Implementing Information Findability Improvements in State Transportation Agencies (2020)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

1 Overview Transportation agencies collect, create, and store large volumes of data and information in various formats, from printed reports to digital video imagery. They face continuing challenges managing this information in a way that makes it easy for staff to find what they need to support their work. Lack of findability can lead to duplication of effort; for example, re-doing a study that has already been done or re-collecting data that already exists. Lack of findability can also impact productivity and effectiveness when employees spend hours searching for information or make decisions without the benefit of a critical piece of information. This report identifies key opportunities and challenges that departments of transporta- tion (DOTs) face with respect to information findability and provides practical guidance for agencies wishing to tackle this problem. It describes four specific techniques piloted within three State DOTs. These techniques, and their value for improving findability, are briefly summarized here. Further information is available in the body of this report. Techniques for Improving Findability of Transportation Information Creating a Searchable Website for Agency Engineering Manuals A pilot project at the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) dem- onstrated a searchable website with content from eight different engineering manuals. This approach allows WSDOT employees to conduct full-text searches across the manuals, which they weren’t able to do when the manuals were posted as individual portable document format (PDF) files. The pilot website also makes it easy to find related information across the manuals; for example, guidance related to ditch design can be readily obtained from highway design, hydraulic, environmental and roadside manuals. Discovering Subject Areas and Terminology Within a Body of Content Pilot projects at WSDOT and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) dem- onstrated a machine learning technique for identifying distinct subject areas and com- monly used terminology within a collection of engineering manuals. This technique (which is more broadly applicable beyond engineering manuals) supports design of tools to help users more efficiently navigate and explore a body of content. For example, the subject areas can be displayed within the search interface, and users can filter the content based on selecting one or more of these subjects. S U M M A R Y Implementing Information Findability Improvements in State Transportation Agencies

2 Implementing Information Findability Improvements in State Transportation Agencies Auto-Classifying Documents by Content Type Pilot projects at UDOT and the Iowa Department of Transportation (IADOT) dem- onstrated techniques for automatically classifying documents—for example, agreements, easement deeds, design exceptions, or project plans—based on content type. These tech- niques can provide a way to “tag” documents of interest without the need for time-consuming manual review processes. The content type tags can then be used to provide a way for users to search for a particular content type within a large, varied set of documents. Extracting Metadata from Documents Pilot projects at UDOT and IADOT demonstrated techniques for automatically extract- ing important information from documents, such as project number or location, for use in search tools. This technique is helpful in situations where formal content management intake processes that require users to complete a standard form with metadata about each document are not in place. The information extracted can be used within search tools to allow people to search for documents related to a given project or find documents related to a particular geographic area using a map interface. For Further Information The following additional products are available from NCHRP related to this effort: • NCHRP Research Report 846: Improving Findability and Relevance of Transportation Information • NCHRP Web-Only Document 279: Information Findability Implementation Pilots at State Transportation Agencies • Video demonstration of the WSDOT Manual Modernization Pilot—available on YouTube