Empower Tip: ALCOA++Tip #419: Configuring Empower for ALCOA++ | Defining the second ‘+’

The second ‘+’ means Traceable, that is the data is traceable thru out its lifecycle. (Note: I recommend reading Tip 411 before reading this tip) This will conclude the series.

Let’s see how it is done!

Things to consider:

Any changes to the data, the context or metadata should be traceable, should not obscure the original information. This means using the Audit Trails to trace the history of the data. In Configuration Manager we can trace the history of the Project:

Create a View Filter in the Projects view to display fields including when the project was created, the owner, the project type and if it is locked.

Create a View Filter in the System Audit Trail view to display when Projects have been created and/or restored, when and by whom.

In the Project we can view the history of the data and the associated methods:

Project audit trail – tracks all project level activity such as creating methods, starting/finishing data acquisition and generation of Results.

Method audit trail – tracks the history of the method and tracks multiple versions of a method.

Once a Result Set is generated, you can right click on the Result Set and select View As to easily determine which Instrument Method was used to acquire the data and which Processing Method was used to generate the Results.

Empower keeps track of what a User is doing, however, it is up to the User to explain why something is done. That is documented in the form of a comment which can be entered when creating a method, generating Results and so forth.

The requirement to add a comment is a System Policy.

The comment is added when the action is taken.

It’s that easy!