Understanding and categorising information assets in a meaningful way.
"The
Mole has
been able to be employed as part of a suite of software development tools
and processes to ensure the best quality outcome for the project."
Merv Robertson
Aviation Charges, Project Manager
Airways New Zealand
About Airways
Airways New Zealand is a state owned enterprise with 680 employees and operates as a fully commercial business. It is responsible for managing all domestic and international air traffic in two Flight Information Regions. These regions collectively make up one of the largest areas of airspace in the world - 34 million square kilometres.
The Challenge
Airways has implemented The Mole Content Analyzer in two projects. In March 2003, The Mole Content Analyzer became an integral part of the organisations’ knowledge management project.
By understanding and categorising their information assets in a meaningful way, users are more effectively able to access information across the organisation. They licensed The Mole Key Terms Manager to dynamically build a comprehensive, multi-level thesaurus of their terminology.
On the back of this project, in September 2003, The Mole Content Analyzer became a cornerstone part of a project to develop an Intellectual Capital Product in the area of aviation charging.
The challenge here was to create a glossary that was flexible and precise enough to produce the kind of Glossary of Terms required for object orientated software development.
The Solution
The Mole Content Analyzer was used to present terms used within the organization's information base for review and consideration for inclusion in the Glossary of Terms.
Specifically The Mole was used to manage a common, networked Glossary, accessed via a web browser. This helped to:
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Identify new terms to add to their Glossary maintained within The Mole Key Terms Manager.
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Identify any inconsistent use of terminology using The Mole Content Analyzer.
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Assist with the preparation of user documentation including online Help, manuals, and building test cases associated with the process.
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Survey a group of documents against the Glossary to confirm consistent use of terminology across all the artefacts.
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Manage changes in terminology and update documentation by identifying where terms have been used and ensure consistent updating of the documentation.
Aviation Charges Project Manager Merv Robertson said The Mole fits naturally with the object orientated methodology required in developing the project’s software.
“Anyone who has done an object orientated analysis and design course knows the need for a good glossary as part of the software development process.
“What we found with The Mole is that it was a perfect front end tool. It met all our precise needs.”
The intention of the Glossary was to capture all significant terms used in major documents, primarily use case requirements specifications.
Merv Robertson says The Mole helped the project to ensure the Glossary of Terms had clarity, arising from a single agreed definition for each term; consistency, arising from analysing documents against the Glossary and always utilising the preferred term; and common understanding, by having all significant terms defined and semantically linked to other relevant terms.
“We have been able to revisit definitions and can refer back to terms which has helped overcome issues of consistency and clarity within the project.”
“It sounds so prosaic to be able to achieve these things but it is not all that common.”
Merv Robertson says before employing The Mole he had initially employed a share-ware product which had bugs and was not nearly as developed.
“When we found out that The Mole was a local product and that there were other users, such as The State Services Commission and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) we were keen to jump on the bandwagon.”
“When I saw how it worked, and having tried another product earlier, I was able to appreciate how sophisticated it was. The Mole is a world-class product. We’re really happy with it.”
Results
Merv Robertson says The Mole added value to the Glossary of Terms “right up front”.
The Mole has been able to be employed as part of a suite of software development tools and processes to ensure the best quality outcome for the project. It has the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the project and is friendly to use ensuring that the development team can clearly understand the specifications and definitions required.
“We have been pleasantly surprised because there have been surprisingly few queries at the front-end of development. The precision of the specifications has meant that there has been a big payoff in terms of development,” he says. So far the four software developer (i.e. person) years of development effort that has gone into a very complex product, with hundreds of executable objects, has resulted in just 32 defects from the formal acceptance testing process.
