NCJ Number
45590
Date Published
1976
Length
1129 pages
Annotation
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION GENERATED BY AN EFFORT TO RESEARCH, DESIGN, AND IMPLEMENT THE PROTOTYPE OF A TOTALY INTEGRATED MUNICIPAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (IMIS) IN WHICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, IS PRESENTED.
Abstract
THIS PROJECT WAS PART OF A DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT EFFORT AIMED AT THE IMPROVEMENT OF INFORMATION AND DECISIONMAKING CAPABILITIES OF MUNICIPALITIES AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF DATA STANDARDIZATION. IN RESPONSE TO THE NEED FOR A TOTAL-SYSTEM, OPERATIONS-BASED APPROACH TO MUNICIPAL INFORMATION PROCESSING, THE EMPHASIS OF THE WICHITA FALLS IMIS PROJECT HAS BEEN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS THAT ARE TRANSFERABLE TO OTHER CITIES. THUS, THE SYSTEM PRODUCTS COVER THE FULL RANGE OF MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS, INCLUDING PUBLIC FINANCE, PUBLIC SAFETY, PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, GENERAL ADMINISTRATION, AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT. FOLLOWING INTENSIVE ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTUALIZATION PHASES, THE FULL RANGE OF MUNICIPAL FUNCTIONS WERE SUBDIVIDED INTO APPLICATION GROUPS, OR SETS OF FUNCTIONALLY RELATED ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHING ONE OF THE CITY'S RESPONSIBILITIES. AFTER THE INITIAL IDENTIFICATION OF AN APPLICATION GROUP, IT WAS INDEPENDENTLY DEVELOPED, IMPLEMENTED, AND AGGREGATED TO FORM AN IDENTIFIABLE SOFTWARE PACKAGE CORRESPONDING TO THE TRADITIONAL DATA PROCESSING SENSE OF A SYSTEM. THE FIRST SECTION OF THIS REPORT IS A MANAGEMENT SUMMARY DESIGNED TO INFORM A MAYOR OR CITY MANAGER OF THE BENEFITS, COSTS, AND FEATURES OF AN APPLICATION GROUP. THE NEXT SECTION IS AN ANALYSIS OF REQUIREMENTS AND ALTERNATIVES WHICH INFLUENCED THE DESIGN OF THE SYSTEM AND DISCUSSES ENVIRONMENT DESCRIPTIONS, CONSTRAINTS, AND DATA SENSITIVITY; THIS SECTION WAS WRITTEN FOR A DATA PROCESSING MANAGER OR SYSTEM ANALYST AND ASSUMES A DATA PROCESSING BACKGROUND. THE FINAL NARRATIVE SECTION CONTAINS THE GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION GROUP AND INCLUDES A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF COSTS AND BENEFITS TOGETHER WITH DATA ACCESS CONTROL METHODS AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY. THIS SECTION WAS ALSO WRITTEN FOR A SYSTEMS ANALYST OR PROGRAMMER, BUT ASSUMES DATA PROCESSING COMPETENCE AT AN ADVANCED LEVEL. THE BULK OF THE VOLUME IS DEVOTED TO APPENDED MATERIALS, INCLUDING INPUT DOCUMENTS, OUTPUT DOCUMENTS, TERMINAL ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION, RECORD DEFINITIONS, CODING STRUCTURES, PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION, DATA PROCESSING DEPARTMENT PROCEDURES, USER DEPARTMENT PROCEDURES, PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING COMPONENT NUMBERS AND NUMBER/NAMING STANDARDS, AND OTHER PROJECT-RELATED DOCUMENTATION. AN INDEX OF EXHIBITS IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)