mdlandrec.net Version 3 Roll Out

External and internal functional testing began on Thursday, September 17, 2009. At that time, electronic copies of the revised User's Manual, a link to the test server URL, and appropriate user IDs and passwords will be emailed to all of the clerks so that they might participate in the testing and evaluation of Version 3.  Ten days later, the circle of testers was widened to include other targeted public and private sector users. Input from our tester is greatly appreciated.

Functional testing will continue until at least November 30th. Our testers identify functional bugs or inadvertent variations from Version 2 that will need to be addressed and corrected. We also are receiving suggestions for additional functionality that will all be placed on a "wish list" for future consideration. Allowing for sufficient time for these issues to be addressed and corrected, we currently are looking at a "go live" date for Version 3 early in 2010.

plats.net Enhancement

We have been able to make substantial strides with plats.net enhancements. Our main focus has been on Worcester County plats, where Mr. Hales kindly volunteered to act as a pilot. Here are some of the things that we have done so far to enhance plats.net:

• Since June 17th 2009, we have been posting PDF images for all prospective Worcester County plats added to plats.net. Archival staff were very pleased with quality and printability of pdfs in testing. We want to know what system users think, and welcome feedback from Court staff and the public in Worcester County and elsewhere.
• Archives has scanned traditional Worcester County plat indexes from archival microfilm copies in our possession. These have been made available on plats.net as they have been in 9 other jurisdictions.
• We also have turned off the electronic index series for Worcester County previously available in plats.net. This will eliminate those search returns for which there are no associated images that have been the source of confusion for many years.
• We have instituted new quality assurance procedures that add an additional level of quality inspection into the process. This will help us catch errors that were missed in the initial quality assurance inspections. This additional level of review has so far kept us from posting some indexing errors (misspellings, incomplete information), and incomplete multi-page filings.

This project is on temporary hold until roll out of Version 3 is completed early in 2010. Once that project is completed, we can begin seriously to address the integration of plats.net and mdlandrec.net into a single system. At this time, we do not know how we will reconcile these very different approaches into a single system. Both approaches have advantages, and both have disadvantages. Neither is a perfect system. As a first step the Archives has approached the Circuit Court Clerks Automation Committee to develop a better understanding of your business requirements for such a new, combined plats/land records system. These system requirements, once codified, will be integrated into a set of functional requirements for the system.

Previous Reports

• May 1, 2009
• June 1, 2009
• July 14, 2009
• September 1, 2009