ACE | Requirements
After considering user needs, modeling data, and undertaking the comparative tool survey we enumerated and prioritized the functionality we envisioned. Some key definitions we used in expressing this functionality are:
- Item: A distinct object (e.g. Web site, journal article, image, bibliographic record, tabular dataset) suitable for use in the project or area of inquiry.
- Search tool: A location tool used for finding items of interest (e.g. Google, Library Catalogs, Databases, Journals).
- Project: A personal collection of selected items and search resources customized to support a specific project or area of inquiry.
- Collection: A set of items saved within a project.
We created the table on the following page, which records the actions a user should be able to take within the ACE system, and assigned priority levels. "Core" features are the most critical portions of the system. "Important" features are secondary portions of the system. "Desirable" denotes peripheral features that can be added in later phases. "Nice" features are enhancements to the system. For development of the prototype, we focused on core functionality.
| No. | Description | Priority |
| 1 | Log into a personalized workspace | Core |
| 2 | Search multiple external resources (e.g. Google, Google Scholar, CDL archival collections, library catalogs) | Core |
| 2.1 | Select subsets of items from lists of search results | Core |
| 2.2 | Annotate one or more items from lists of search results | Core |
| 2.3 | Save one more more items from results lists to personal projects(s) within the workspace | Core |
| 2.4 | View selected items from results lists in multiple formats (e.g. Map, timeline, list) | Important |
| 3 | Create a default list of searchable resources | Important |
| 3.1 | Customize the default list of searchable resources by adding, editing, and deleting resources | Important |
| 3.2 | Optionally customize project-specific lists of searchable resources. | Desirable |
| 3.3 | Add annotations about searchable resources | Desirable |
| 3.4 | Locate new searchable resources by browsing or searching | Nice |
| 4 | Manage personal projects within the workspace | Core |
| 4.1 | Create new projects | Core |
| 4.2 | Copy existing projects | Core |
| 4.2 | Add annotations about projects | Core |
| 4.3 | Share projects with one or more groups (read, read/write access) | Desirable |
| 4.4 | Delete projects | Core |
| 5 | Manage an item collection within a project | Core |
| 5.1 | Search for and add new items from within the project | Core |
| 5.2 | Annotate the item collection | Core |
| 5.3 | Export metadata for one or more selected items (multiple formats, customized by resource type) | Important |
| 5.4 | Sort list of items | Important |
| 5.5 | View one or more selected items from the collection in multiple formats (e.g. Map, timeline, list) | Important |
| 6 | Manage items within a collection | Core |
| 6.1 | Mark an item for export, annotation or other action | Core |
| 6.2 | Add a new item to the collection (from search results or direct entry) | Core |
| 6.3 | Delete an item from the collection | Core |
| 6.4 | Annotate an item | Core |
| 7 | Search the workspace (within or across projects) for specific items | Important |
| 8 | Manage groups of users for sharing or collaboration | Desirable |
| 8.1 | Create a new group of users | Desirable |
| 8.2 | Edit an existing group (add/delete members) | Desirable |
| 9 | Invoke a browser bookmarklet to add a new item to one or more projects while browsing | Desirable |