Each of the four Eloquent System’s applications are sub-sets or views of the Eloquent WebSuite. Every Eloquent customer gets the entire suite along with the WebGENCAT Runtime Engine. The customer’s unique License Key gives them access to the applications and modules they require.

As a result of the WebSuite design, many of the salient features are common to all applications. Key features include the following:

• Browser Clients
• Unlimited Capacity
• Spell Check
• Intiuitive and Precise Searching
• Internet Navigation
• Report Generator
• Web Publishing
• Controlled Vocabulary
• Access Security
• Digital Content
• Branch Control
• Google Mash-up
• WebGENCAT Toolkit

All user interfaces are with an Internet browser, including administrative functions. There is no need to download any software. Access is restricted as required by passwords and user groups. Menus for each group are limited to the authorized functions and authorized data sets.

The applications are built with the WebGENCAT Toolkit, which supports variable field lengths and multiple values for each field. For example, a record may have any number of fields of variable length. Each field may consist of any number of sub-fields (repeating fields) and each sub-field may have any number of sub-sub-fields. The Windows operating system may impose a maximum length restriction of 2GB – hardly an inconvenience. Any other limits a customer experiences are a result of the hardware capacity of their server or work station and possibly the browser being used.

Every Web form for data input has spell-check options. For some browsers, the user may have to activate and install the 3^rd party utility. Depending upon the user’s work station, the spell checker may utilize the dictionary of their default word processor.

Search options range from a very simple single-prompt keyword searches for novice users to complex multi-prompt searches with Boolean logic for experienced researchers who require precise results. The Google-style keyword prompt can be placed on any Web page.

The full range of search capability is available for all data tables, including patron/client tables and tables of transactions such as loans. This greatly enhances the flexible retrieval of management and administrative information.

Sophisticated logic statement can be saved for future use and/or for nesting into other logic statements. There is no limit to the precision of the search. Researchers get all of the items and are not burdened with irrelevant information to sift through.

Multi-step searches permit you to first search a related table such as a names authority for the precise name(s) to use as a term in a more complex search. This adds to the precision as well as the complexity of searches.

Extensive use is made of automatically generated hyperlinks throughout the entire database. This is accomplished without inserting HTML or other formatting codes into the data. Researchers can navigate up and down hierarchies as well as to all related data, requesting to see all the detail for records encountered along the way. Security is in place to ensure that with this extensive navigation capability a user does not gain “back door” access to restricted information.

In addition to navigating within the database researchers can move seamlessly to related information elsewhere on the Internet: to and/or from other databases, and to and/or from static web pages. Related digital content is retrieved with a simple click of the mouse.

Reporting is usually initiated with a search of a specific table in the database, resulting in a hits list. This list may be further refined with the use of a saved list (shopping cart) feature. The results can be previewed online and then sent to one or more of the reports (outputs) on a list of options. The output generator then takes over, following the instructions of the report/output definition. This includes gathering other related information from anywhere in the database and formatting it all for the output.

The database contains only raw data, ensuring that it may be used for various output options. The report/output generator imbeds the presentation codes such as HTML, PDF and RTF. Output formats include HTML, XML, EAD, PTF, RTF, Email, Excel, ASCII, and Dublin Core. Output may include mathematical calculations, inserted images, logos, barcodes, and a wide range of font variations.

The Eloquent WebSuite applications are designed as Web applications, not Windows; therefore, the publishing of HTML and XML (EAD) is a natural extension of the base product. It is easy to create publications for posting on the Internet and optionally include links back into the Eloquent database from which they were created.

The Eloquent WebSuite enables an organization to maintain control over a standardized vocabulary for an enterprise-wide knowledge base. Skilful use of synonyms, see-also, and broader and narrower terms makes it easy for all users to comply with the standards, even when using non-standard (old, familiar) vocabulary.

A database may contain any number of controlled thesauri and code tables. They may be built from “scratch” to meet the organization’s unique needs, or industry standard tables may be imported. Various controls may be applied internally, possibly limiting the management or approval of terms to administrative personnel only.

The Eloquent WebSuite is designed as a Web-based product, not Windows. It easily fits within the industry standard security of fire wall protection, Internet security protocols, and backup routines.

Usage is restricted with user names and passwords. Users belong to user groups. Each group has a unique menu of authorized functions and data restrictions. The default groups are Administrator, Staff, and Public. However, there is no limit to the number of different groups that can be defined.

The Branch Control module, described below, further segregates portions of the database into branch allocations.

The Eloquent WebSuite is designed to be the middleware for the rapidly evolving Digital Asset Management (DAM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technology. The objective is to let the user select the most appropriate appliance or service currently available for capturing the digital content. The Eloquent software will import the digital objects along with any basic metadata and make it an integral part of the enterprise database.

The customer is also free to employ the latest presentation tools for viewing or listening to the digital/electronic content. For example, Acrobat from Adobe is commonly used for PDFs. Similarly a variety of 3^rd-party software is used for audio, video and rich text. The same presentation tools for viewing other content from elsewhere on the Internet is used for content delivered by the Eloquent application.

Many large enterprises can benefit from the Eloquent Branch Control module. It may be a corporation with several branch offices, a school district with many schools, a government with many departments, an association with several members such as a council of heritage institutions.

With this module an end user is assigned to a branch as well as to a user group. This restricts the user to a specific sub-set of the database. Other portions of the database, such as controlled vocabulary, may remain global. This permits all the branches to use the same copy of the software installed on a single server simply by defining the parameters for the branch.

It is easy to maintain standardized vocabulary as well as standard procedures and reporting from a centralized location using the Branch Control module. At the same time, each branch can be given complete autonomy over much of their operation.

All Eloquent WebSuite applications enjoy a mash-up with Google Maps at no additional cost. For example, any table of data containing postal addresses with a postal/zip code are automatically linked. When viewing the address a user simply clicks on the postal/zip code to get a map with the address identified.

By adding the Google Mash-up module to an application the customer can configure a very attractive and intuitive access point into the database. The search is designed to request some sub-set of geographic locations such as construction sites, branch offices, mines, research stations, and historical sites. The results of the search are presented as points on a map.

The researcher can manipulate the map software or can click for information about an individual location. The user is then in the Eloquent database with all the navigation and display options available.

By purchasing the WebGENCAT Toolkit you get all the development tools that were used by the Eloquent Software Engineers to create the applications. You also get all the configuration records (source code / business rules) that represent your application. The kit includes online help for every part of the toolkit. All you required are the skills of an application analyst and a working knowledge of the application. The tools will give you the ability to make modifications and add new functions.