The NWQL’s Information Technology (IT) group is
staffed with highly skilled specialists capable of
system design and maintenance for an infrastructure
of networked computer systems. These systems
house numerous databases and associated system
and application software to support the lab’s data
management activities. The system is fully certified
and accredited to FISMA standards by IT Security of
USGS.
The Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is a special-purpose application that monitors the progress of a sample from original entry in the system, through analysis and review to the final release of results to the customer. The system includes a database of all samples received by the NWQL, and an archive of actions taken with each sample. USGS personnel may use the data base to design an analytical request or may track the progress of their samples and retrieve intermediate results by using Web applications that query the data base.
A Business Intelligence system is used to monitor analytical processes. Analytical results are transmitted to the customer for review and automatic entry into the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS). Once results are finalized, anyone can retrieve information on where and when a sample was collected, as well as accurate concentrations of chemicals found in the sample and the method of analysis through NWIS Web: http://water.usgs.gov/nwis. This data is used by scientists in universities, Federal, State, and local agencies, and public and private sectors.