FFG‐61 Prototype Digital Technical Library

USS Ingraham (FFG-61) is the prototype ship for NavSea's Advanced Technical Information System (ATIS). ATIS is a digital technical library, which holds on optical disks the ship's 2,000 technical manuals and 73,000 drawing sheets. It contains a detailed ship's configuration index (derived from SCLSIS) to lead the user to the proper drawing or manual, and it replaces the ship's aperture cards and the second (library) copy of the technical manuals. ATIS, and the data standards established and tested through ATIS development, will be the technical library portion of micro-SNAP and SNAP III. It also forms an important part of NavSea's plans to utilize EDMICS data. This paper describes the goals and technical concepts behind the development of ATIS. Problems encountered, solutions developed, and lessons learned are detailed. Special attention was paid to the application of the Computer Aided Acquisition and Logistic Support (CALS) standards, problems caused by conflicts and ambiguities in those standards, and recommendations for future application and tailoring of the standards. Original program goals are compared with actual operational experiences. Plans for future expansion are outlined, including applications of this technology in the availability planning and execution process. A comparison is developed among the various methods of optical imaging and their costs and benefits.