Herrero, J J (2003) Columbus: a solution using metadata for integrating document management, project hosting and document control in the construction industry. PhD thesis, University of Greenwich, UK.
Abstract
This thesis presents a solution for integrating document handling technologies within the construction industry using metadata in a novel way and providing a working solution in the form of an application called Columbus. The research analyses in detail the problem of project collaboration. It concentrates on the usage of document management, project hosting and document control systems as important enabling technologies. The creation, exchange and recording of information are addressed as key factors for having a unified document handling solution. Metadata is exploited as a technology providing for effective open information exchange within and between project participants. The technical issues relating to the use of metadata are addressed at length. The Columbus application is presented as a working solution to this problem. Columbus is currently used by over 20000 organisations in 165 countries and has become a standard for information exchange. The main benefit of Columbus has been in getting other project participants to send metadata with their electronic documents and in dealing with project archival. This has worked very well on numerous projects, saving countless man-hours of data input time, document cataloguing and searching. The application is presented in detail from both commercial and technical perspectives and is shown as an open solution, which can be extended by third parties. The commercial success of Columbus is discussed by means of a number of reviews and case studies that cover its usage within the industry. In 2000, it was granted an Institution of Civil Engineers' Special Award in recognition of its contribution to the Latham and Egan initiatives for facilitating information exchange within the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Woollard, C |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | civil engineer; collaboration; commercial; control system |
| Index terms: | information exchange, case study, documents, collaboration, civil engineer, Latham, control system, construction industry |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, professional development, profession, management, industry policy reports, monitoring and control, industry analysis, data science |
| Topics: | Information Management, Governance, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here