Meridian Terminology
Meridian Terminology
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Convenience Copy -- Refers to any copy made of a Master Record for reference or for the convenience of multiple users. When an electronic image (copy) is created from a hard copy or paper original, it is acceptable to declare the electronic image to be the Master Record and that will render all other copies, including the orignal hard copy, to be Convenience Copies. Convenience Copies may be disposed when the University Operations retention period has been met (typically FE+2 except when this is greater than the official UT Records Retention for the document). No authorization from Records Management is required for Convenience Copy disposal.
Document Manager (Process Role) -- Provides administrative support for the document management system from a business process or records management perspective. Responsible for establishing and managing controls that comply with UT Records Retention policies. May also be referred to as the Vault Administrator.
Documents -- Documents in a Meridian Enterprise vault are like files in a file system. They are located in folders where you can copy, rename, move, and delete them. However, vault documents differ from files in a file system in some important ways:
Each document is assigned a document type that is different from its file type. The document type determines what additional intelligence (metadata properties, workflow, and so on) is given to the document by Meridian.
Revision history is maintained so that you can retrieve, view, and compare different revisions.
Document names and locations may be controlled by the vault configuration. This means that when you create a new document, Meridian Enterprise can automatically name it and store it in the correct folder.
Documents can be linked together to represent various relationships that may exist between them, such as subassemblies to parts, drawings to specifications, floor plans to elevation drawings, and so on.
The fundamental difference between vault documents and ordinary files is that Meridian Enterprise distinguishes between a document and its contents. A document’s contents may be regarded as the file to which you are accustomed. Meridian Enterprise considers a document to be the file and its container (metadata). In Meridian, a document can exist without contents (for example, to represent a hardcopy-only document), but contents cannot exist without a container. The contents of a document can be replaced. It is these containers and how to work with them that are described in the following topics.
Document Properties--Meridian stores and displays data about each document called metadata. The metadata is stored in properties, which can be considered database fields. Meridian uses properties in a manner similar to the way Windows keeps track of a file’s name, size, date created, and date modified. The properties in Meridian are used to track and manage the documents and may include such properties as Revision Number, Project Number, Status, Title, and many more. The document type of a document determines which properties are associated with the document.
You will encounter three kinds of properties when working in Meridian:
Read-only: You cannot change the values of these properties. Examples are Creation Time and Size.
Restricted: You can only select a value from a list of standard values.
Unrestricted: You may enter a value you want.
Meridian displays properties on property pages. Each property page contains properties that are related to one another in some way. The document type of a document determines which property pages are associated with the document. Every vault document displays at least a Document property page that contains basic metadata such as workflow Status, To-Do, Location, Type, and so on. Property pages appear for existing documents and may also appear when you create new documents so that you can enter any known information. That information may be used to automatically name the document and store it in the correct folder.
To edit the properties of a document:
Select the document whose properties you want to edit.
Display the property page that contains the properties that you want to edit.
Click the Edit button.
Edit the desired properties and click OK.
Note Your ability to edit properties is determined by the document’s current workflow status, your security privileges, and the vault configuration. In most cases, you will only be able to edit properties while a document is under change by you.
Entity -- The term used in the classification system to represent the group, office or unit to which the document or record applies. The entity list includes the service units within the University Operations portfolio, UT Austin and UT System offices as well as local, state and federal governments.
Explorer View --The Explorer view is special among all of the Navigation views. It displays the documents and folders as they are actually organized in the vault, similar to Windows Explorer. When you create new documents and move existing documents, you do so relative to the Explorer folder view structure regardless of the current view or work area.
The other Navigation views represent logical folder structures based on other document property values. That is, the documents don’t actually reside in the folders shown in non-Explorer views; the folders are simply groupings of documents with the same property values. The Explorer view also works like Windows Explorer. The same actions you can take in Windows Explorer, like cut, copy, paste and drag and drop, also work in the Explorer view.
Note Meridian security roles are applied at the folder level in the Explorer view. Thus, your ability to perform certain actions may be different in some folders as opposed to others.
Mail Receiver / Mail Logger -- A process role that can be performed by anyone within the office receiving and importing the mail into the Meridian University Operations vault.
Master Record -- The documentation or recording of a transaction or interaction that we are required to retain. A Master Record may also be referred to as the original or copy of record.
Metadata -- Most simply, data about data. With regards to the Meridian document management system, this is the descriptive data captured in the document properties.