Case Study: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

The Need:

EPRI realized that it needed to organize and keep track of thousands of research reports that had accumulated since it was established in 1973. They also wanted to use emerging internet technology to make it easier for users to find report titles, descriptions, and publication information. This would help EPRI increase its revenue potential.

Background:

EPRI is a nonprofit group that works on finding solutions for the challenges of generating, delivering, and using electric power. They bring together members, scientists, and experts to work together on these problems, including those related to health, safety, and the environment.

The Solution:

Access Innovations helped EPRI maintain a database of its publications by organizing and indexing various documents. Editors used the Machine Aided Indexing (M.A.I.) component of Data Harmony to suggest appropriate vocabulary terms for each document, choosing the best terms for the highest indexing accuracy and completeness. This allowed users to get very precise search results and see complete bibliographic data in a consistent format.

Access Innovations had a team of editors who updated the EPRI database by collecting information from online journals and reports. They also made sure that all the information in the database was accurate and up-to-date. The editors made changes to the terms used in the database and made sure that everything was consistent with the standards set by EPRI. They were also responsible for fulfilling requests for documents from EPRI members.

Results:

The EPRI research database is important for many groups, such as utility companies, government agencies, and environmental organizations. EPRI is known for being a leader in energy research and technology innovation.