Bruce C. Brown, Elliott McCrory, and Jean
Slaughter Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory*
P.O. Box 500
Batavia, Illinois 60510
9/27/2006
*Operated by the Universities Research Association under
contract with the U.S.
Department of Energy.
Introduction
After three and a half years of use, the Beams Document Database has
become integral to the way we share information in the Accelerator
Division and beyond. We are approaching Beams-doc-2500, and to
mark that milestone, we thought it would be helpful to remind all of
our colleagues, especially those who may need to access documents but
may have not yet created them, of some of the useful features
available to them.
E-Mail Notification
Would you like to know what documents have been newly created?
DocDB can accept your request for notification with a flexible
menu. A convenient selection might include a weekly notice of
all new documents and a daily notice about documents closely related
to your work. For the really curious, an immediate notice of
each update is available. If you want your own notification, see
the Your
Accountlink in the DocDB lefthand side menu.
Quick Navigation for HELP
Perhaps you have ignored the menu box on the left side of the DocDB
Home page. It also appears on the document modification page and
individual document pages. The first item and the last two in this
menu are links to information about using DocDB. Included in the
useful information is a list of real live people (not recently updated)
who can help you understand DocDB. The fastest way to get help is
likely to be the Beams Document Database
Administratorsmaillist. Usually we answer your
questions promptly.
Events
The DocDB software has been enhanced to allow documents to be linked
to events. One can assemble a complete meeting agenda with links
to all the talks using DocDB. This feature is starting to be
used by some groups. Note that other groups are using the CERN
Indico product at https://indico.fnal.gov/ so you
may wish to consult with colleagues when setting up a meeting using
one of these systems. Elliott McCrory has agreed to accept your
questions on Events.
Finding Documents: Topics, Subtopics and Searches
We have employed a two level hierarchy of topics to help the user
identify useful documents. Originally this was mostly organized by
accelerator work group. Some groups have not asked for their own
Topic but further requests will be gladly accepted.
A recent new version of DocDB permits multiple levels of topics.
Please send a request (Beams Document Database
Administrators) if you would like additional topics, subtopics,
sub-subtopics, etc.
The keywords provide a less structured method of identifying
documents. The user can create his own keyword, but the document user
may find it helpful if you ask to have your suggested word added to
the keyword list.
Don't neglect the database search page
( https://beamdocs.fnal.gov/AD-private/DocDB/SearchForm )
linked at the top and bottom of the home page.
Other groups are now using DocDB software in separate databases, including
LARP and SNuMI. In
addition to searches within Beams Document Database, you can search
across other linked DocDB instances using the Cross Search feature.
There are features which can help future readers locate documents. When
submitting documents, consider employing the
Related Documents:,
Journal References:,
or Other publication information: fields to describe
information such as where related documents can be found or where
else this document has been placed. Liberal use of these fields is encouraged.
Watch for These Features
Coming DocDB versions will add new features. An announced new version
will add the ability to order the authors on a document however you
would like. The default will remain ordered alphabetically. Features
to link additional properties to events will follow. It will add
moderators and topics to events and sessions in events and allow you
to find events by those criteria.