mdlandrec.net Version 3 Roll Out

Internal and external functional testing has been ongoing since September 17, 2009. Functional testing is intended to reveal user issues that will need to be addressed and corrected before the system can "go live". To date, we have received very little input from our testing community. This might be a very good sign, indicating that the system is as robust and user friendly as we hoped. But it also may mean that testers haven't been hitting the system hard over the last couple of months. At this point we need to test the system's ability to handle a large volume of concurrent users by widening our circle of testers. This will assure us that the system is robust enough to handle the 100,000+ registered users currently accessing Version 2. To that end, this week we are sending out an email to 13,000 randomly selected current system users, asking them to sign up as Version 3 testers. This larger group will provide a meaningful test of system load balance, the new registration interface, and further testing of system functionality.

Assuming no major problems are revealed by this round of testing, we can then coordinate with JIS to make one public access land record terminal available in each courthouse as a testing site as well. This can not, and should not happen until we have digested the results of our last round of extensive external testing.

Assuming all continues to go well with this final round of external testing, we anticipate to roll out Version 3 statewide by the end of January.

plats.net Enhancement

We have been able to make substantial enhancements to plats.net. Our main focus has been on Worcester County plats, where Mr. Hales kindly volunteered to act as a pilot. Here are some of the improvements we have accomplished this fiscal year with  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 provide an additional level of quality inspection into the process.

• May 1, 2009
• June 1, 2009
• July 14, 2009
• September 1, 2009
• October 9, 2009