Abstract

Spatially Locating Official Documents
Track: State and Local Government
Authors: David Yun

Many official documents in a paper filing system are difficult to search and retrieve. A solution was proposed to locate the documents spatially and retrieve it by clicking on a map. Most official documents contain spatial information such as street address, parcel number, and descriptive texts which could be used to link the documents to various features in GIS layers. For example, the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) document determining the jurisdictions boundaries contained annexation survey information. An annexation layer was created then linked with LAFCO documents. Similarly, easement documents, tract and parcel maps, and FEMA's letter of map amendments (LOMA) are linked to their respective layers. California Polytechnic State University students provided free labor to scan hard copy documents into digital copies and create the GIS layers. This solution allowed multiple users to access the same document and save many hours of searching and retrieving official documents.