library), a division of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Library System.
  4. System Administrator
     • Role: Responsible for inputting, editing, and updating the system's data.
     • Organization: Information Service Division
  5. Developer
     • Role: Design, implement, and test the proposed system
     • Organization: Team 13 which is compromised of students in CSCI 577b

1.2 References

The information provided in this OCD document came from the following sources:

• Meeting with the Customer—September 25, 1998
• Meeting with the Customer—October 9, 1998
• Meeting with the Customer—November 25, 1998
• WinWin Artifacts developed in conjunction with the Customer.
• The Von KleinSmid Center Library Homepage
• The original project description from CSCI 577a.

The information provided in this OCD document relate to:

• System and Software Architecture Description (SSAD)
• System and Software Requirements Definition (SSRD)
• Feasibility Rationale Description (FRD)
• Life Cycle Plan (LCP)
• Prototype

2 Domain Description

This section describes the context for the proposed World War I - Access Enhancement System. It describes the organization background and the goal to show why the system is being built and how it is going to support the organization by showing current system and its shortfalls. It is also consists of several diagrams which describe the domain of the project, including organization and stakeholders, at various levels of an architectural perspective.

2.1 Organization Background

The Von KleinSmid Center Library (VKC Library) is an integrated part of the University of Southern California’s library system. It contains an extensive collection of books, publications, journals, international documents, encyclopedias etc., in the areas of political science, international relations, public administration, urban planning and related subjects. The VKC Library holds a collection of approximately 1200 volumes related to the first World War. Some of these books are large in size and occupy considerable storage space. Like many other libraries, the VKC Library is currently running out of physical space to store its collection. Consequently the VKC Library would like to archive some of its less used materials into storage facilities where they can be warehoused more economically, beginning with the library’s World War I collection. However, the library would still like to make the materials as accessible to its users as much as possible. Ideally, the library users should be able to search for the material and use the results of the search to determine whether that material is worth obtaining and borrowing. See also http://www.usc.edu/isd/locations/international/vkc/collect.htm.

The VKC Library serves the students and faculty of four departments namely, Public Administration, Political Science, Urban Planning & development, and International Relations. The World War I collection comes under the Political Science department, however now it has more historic significance. There are three stacks of books related to current political science waiting to be placed in the shelves.

As stated on their web page, the mission of the VKC Library is to assist students and faculty in obtaining and using the resources in its library. The VKC librarians are dedicated to this objective, providing personal research consultations, classes on using the research tools and other services. See http://www.usc.edu/isd/locations/international/vkc/service.htm.

2.2 Organization Goals

The following are the goals of then Von KleinSmid Center Library relative to the proposed system. Many of these goals reflect what the VKC Library wishes to achieve by having the World War I - Access Enhancement System. It is important to note that many of the organizational goals delineated below reflect endeavors to curb the anticipated problems arising from warehousing books remotely. These problems are anticipated since the books are currently still in the stacks.

1. Increase visibility and access to library materials. This complies with the USC Digital Library's goal of making its materials more accessible to its users. This goal can be achieved via a system that would make selected materials available on the World Wide Web, allowing anyone with access to the Internet to use USC's materials.
2. Improve space efficiency by storing the less frequently used books to the remote sites. The VKC Library, as mentioned above, has a limited amount of space to house its vast collection. Naturally, its use of space can be improved by housing only those materials accessed the most frequently. This goal can be achieved by remotely storing less frequently used books.

   Assuming that a collection of books have been stored remotely . . .

3. Improve customer satisfaction via a system that would enhance access to remotely stored books. Users of the VKC can feel frustration trying to access remotely stored books since they cannot physically browse through books. This goal can be achieved by providing them with a system which would partially replicate browsing the stacks (e.g., table of contents, abstract, etc.). The goal can be measured by surveys that ask users whether the system helped them confine their search and subsequent book requests.
4. Improve efficiency of librarians and staff via a system that would decrease the number of requests for books that the user, ultimately, will not use. With the WWI collection stored remotely, it would The success of this goal can be measured by two sets of surveys. The first survey would be administered when the books are remotely stored but prior to the deployment of the proposed system. The second survey would be administered after deployment of the proposed system. In brief, each survey would ask the user to
5. Minimize costs for maintaining remotely stored books. As mentioned in the problem description written by the VKC Library, retrieving a remotely stored book can be labor intensive and, consequently, costly. As such a system that would minimize the number of unnecessary retrievals, defined simply as a retrieval of a book that the user ultimately does not find helpful, would reduce labor costs. The success of this goal can be measured by the time

2.3 Description of Current System

Whenever applicable, the description of the current system below describes (1) how the current system works presently, while the books are still in the stacks, and (2) how the current system will work once the books are warehoused into remote storage.

2.3.1 Overview of Current System

The VKC Library has its own Web page with links to many different services and search engines but it does not have a system set up to specifically search for its collection of World War I collection. It also does not have a comparable system that would meet the prescribed goals as stated in section 2.2.1 above.

A typical search by a user under the current system can be diagrammed as such.

High-level Block Diagram of Current System

The World War I collection is presently located on the bookstacks in the VKC Library. These were used students and faculty of the Political Science Department, but now they are no longer used as part of the coursework. At present these books are mainly used for research purposes. Currently, a user searching for WWI Materials, would have to use a general USC library search engine such as HOMER. Most of the library collections can be accessed via Internet through HOMER. A search on HOMER returns a brief (one sentence) description of the material and its location in the USC Library System. However the World War I collection cannot be accessed through the Internet via HOMER. This is because SIRSI is in the process of making this information available via HOMER. The World War I collection consists mainly of books written in English. However, it also has a number of books written in other languages, namely, German, Russian, etc. The description of these books in the card catalog is partly in the native language and has been partly translated to English. The library staff assists user in locating these call numbers on the bookstacks. The person then goes through the books and borrows those that are relevant to his/her purpose.

Once the books are remotely stored, the high level operational diagram above would change. After the HOMER has returned the results of the user’s query or user finds the books from the card catalog, the user must order the books from remote storage before s/he can adequately assess the value of those books to their research. See the interaction matrix below for a more detailed description of the activities.

2.3.2 Current System Shortfalls

The current system falls short in the following ways:

• The current search facilities (e.g., HOMER) do not contain relevant information in their databases that could potentially aid users in helping them assess the value of the material. When applicable, HOMER returns a terse, one sentence description of the item found and its catalog number and location in the USC Library System.
• Under the current system , the user must obtain the material first before s/he can assess its value. This defeats the library’s goal of warehousing its WWI collection and yet making it accessible to its users.
• When the World War I collection is shifted to remote storage, the users will not be able to view these books before issuing them from the Library. They will order books from remote storage based on the Homer or card catalog description and it might lead to unnecessary paging of material from remote storage. Ultimately, it might leave the users unsatisfied and the Library staff will be overburdened.

Thus, a new system is needed that would provide information to help users "partially replicate" browsing the stacks.

2.4 Entity Model

The following section delineates all of the entities and describes in greater detail.

The central concern of the above description is the World War I collection in the VKC Library. These books are presently located in the bookstacks and will be shifted to remote storage. The library, whose major concern is its users, wants to provide them with a facility that will give detailed information about these remotely stored books.

2.4.1 Entities

• VKC Library
• User (Faculties & Students)
• Librarian
• HOMER
• Card Catalog
• World War I Collection
• ISD
• Remote storage

2.4.2 Entity Specification

Major entities are defined as those entities which play a role with respect to the proposed system. As such, these entities are "architecturally relevant" forms which may affect the design of the system. The major entities are as follows:

* Note: Activities and properties that will be added when the WWI collections are relocated to the remote storage will be denoted in "ITALIC" and "Black Cloud" on the diagrams.

Entity	ETTY-01
Description	A part of the ISD Library System that holds WWI collection
Name	VKC LIBRARY
Properties	WWI Collection User Library Staff Homer Card Catalog
Activities	Serves User Stores WWI Collection Provides Card Catalog' Provides Homer
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-02
Description	The collection of books from the VKC Collection related to World War I
Name	WWI COLLECTION
Properties	For each book there is a: title, author(s), year of publication, table of contents, and index.
Activities	None
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-03
Description	A part of the USC Library System that catalogs materials in USC Libraries collection
Name	HOMER
Properties	Book information (location, call number, etc.)
Activities	Returns Book Info. to User
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-04
Description	Information cards regarding book collections of the VKC Library
Name	CARD CATALOG
Properties	Book information (call number, descriptions, etc.)
Activities	Returns Book Info. to User
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-05
Description	USC students or faculty members who uses the VKC Library to search & borrow the books
Name	USER
Properties	Library Card
Activities	Uses VKC Library Uses Homer Uses Card Catalog Finds WWI book Borrows WWI collection
Connections	See Below

 

Entity	ETTY-06
Description	Maintains USC's Library system
Name	ISD
Properties	VKC Library Remote Storage
Activities	Maintains VKC Library Maintains Homer Maintains Remote Storage
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-07
Description	Manages VKC Library, assists users to locate the books, updates card catalog information
Name	LIBRARY STAFF
Properties	Reference Librarian Subject Bibliographer
Activities	Maintains VKC Library Assists User Updates Card Catalog Pages WWI Collection from the Remote Storage
Connections	See Below

Entity	ETTY-08
Description	A part of ISD that would store the WWI collection
Name	REMOTE STORAGE
Properties	WWI Collection
Activities	Stores WWI Collection Sends requested books
Connections	See Below

2.4.3 Diagram of the Entity Model

The following is an entity model which diagrams the relationships between all of the entities mentioned in section 2.4.1.

* Note: Activities and properties that will be added when the WWI collections are relocated to the remote storage will be denoted in "ITALIC" and "Black Cloud" on the diagrams.

Diagram of the Entity Model

2.5 Organization Activity Model

The following two organization activity models give an overview of the organization’s activities within the (1) current domain (section 2.5.1), and (2) once the WWI books are stored remotely (section 2.5.2).

Note that for both organization activity models, the activities of the proposed system are not described. Please see the use cases in the System Software Requirements Definition (SSRD 2.3) for descriptions on how the entities will interact with the proposed system.

2.5.1 Organization Activity Model of the Current System

1. Searching for Books
   1. User uses HOMER
   2. User uses Card Catalog
   3. User gets call numbers from the results of search
2. Checking Out Books
   1. Obtaining Books
      1. User uses call number to find books
      2. User finds books
   2. User assesses research value of obtained books
   3. User borrows books
3. Assisting User
   1. Librarian assists user with HOMER search
   2. Librarian assists user with Card Catalog search
   3. Librarian assists user with locating book
   4. Librarian checks out book for user
4. Maintain VKC Library
   1. Librarian updates Card Catalog

2.5.2 Organization Activity Model of the Current System Once the Books are Stored Remotely

1. Searching for Books (Same as above.)
   1. User uses HOMER
   2. User uses Card Catalog
   3. User gets call numbers from the results of search
2. Checking Out Books
   1. User requests book for retrieval from remote storage
   2. Book is retrieved from remote storage
   3. User waits for books to arrive
   4. User assesses value of the books by browsing them
   5. User borrows helpful books
3. Assisting Users
   1. Librarian assists user with HOMER search
   2. Librarian assists user with Card Catalog search
   3. Librarian pages book from remote storage
   4. Librarian notify user when book arrives
   5. Librarian checks out book for user
4. Maintain VKC Library
   1. Librarian updates Card Catalog

Note that the principal difference between section 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 is that once the books are remotely stored, the user must order the books from remote storage before s/he can assess its value to their research.

2.6 Interaction Matrix

The following table maps each major entity with an activity. As the matrix shows, each major entity in the entity model has a corresponding action.

3 System Analysis

The following section provides a high level view of what the proposed system will provide. It does so by enumerating the project goals and system responsibilities and how it addresses the current system’s shortfalls. Finally the changes for future enhancements and rejected alternatives are discussed.

3.1 Statement of Purpose

The basic purpose of this system is to provide enhanced access to the WWI Collection stored remotely by partially replicate the ability to browse its WWI Collection. The need for the project arises from the fact that the VKC Library intends shifting the WWI Collection to remote storage. Once this happens, the users will not be able to come to the Library and view the books as mentioned above.

3.1.1 Overview of Proposed System

The proposed system intends to provide a web-based interface for the WWI collection of books. It will allow users to view information about these books via the Internet by partially replicate the WWI collection information. This information will help them in finding books appropriate to their purpose. The system will also provide the library with the ability to maintain this information.

Context Diagram for Proposed System

3.1.2 How the Proposed System Addresses Current Shortfalls

The proposed system addresses the current system’s shortfalls by searching for the books and returning useful information, such as the table of contents, Abstract/Introduction/Preface, imprint, and call number to the user's queries. These information will help the users to decide whether they need the book.

Using the proposed World War I - Access Enhancement System, the user would have some information about the book, other than its title, author and location - the information returned by HOMER or retrieved from the card catalog. As such, the user can better assess whether that book would be beneficial to his/her research. This in effect could help users confine their research and reduce the number of books that they normally would have ordered for retrieval from remote storage. In sum, it makes the user’s search more efficacious, allowing the VKC to meet its goal of increasing customer satisfaction.

This "partial replication" of browsing the stacks has a cascading effect. If fewer useless books are retrieved, it would allow librarians and staff to work more efficiently, thereby allowing the VKC to meet its goal of reducing total labor costs since many staff members are hired by the hour.

Lastly, the proposed system would allow the organization to meet its goal of improving space efficiency while not compromising its goal of increasing customer satisfaction.

3.2 Project Goals

The following are goals for the project:

1. Browser Independence
   The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine should be browser independent. This would greatly enhance the usefulness and accessibility of the World War I - Access Enhancement System since VKC users can access this system from At a minimum, the system must run equally well on the top two Internet browsers on the market: Netscape’s Navigator/Communicator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. However, it would require for users to use the Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape ver 3.0 or above.
   Win condition: wmeyerUser-WINC-1.
2. Schedule
   The most important goal is the development of the IOC within the duration allotted in the spring semester. Thus it is important that an IOC with acceptable functionality be achievable in this duration. By meeting the MBASE Guidelines, the World War I - Access Enhancement System will be developed from 01/19/99 to 05/11/99. The System should be ready for deployment by Summer semester of 1999, after the system has been thoroughly evaluated by the Transition Readiness Review.
3. Portability
   The user interface of the World War I - Access Enhancement System should be portable inasmuch as it should not depend on one particular operating system. The proposed system is designed for the long run. If the World War I - Access Enhancement System depended on a particular platform, it would greatly reduce its efficacy. The success of this goal may be measured by whether the proposed system runs on both UNIX and Windows NT based operating systems. 
4. Meet ISD Policy
   The project developed on terminals and resources provide by the ISD. Also, later it will be maintained by ISD and hence a goal is to construct it in such a way that it does not violate the ISD policy of - No use of CGI scripts without approval. So the proposed system implementation will not contain CGI scripts. It is adherence to ISD policy which is the one of the constraints on proposed system implementation.

3.3 System Responsibilities

The World War I - Access Enhancement System is composed of two subsystems:

1. World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Subsystem
2. World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem.

Briefly, the Search Engine Subsystem is responsible for handling the searches inputted by the end user. Its more specific responsibilities include

3.3.1 World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem Responsibilities

The templates below specify the following system responsibilities for the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem:

Responsibility	SRES-01
Name	Security and Authentication
Description	The security mechanism on the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem will keep non-authorized users from gaining access to the System. One account with a password will be provided from ISD for the maintenace purpose for the IBM DL.
Priority	High
Rationale	The integrity of the entire World War I - Access Enhancement System would be dangerously compromised if unauthorized users could gain access to the database. Unauthorized users must be kept from accessing the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem to preserve the System’s reliability and usefulness.
Reference	WwhCust-WINC-5

Responsibility	SRES-02
Name	Maintaining the Database
Description	The administrative subsystem is responsible for providing the means by which the administrator can maintain the system database. These responsibilities include: (1) adding entries into the database, (2) removing entries from the database, and (3) editing an existing entry in the database.
Priority	Medium
Rationale	For the database to be of any value, the system must provide some way to maintain the system database to allow for the entry of new books, deletion (or removal) of lost, or/and modification of the information on existing books.
Reference	wwhCust-WINC-6

Responsibility	SRES-03
Name	Assist the WWI-AE System Administrator—Online Help for the Administrator
Description	The Administrative Subsystem is responsible for providing an online user manual for the Administrator(s).
Priority	Medium
Rationale	No matter how user-friendly a software package is, the user may still get stuck or have questions. Having an online manual can greatly assist the System Administrator in resolving their difficulty. Additionally, an online manual will help beginning administrators learn the software faster.
Reference	wmeyerUser-WINC-3 wmeyerUser-WINC-5

3.3.2 World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Subsystem Responsibilities

The templates below specify the following system responsibilities within Search Engine Subsystem.

Responsibility	SRES-04
Name	Search for User’s Query
Description	The user can search for his/her desired materials by entering the string and selected criteria. The Search Engine is responsible for sending the user’s query to the database and finding appropriate materials. Refer to SSRD 2.3.1 (System Requirement NMRQ-06) for a more detailed description on what goes into the search. Also see Operation Scenario SCEN-03 below.
Priority	High
Rationale	The primary purpose of the World War I - Access Enhancement System is to provide users of the VKC Library with a useful and helpful program that can search for books in the VKC Library’s World War I collection. Thus, the very purpose of the project would be nullified without such a capability.
Reference	WwhCust-WINC-1 WwhCust-WINC-2 WmeyerUser-WINC-2 WmeyerUser-WINC-6

Responsibility	SRES-05
Name	Viewing Search Results
Description	The user should be able to view the results of the search. As such, the Search Engine Subsystem is responsible displaying the results of the user’s search.
Priority	Medium
Rationale	The system would not be very useful if it could query the database but not return the results of that query back to the user.
Reference	WwhCust-WINC-2

Responsibility	SRES-06
Name	Assisting Users: Online Help Manual for the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine
Description	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine will have an intuitive Graphical User Interface and is responsible for providing an online user manual for the user.
Priority	Medium
Rationale	No matter how powerful the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine is, its efficacy to the user would be greatly undermined if users do not know how to use it. Having an online manual can greatly assist the user in resolving their difficulty with the search engine. Additionally, providing an online manual will help beginning users of the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine learn the software faster.
Reference	WmeyerUser-WINC-3

3.4 Quality Goals

The following quality goals describe the desired attributes of the proposed system. Section 3 of the SSRD expounds on these goals and describe how these goals are achievable.

1. Performance
   The World War I - Access Enhancement search engine should be fast, taking, on average, no more than ten seconds from the time the user enters their search to the time the system starts downloading the query results. A slow search engine could greatly discourage VKC users from taking advantage of the World War I - Access Enhancement System, in effect, negating the usefulness of the system.
2. Reliability
   The World War I - Access Enhancement System should be reliable, handling 80-90% of all searches reliably without crashing. A system that constantly breaks down will not serve the VKC users well (defeating Organiztion Goal 2.2.3) and could defeat the effectiveness of an otherwise valid search engine.
3. User Friendly
   The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Subsystem should be user friendly and easy to learn. From the user perspective, having a user friendly search engine can greatly enhance the World War I - Access Enhancement System’s effectiveness. The success of this goal can be measured by whether easy to use Graphical User Interface was implemented and online help manuals would be available to the users. This is because this information will be available to people on the Internet and a person who can browse the net should be able to utilize this facility for searching information on books. To ensure that this goal is achieved, it will be tested by the users. The proposed system will be used by people with basic web navigational skills and it should provide options to users for finding information.
4. Security
   The security on the World War I - Access Enhancement System should be secure, keeping non-authorized users from altering the database. Any unauthorized access to the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem (which contains the database) would greatly compromise the integrity of the system. The IBM DL will be provided one password by the ISD that can be used by the system administrator, who will be updating information of the database. And this database will not be accessable to the users using user interface.

3.5 Changes Considered But Not Included

The following are changes to the system that were considered but not included in the proposed system.

1. Advanced Security Features
   Securing the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem with a cryptography system. This feature was considered but not included because it was decided that the Administrative Subsystem would not reside on the Web. Hence, a cryptography security would definitely not be necessary.
2. Scanner Interface
   An interface between the scanner and the Administrative Subsystem was considered but not included. This interface would have allowed the World War I - Access Enhancement System Administrator to directly access the scanner through the Administrative Subsystem. The feature was dropped primarily because there would not be time for it under the current design.
   Please see OCD 2.3.
3. Ordering books from Remote storage through the web
   The World War I collection will be shifted to the remote storage. One of the features considered was providing the facility to order books from remote storage using this system. However this was not included as the information about these books is not in SIRSI and hence it will not be possible to find the status of the books. However once the information about these books has been put on the SIRSI database such a feature can be added.
4. Scanned images for maps
   Some of these books have maps included in them. It was considered storing scanned images of these. But it was later decided that the amount of space used will be much more compared to the information provided.
5. Using SIRSI database for title, call number, author and imprint
   One alternative was to use the SIRSI database for storing the title, call number, author and imprint. However this again depends on this information being available on SIRSI, which is not the present case. SIRSI is in process of making the database for this information. Even if it were available, the SIRSI database would contain information about a lot of books other than the World War I collection. Hence in order to improve response time, it is a better alternative to store this information in the proposed system.
6. Web based administrator access to the IBM DL
   Remote access using the web based administrator interaface to the IBM DL would bring a lot of convenience to the system administrator if the library decide to take over the obligation to update the data. However, this was removed from our design due to the limitation of the IBM DL which does not permit the remote update.

4 Concept of Operation for the Proposed System

The following section describes the operational overview of the World War I – Access Enhancement System by describing the operational stakeholders and organizational relationships for the proposed system.

4.1 Operational Overview

Block diagrams showing the interaction of the various logical components can be found in the System and Software Architecture Description (SSAD) in SSAD section 1.0.

4.1.1 Operational Stakeholders

The three principal operational stakeholders are the User, System Adminstrator, and Librarian.

Stakeholder	User
Description	The user of the VKC Library who will be accessing the World War I - Access Enhancement System.
Activities	Enters query in the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine. Browse through the search result to decide on which book(s) borrow. Requests book to be paged.
Expected Usage	Generally, few users. Larger number (greater than 25) expected when there is a special circumstance such as a class project or symposium on World War I.
Expected Expertise	Minimal. General familiarity with GUIs and the internet.
Other Assumptions	None.

Stakeholder	System Administrator
Description	The ISD staff who will be maintaining and updating the World War I - Access Enhancement data.
Activities	Adding entry (book) into the World War I - Access Enhancement database. Modify existing entry (book) in the World War I - Access Enhancement database. Delete existing entry (book) in the World War I - Access Enhancement database. NOTE: The first three tasks above involve subtasks including but not limited to scanning images and entering text into the World War I - Access Enhancement System database.
Expected Usage	Regular interaction with the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem. However, the time spent maintaining and updating the Administrative Subsystem would depend largely on the frequency of new WWI-related book acquisitions.
Expected Expertise	Knowledge to use the IBM DL.
Other Assumptions	Information to be entered to the database will be provided by the VKC librarian.

Stakeholder	Librarian
Description	Librarian who works at the VKC Library.
Activities	Assists user with finding and obtaining materials on WWI using the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine. Directly uses the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine to assist or acquire information for user. Provide the System Administrator with the data to be updated.
Expected Usage	Should correlate with the number of user who will be using the system.
Expected Expertise	Minimal, though more experience with the World Wide Web and Web-based search engines than the average user.
Other Assumptions	None.

4.1.2 Organizational Relationships

The following is a chart of the organizational relationship. Notice that this organizational chart focuses in on relations among the system stakeholders’ management hierarchies. As such, in contrast to the general organizational relationship chart in the Life Cycle Plan (LCP), section 3.1.1, the chart below does not express the relationship between the VKC Library with respect to the ISD and other users.

Stakeholders Hierarchy

As the above chart indicates, there should be no conflicts between the VKC Library and other organizations in the ISD. The Digital Library (referred to in the Organzition Goals, section 2.3.2) is shown above to indicate its relationship and independence from the VKC Library. I-Structure refers to Infrastructure Core.

4.1.3 Operational Policies and Constraints

1. Minimum System Requirements
   As specified in the System and Software Requirements Description (SSRD 5.2.3), the minimum system requirements for the World War I - Access Enhancement User Subsystem are as follows:
   • 16 MB Ram (enough to execute the browser)
   • Monitor should be minimum 15" color monitor.
   • Must operate on a 32bit operating system (Mac OS 8, Win 95, NT, or UNIX)
   • Aprroximately 50 MB free hard drive space (enough space for the browsers)
   • Modem with minimum transfer rate of 28.8 KBps or better
2. Minimum Browser Capabilities
   • The browser must support standard HTML, GIF and JPEG image file formats.
   • Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape ver 3.0 or above
3. User Computer Experience
   The developer assumes that the user has minimal computer expertise. Specifically, the developer assumes only that the end user has some experience with Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) and some experience on the World Wide Web.
4. System Administrator Computer Experience
   The developer assumes that the administrator has experience updating the data with the IBM DL. Note, however, the developer does not assume that the administrator is familiar with programming.
5. Maintenance of the World War I - Access Enhancement System
   The developer assumes that the VKC Library will provide with data to be updated periodically to the System Administrator at ISD so that he/she can maintain and update the proposed World War I - Access Enhancement System.
6. Other Policies
   Please refer to the USC Information Service Division's Policy & Security web page for the general use of computing resource and http://www.usc.edu/isd/elecresources/catalogs.html for Library and Homer specific policies.

4.2 Operational Impacts

The following section describes the impacts of the proposed system upon the system’s operational stakeholders.

1. Impacts Upon the User
   Once the WWI Books are warehoused remotely, the user will no longer be able to browse the WWI collection directly. However, the user will be able to use the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine to find relevant and useful information that could partially replicate browsing through the stacks (see the organizational goal in 2.1.2 above).
   There are, of course, key advantages with a search engine that has a presence on the World Wide Web - namely, that the user may now "search the stacks" via the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine from a remote location such as their home or office. Since the proposed system can be accessed from the internet, the user my query the database for helpful books, use the information returned by the query to determine which books s/he want to use. Thus, their time at the library can be minimized to simply ordering the book(s) from remote storage.
   A notable advantage to the proposed system is that it would allow the user to find helpful information about the books without requiring them to go to the library to do so.
2. Impacts Upon the Reference Librarian
   With the deployment of the proposed World War I - Access Enhancement System, the VKC Librarian will have to be trained on and become familiar with the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine. Such training and practice can potentially take time away from the librarian that could have been spent directly helping other VKC users.
3. Impacts Upon the VKC Library
   With the new system installed, the VKC Library would provide convenient ways to browse the WWI collection information for its users. It would cost the library to enter all the data into the system in the beginning, but it would save lots of money in the future since it would reduce uncessary paging of the book from the remote storage when the WWI collection is relocated to the remote storage.
4. Impacts Upon the System Administrator
   To minimize maintenance costs, one of the ISD staff will be the System Administrator (the client expressly stated as so). Consequently, it may adversely impact the system administrator's other duties. Not only would the system adminitrator have to learn the new system, but s/he must maintain the information. However, this impact is expected to lessen as the designated system administrator becomes more familiar with the World War I - Access Enhancement System and less information to update once the system is completely set up.

4.3 Organizational Impacts

Member(s) of the ISD staff will be assigned as administrator and will have the added responsibility of maintaining information about World War I books. ISD will have the added responsibility of providing support for the system.

5 Operational Scenarios

The Operational Scenarios section illustrates a set of scenarios that the user and user-administrator may experience when using the system.

5.1 Operating the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine

The following operational scenarios will be experienced by the user when the access the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine.

5.1.1 Search Engine Mainstream Scenarios

The following are some mainstream scenarios when using the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine. 

Scenario	SCEN-01
Name	Accessing the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine
Event	The user accesses the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine. The user may do this by any number of ways, including, but not limited to, entering the URL directly.
Action	The main page for the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine is displayed.
Stimuli	The user wants to access the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine to find information on a book.
Information	The title (splash) screen is displayed which identifies the site to the user.
Interactions	The user can initiate a search by clicking on the START icon, find information about the system by pressing HELP. Note that after the system is developed and new archives are added in, the user can also select which database to choose.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-01 in the Appendix

Scenario	SCEN-02
Name	Entering a Simple Search
Event	The user enters desired key words, selects desired search criterion and clicks SEARCH icon to execute the search.
Action	The system sends the user’s search as a query to the database.
Stimuli	The user wants to find a book in the VKC’s World War I collection that meets his/her desire.
Information	The user enters the key words that s/he wants the system to search for, chooses the desired search fields (e.g., Table of Contents), selects his/her desired Boolean search terminology (e.g., all the words, any of the words, etc.)
Interactions	The user may enter the key word and desired search option then start search by pressing search button, or select advanced search option.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-01 in the Appendix

Scenario	SCEN-03
Name	Entering a Advanced Search
Event	The user enters desired key words for each fields, such as TOC, author, language, etc, then and clicks SEARCH button to execute the search. Or go back to simple search option.
Action	The system sends the user’s search as a query to the database.
Stimuli	The user wants to find a book in the VKC’s World War I collection that meets his/her desire.
Information	The user enters the key words that s/he wants the system to search for, chooses the desired search fields (e.g., Table of Contents), selects his/her desired Boolean search terminology (e.g. and/or for the different fields)
Interactions	The user may enter the key words and desired search option then start search by pressing search button, or select simple search option.
Prototype Screen	Not Available

Scenario	SCEN-04
Name	Viewing the Results of a Search
Event	The results of the user’s search is displayed on the screen.
Action	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine displays the results of the user’s query to the screen.
Stimuli	The user waits for the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine to return the results of his query.
Information	The user is given a short description of the book(s) retrieved by the search engine. For each book additional links to information are shown, including the title of the book, author, and language it is written. Hyperlink is provided for the title of the book so that user can see the details of the book.
Interactions	The user may view the detailed information of the book by clicking on its hyperlink.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-02 in the Appendix

Scenario	SCEN-05
Name	Viewing Information
Event	The book information chosen by the user.
Action	The system displays the image file associated with the information that the user chose to view.
Stimuli	The user wants to view the selected information and has clicked on the hyperlink.
Information	Information in the file that the user selected.
Interactions	The user can click on the "back" button of his/her browser to get back to the list of books found by the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-03 (Table of Contents) and Figure P-04 (Index) in the Appendix

5.1.2 World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Support Scenarios

The following scenarios illustrate what would happen in the even that the user clicks on help in any one of the scenarios (SCEN01-SCEN05) above.

Scenario	SCEN-06
Name	Generic World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Support Scenario
Event	The appropriate help Search Engine Help Screen is displayed.
Action	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine displays the help screen clicked on by the user from any one of scenarios SCEN-01 to SCEN-05 above..
Stimuli	The user has a difficulty in using the system and needs help on how to use the World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine.
Information	The information (generally directions) on the help screen which addresses the help that the user needs.
Interactions	Each help screen has a return button which takes the user back to the previous screen.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-05 (Main Screen Help), Figure P-06 (Search Screen Help), and Figure P-07 (Results Screen Help) in the Appendix

5.1.3 World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine Exception-Handling Scenarios

The following scenarios illustrate what would happen when the Search Engine confronts an anomaly.

Scenario	SCEN-07
Name	Search Engine Returns Too Many Hits
Event	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine returns too many hits, set at 250 in the present case.
Action	The user selects search criteria that yields too many hits—i.e., too many books matches the critieria.
Stimuli	The search criteria yields too many hits.
Information	The search engine will prompt the user to refine his/her search criteria.
Interactions	The user can click on an icon to show that they understand the message whereupon the user is brought back to the main search screen.
Prototype Screen	Not Available

Scenario	SCEN-08
Name	Connection to the Database Exceeds Alotted Time
Event	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine takes longer than the alloted time to connect to the database.
Action	The user enters a search and waits for the results of the search.
Stimuli	The World War I - Access Enhancement Search Engine cannot connect to the database within the prescribed time (10 seconds, see Quality Goal 3.1.1 above)
Information	A message is displayed, telling the user that the connection to the database could not be made.
Interactions	The user can click on an icon to show that they understand the message whereupon the user is brought back to the main search screen.
Prototype Screen	Not Available

5.2 Operating the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem

Currently, the interface for the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem has yet to be developed. However, a description of such an operation is outlined in the System and Software Requirements Description (SSRD) in section SSRD 4.1.1.

5.2.1 Administrative Subsystem Mainstream Scenarios

The following are some mainstream scenarios when using the World War I - Access Enhancement Administrative Subsystem. For the scenarios, the term "system administrator" refers those designated to maintain the World War I - Access Enhancement System.

Scenario	SCEN-09
Name	Accessing the Administrative Subsystem: Security
Event	The subject bibliographer, system administrator, accesses the Administrative Subsystem.
Action	The system administrator enters his/her username and password.
Stimuli	The system administrator wants to maintain the World War I - Access Enhancement System.
Information	The security screen is displayed with prompts for the username and password.
Interactions	The administrator can enter his username and password and click on the START icon to access the System.
Prototype Screen	Not Available

Scenario	SCEN-10
Name	Choosing What to Do: Add, Delete or Modify
Event	The system administrator selects how s/he wants to change the database.
Action	The system administrator chooses what s/he wants to do.
Stimuli	The system administrator wants to add, modify or delete an entry from the database.
Information	The above choices are displayed to the administrator. Note also that there is a an icon which would allow the administrator to choose a different collection of books.
Interactions	The system administrator checks off which action s/he wants to perform whereupon the appropriate
Prototype Screen	Not Available

Scenario	SCEN-11
Name	Adding a Book to the Database
Event	The system administrator adds a new entry into the database, including all relevant files (TOC, index, etc.)
Action	The system administrator may browse hard drive for appropriate files (TOC, index) to add.
Stimuli	The system administrator wants to add a new entry (book) into the database.
Information	Icons which allow the user to browse the hard drive for appropriate files.
Interactions	When the administrator has added the appropriate information, s/he can click on the ADD icon to submit the book. Please note that under the current design, images can only be added after the entry has been entered.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-08 in the Appendix

Scenario	SCEN-12
Name	Deleting or Modifying an Existing Entry
Event	The system administrator deletes or modifies an existing entry.
Action	The system administrator chooses which book to modify or delete.
Stimuli	The system administrator wants to delete or modify an existing entry.
Information	Information with respect to the delete and modify will be displayed on the screen.
Interactions	For both deleting and modifying, the system administrator must first choose an entry to delete or modify from a list of existing entries or by setting the filter. Upon choosing the right entry, the system administrator may choose to modify fields in the existing entry or delete the entry.
Prototype Screen	See Figure P-09 and Figure P-10 in the Appendix. Also see Figure 26 and Figure 27 in the SSRD Appendix.

5.2.2 Administrative Subsystem Support Scenarios

The following scenarios illustrate what would happen in the event that the user clicks on help in any one of the scenarios above.

Scenario	SCEN-13
Name	Administrative Support Scenario
Event	The appropriate Administrative Subsystem Help Screen is displayed.
Action	The Administrative Subsystem displays the help screen.
Stimuli	The system administrator has trouble using the Administrative Subsystem.
Information	The information (generally directions) on the help screen which addresses the adminitrator’s needs.
Interactions	Each help screen has a return button which takes the user back to the previous screen.
Prototype Screen	Not Available

6 Analysis Results

The following sections summarizes the results of an analysis of the proposed system. The analysis highlights some the key advantages as well as its disadvantages and limitations.

6.1 Summary of Advantages

The following is a summary of the major advantages with the new World War I - Access Enhancement System.

• Returns useful information to the user - allows the VKC to meet its goal of improving customer satisfaction (2.2.3).
• As already mentioned, the new system returns useful information such as the table of contents, list of pictures and abstract for each book that matched the user’s query.
• The new system (user-end) resides on the World Wide Web - allows the VKC to meet its goal of increasing the accessibility and visibility of remotely stored books (2.2.1).
• The new system reduces the number of unnecessary retrievals - allows the VKC to meet its goal of improving the efficiency of its librarians and staff (2.2.4). Steps III.B and III.C (retrieving remotely stored books and contacting the user) of Organization Activity Model 2.5.2 could be significantly reduced, allowing VKC Librarians and staff members to focus their attention elsewhere.
• Improved efficiency by librarians and staff - furthers the VKC’s goal to minimize costs for maintaining remotely stored books (2.2.5)

Please refer to the Feasibility Rationale Document (FRD) section 2.1 for a quantitative analysis of the proposed system. Also see the System Software Requirements Description sections 2.3 and 3.0 for details on how the proposed system satisfies the project goals and quality goals stated above in sections 3.2 and 3.5 respectively.

Ultimately, the proposed system would meet the VKC’s statement of purpose for the proposed system: to develop a system that would allow the user to "partially replicate" a browsing through the stacks (see the statement of purpose in 3.1 above). Furthermore, for all of the reasons mentioned above (useful search, web access, etc.) the proposed system furthers it mission to "assist students and faculty in obtaining and using the resources in its library" (see 2.1 above).

6.2 Summary of Disadvantages and Limitations

The following section describes some potential disadvantages and limitations of the proposed system.

• Search Fields
  One notable limitation is the search fields. If the information provided in the search fields (abstract, table of contents, index, and pictures) do not help the customer narrow their research, the proposed system would not futher any of the organization’s goals as specified above in OCD 2.2. Admittedly, one key assumption in this system design is that a book’s table of contents, index, etc. would help the user refine their research.
• Excluded Books: Shorter Works
  Another limitation related to search fields is that the system does not retrieve shorter works which may not contain an index, any pictures, or even a table of contents. As such, the proposed system would not be helpful for finding such materials.
• Excluded Books: Foreign Language Works
  Silmiliar to the above disadvantage for shorter works, only subject will be entered in english for the foreign language books. This might limit the chance to retrieve the information for the book. Even it is found from the database by subject search, user must be able to read foreign language to be able to read contents, such as information what is in the system's database.

6.3 Alternatives and Tradeoffs Considered

There were some important alternatives and tradeoffs considered that could have changed the current description of the proposed system.

• World Wide Web Presence of the Administrative Subystem
  Perhaps the most important alternative considered was whether the Administrative Subsystem should be accessible from the World Wide Web. This would allow the system administrator to access the database remotely. However, after considering security issues and whether such a World Wide Web presence would be advantageous, the cons—low security. The decision to make the World War I - Access Enhancement Subsystem local to the client’s machine was bolstered by the fact that the client did not express a preference.
• Natural Language Search
  The idea of natural language search was discussed at the initial meeting with the client. However, after weighing the "pros" of natural language search—ease and power, with the amount of effort it would take to implement the idea was quickly dismissed. The capabilities of a Search Engine capable of natural language search would enhance the power of the system.

7 Common Definition Language Used in the OCD

The following are definitions to some key terms used in this document.

Access Enhancement:

Refers to providing more information about World War I books. When they are shifted to remote storage, the access to them will be reduced and hence the project is named access enhancement, based on what it aims to provide

Bookstacks:

A column of shelves used for storing books inside the library. The books are arranged by call number on these stacks. They are usually filled upto 80% in capacity, to allow some space for new books to be stored on them

Browser:

A client-side program that allows users to read hypertext documents on the World Wide Web and navigate between them. Browsers can be text-based or graphic. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator/Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Others include Mosaic and Lynx.

Call Number:

It is a combination of chaacters and numbers that uniquely identifies the book. The VKC Library uses the Library of Congress call numbers that are used by many other libraries. Hence some of these books are available in several libraries and have the same call number

Card Catalog:

Collection of the cards that contains information, such author and published year, and call number, of each WWI Collection.

Graphical User Interface (GUI):

An interface between the user and the computer that has pictures as well as words on the screen. Examples of GUIs include the Macintosh operating system (Mac OS), Microsoft Windows, and the applications that run under the aforementioned systems.

HOMER:

HOMER is a web-based catalog of the books and materials in the University of Southern California’s Library System. It allows users to search for materials by Words or Phrase, Author, Title, or Subject. Other searches and search combinations are also available and users may also restrict their search to a particular library or libraries. Use or visit HOMER here.

Hyperlink:

A hyperlink is a sub-text reference (link) which, when clicked upon, will take the user from one location to another on the internet. Note that the other location may be in the same URL.

(USC) Digital Library:

The Digital Library refers to both the system and plan of the Information Services Division of the University of Southern California to "digitize" its vast collection of materials. By digitize, the ISD simply intends to make the material (in whole or in part) available in a digital format, accessible by those with access to the internet.

Information Services Division (ISD):

The branch of the University of Southern California which maintains USC's Digital Library. The Information Servi

KBps:

Kilobytes per second. Refers to the transfer rate of computer modems.

Paging:

It is the activity of a user filling up a form to request the retrieval of a book from remote storage. The Library staff then retrieves this book from remote storage

Remote storage:

A store house for books where books are stored according to size. It is across the freeway and books take about two days to be retrieved

SIRSI:

An organization that developed HOMER and is adding the information in the card catalog about the World War books to its database so that it can be accessed by HOMER

System Administrator:

Refers to person who will be maintaining the World War I - Access Enhancement System. The system administrator is responsible for inputting, editing and updating the data in the World War I - Access Enhancement database

User:

Refers to students, faculties, and librarians who will be using the proposed system, including the general public with the Internet access.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator:

The standard for specifying the location of an object (page, image, etc.) on the internet. Somewhat analogous to the address of the object.

World War I Collection:

Refers to the VKC Library’s collection of World War I materials. These materials are comprised of approximately 1200 volumes of books.

8 Appendix

• Winwin
• Von KleinSmid Center Library Homepage
• Policy & Security
• http://www.usc.edu/isd/elecresources/catalogs.html

The following are a series of screen shots referenced by the operational scenarios delineated in section 5.0 above.

Figure P-01: The Remote Book Access Server (Search Screen)

Figure P-02: The Remote Book Access Server (Results Search)

Figure P-03: The Remote Book Access Server (Table of Contents)

 

Figure P-04: The Remote Book Access Server (Index of the book)

Figures P-05: Main Screen Help

Figure P-06: Search Screen Help

Figure P-07: Results Screen Help

Figure P-08: Add New Book Screen

Figure P-09: Delete Book Screen

Figure P-10: Modify Book List