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Note: The Office of Geographic and Demographic Analysis is no longer a division of the Dept. of Administration. The work units which made up this division can be found on the left menu of this page. Resources found on the GDA website are being migrated to other domains.

About this site

Extent: HTML page
Description: Provides details regarding the open source content management system running this site
Date: April 26, 2005
Subject(s): Information technology
Creator(s): Minnesota Department of Administration. Geographic and Demographic Analysis Division.
Publisher: Minnesota Department of Administration
Contact: Andrew Koebrick, 651-201-2465; Web Coordinator / Librarian

Whenever possible, this web site uses free and Open Source software as a cost effective solution to providing government services:

The backbone of this site's architecture is a locally developed Document/Content Management System which conforms to the Dublin Core Metadata Standards and used the Legislative Indexing Vocabulary as a controlled vocabulary. This system allows users to use web forms to create high-quality metadata records for resources. These records are then used to display resources on appropriate pages based upon object attributes (i.e. Subject, Creator, Type...).

The system includes a workflow management system: once a resource is created by a staff member, it must be formally published to the public web site by an "Approver" with the appropriate password.

Screen shots of the metadata / content management system:

  • Resource creation/editing form: All resources on the system are cataloged using this Dublin Core cataloging tool. Depending on which resource type is selected, the form automatically redraws to show only the required fields
  • Resource creation/editing form example 2: An example of the briefest record type, the citation. Datasets, maps, and report are demand substantially more information.
  • Content editing: A WYSIWYG editor is provided so that content creators can create complex pages without knowing HTML.
  • Review queue: All unpublished items sit in this list awaiting action of the "Approver" associated with that resource.
  • Review item: All resources can be viewed prior to being published to ensure quality.
  • Subject management: All resources must be classified with a primary subject and optionally one or more secondary subjects. Users select subjects from dropdown menus in the content creation forms. Administrators control these vocabularies using a password protected form.

For more information regarding this site, contact Andrew Koebrick (andrew.koebrick@state.mn.us)

Alternative resource record formats: XML | MARC record (for inclusion in library catalogs)

Technical problems? Contact: andrew.koebrick@state.mn.us