Anyone with a lot of things they need to share with others can benefit from this technology, says Reed. IST s cataloging system has proved to be a big time saver for the three Services. Subscribers at numerous command levels can be authorized to update or add catalog entries. An electronically linked panel of experts provides quality control. Although each of the military services has its own separate database and complete authority over what shows up on the system, to the user the resources function as though they are centrally located.
Users can generate locally defined reports that can be as generic or detailed as needed.
Output also can be geared to managers reporting requirements. Tammie McClellan, who is administrator of the data, says users will be able to create personalized search agents to continuously monitor databases, relevant discussion forums and e-mail. Agents automatically will report new information about user-specified subject matter. It s like having a 24-hour hotline to a research library. Cataloging is the first step towards knowledge management, a very hot topic in information technology.