As the availability of digital data increases, particularly through the Internet, and data sharing between government and industry grows, data users will benefit with greater choices at lower costs. The ability to economically and successfully utilize graphic software relies on the data management process. During the 1980s, data management for contaminated sites usually meant the majority of site information was stored in hardcopy format, with limited use of spreadsheets for calculations and reporting. It is a difficult task to manage all this paperwork and information so that nothing is ever lost and ensuring accessibility. Manual manipulation and storage of sample data was often accompanied by transcription errors and instances where all the data was not used.
Accessibility is another common problem associated with manual management.
When using graphic generators such as GIS, a source file must be created from the main data set. If one typographical error is introduced, such as a misplaced decimal, the interpretation and image can be greatly skewed. The primary challenges with a database approach are flexibility without complexity and ease of use. The database serves as a central warehouse for all sample, analytical, and hydrogeologic information. Frequently used printouts or reports are automated and several features exist to easily obtain information from the database for use in GIS, contouring, statistical analysis, and report tables.