Making project knowledge searchable
Ask a question across your entire project archive and receive an answer with source references. Experience stays in the practice, even when someone leaves.
Current effort
3 hrs
With an assistant
10 mins review time
HOAI work stage
All work stages · Across projects
What this is about.
"Have we done this before?" The answer is in the archive, but often only those involved know where. New colleagues ask around; those leaving take their knowledge with them. Instead, you can ask the archive and receive an answer with a source reference you can check.
What you receive
- An answer in complete sentences, rather than a list of search results
- A source reference for each statement: project number, document, page or item number, so you can verify it
- A clear "no information available" when the archive has no answer. A plausible figure without a source would be worse than no answer
- Answers drawn only from documents the person asking is authorised to open. No access to a project means no answers from it
- Your existing filing system remains the single source of truth, without a new archive
Answers point to sources; they do not constitute approval. Your specialist engineer decides what can be used in a new project.
What your practice needs
- An archive in one location, rather than spread across network drives, local folders and email accounts
- Searchable files; scanned documents require optical character recognition first
- Project numbers or another reliable identifier for each project
- Defined file system access permissions, determining who can receive which answers
- A designated person who decides which projects to include