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Administrators Guide to RelDog Lite - FINAL
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Executive Summary
Reldog Lite (RDL) is a relational database program that was developed to meet
the needs of organizations breeding, raising and training working dogs for guide,
service dog and other work. It was modeled after the database in use at Guiding
Eyes for the Blind, which was developed by volunteer programmer Kevin Keymer
and staff at Guiding Eyes for the Blind. It represents millions of dollars of
donated time over its 13 years of development.
Schools who do not possess the financial resources required to invest in the
development of a customized database can use RDL to store basic dog data,
health and genetic data, general information about people and the many
relationships they have with various dogs and your organization, breeding,
whelping, temperament, and training progress data, as well as client details and
class management. It incorporates methods in managing canine genetics as well
as validated temperament scoring systems.
A database of this type helps schools maximize their potential to improve the
quality of the dogs they produce while managing relationships with their puppy
raisers, volunteers, and supporters through proper data management. RDL
facilitates data analysis so managers can monitor outcomes and make changes
in the key areas of reproductive management, dog health and temperament,
puppy raising and training, and team matching and support.
This software is designed to be used “point-of-entry”, meaning the person who
collects and uses the data is also the person entering the data, to provide the
highest level of accuracy. Additional features include built in validity checks for
non-sensical data, and data normalization which ensures that updated data is
reflected program-wide.
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Dog Data
Whether you are entering and tracking dogs born at your facility or dogs
acquired from other sources, Reldog Lite has entry and edit forms to
manage your dog colony. Some of the data fields in the Dog Data section
include: breed, color, sex, DOB, sire, dam, microchip ID, registered name
and number (if desired), the person the dog is placed with, the relationship
the dog has to the person with whom it is placed, reason for release from
your program, what type of adoption placement (if released), status
changes the dog has had over its career, date died and death comments,
generation coefficient & inbreeding coefficient (the database calculates
these), neuter date, overall health rating and last temperament rating.
Health Data
You or your vets can enter vaccines, medical histories, diagnoses,
laboratory tests and results, prescriptions, DNA blood collections,
surgeries and other procedures. If the sire’s and dam’s information has
been entered correctly, Reldog Lite can provide your organization with
Genetic Summaries that can help to summarize the health of a dog, a litter
of dogs or an entire pedigree. Reldog Lite also has the ability to provide a
printable medical history including a dog’s diagnoses, vaccinations and
other pertinent historical medical data.
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Temperament Data
There are numerous projects currently underway in guide and other
working dog organizations to develop validated temperament scoring
systems. As they become available, it is hoped that these tools can be
made available by their developers in RDL.
C-BARQ
Dr. James Serpell of the University of Pennsylvania has developed
a validated temperament assessment tool called C-BARQ. It is a
questionnaire filled out by puppy raisers or owners when their pups
are 6 and 12 months old. Parts of the questionnaire have been
shown to be predictive of guide dog success and you may find the
C-BARQ useful in identifying dogs in need of intervention.
The Behavior Checklist
The Behavior Checklist is another tool developed by Dr. Serpell. A multi-school
consortium is working with Dr. Serpell on its validation.
CARAT
The Clothier Animal Response Assessment Tool (CARAT) is a new scoring
system developed by Suzanne Clothier and preliminary analysis is encouraging
that this scoring system will help predict the success of dogs as guide dogs and
breeders. This tool may also be available in RDL as an import after users have
completed a certification in its use.
People Data
This section stores name, address, phone & email data, information about
secondary people or cross-references to an organization or person record, and
the relationships people have with your school such as puppy raisers, breeder
keepers and other volunteers. (RDL does not have the capacity to track fund
raising or payroll as there are excellent over the counter products available to
meet these needs.)
Training
You can assign instructors to dogs, complete training progress reports and
temperament assessments for dogs in training.
Reproduction/Genetics
All aspects of managing heats, mating timing and production summaries
are stored here. Powerful genetic data summaries of a breeder and its
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ancestors and offspring are available at your fingertips to assist in making
mating decisions.
RDL provides exports of data to other free-ware that runs estimates of
heritability and estimated breeding values (EBVs). (EBVs are statistical
estimates of the likelihood for a dog to produce a trait based on all of the
data of dogs related to that dog. EBVs rank dogs in a colony from best to
worst for a specific trait and help direct genetic change by identifying the
best candidates for breeding.)
Schools wishing to use EBVs will need the support of a geneticist and
must have trait data from at least 100 puppies a year from a single breed.
Cooperative breeding groups could combine data and use EBVs from a
collective colony provided their dogs have a large number of ancestors in
common.
Client and Class Data
Systems for managing client service data including application
management, client profile information, client communication, follow-up
support delegation and class management are included.
Collaboration Initiatives
Schools considering working in cooperative groups using RDL can share
selected data among their groups while keeping client data private. A common
database system ensures file structure standardization. In addition, schools will
develop and use common measures for their dogs. For these same reasons,
RDL will also facilitate collaborative research by providing exports to researchers
in a format that allows easy combining of datasets.
Universal Dog Identification
A Universal Dog Identification (UID) is incorporated into RDL. It is recommended
that all organizations using RDL commence using the Universal Dog
Identification.
Cost to the School
The best news is that there is no cost for non-profit organizations to use this
program for managing data, where the purpose is breeding better dogs or the
teaching others. Future upgrades after initial program development is complete
will be the responsibility of the organization using RDL.
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Programming and Customization
RDL is written in code that is widely known and the code is openly available to
any programmer (open source). Depending on the number of concurrent users
you will have, you may need to install a server to run RDL and depending on
your on-site network or your need for remote access to the program, you may
need software and hardware to run the program on Citrix or another system that
would allow for these more sophisticated methods of using RDL.
Required Commitment
Organizations contemplating using RDL must be sure there is commitment from
everyone at the organization to properly implement it. Change of any type
creates fear simply because things are different. Fear results in resistance to
change. Leaders of each organization should carefully assess and plan for the
possible roadblocks to implementation of a new database program. These may
include finding the extra time to learn its use and to do the initial loading of data,
the change from a paper or centralized administrative staff entry system to a to a
point of entry system, reorganization of processes and use of local IT support for
computer hardware and software issues.
For Guiding Eyes for the Blind, who began this project with the original Reldog
system, and for us at Southeastern Guide Dogs, it was a lot of work to change
the way we manage our data, but we would never want to go back. Data opens
the door to better systems, better data collection and the ability to make informed
decisions about the direction of our respective businesses. It empowers us to
make strategic decisions based on numerical data, and allows us the
unprecedented opportunity to create lasting partnerships with highly responsible
breeding practices and exceptional training behind them.
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Getting Started
Welcome to Reldog Lite!
By now you are familiar with the benefits of Reldog Lite and what this program’s
data management capabilities can do for your school. You are probably excited
about the possibilities and clueless as to how you might begin this daunting
process.
This guide has been developed to give Project Managers responsible for the
organization and implementation of the Reldog Lite system the most efficient,
and therefore most cost-effective, way to navigate the data conversion process.
The Commitment You Have Made
When I first began Southeastern Guide Dog’s conversion to Reldog Lite I
assumed it would be quick and painless. Our school already had data
management software that had been modified to fit our needs, so I assumed that
we would simply mine the data we had, upload into Reldog Lite and be on our
way!
Just over a year and a half later, we are finishing our data entry and completing
our last bits of training.
Before the prospect of a year’s worth of work makes you reconsider moving
forward, I want to share with you why it took our school so much time:
1) We did not delegate one person to manage the project
2) Those we did assign to the project did not have enough experience or
clout within the organization to be successful
3) We spent a great deal of time trying to find ways to upload our data rather
than entering our data through the forms in RDL
4) We did not create a plan which managed current implementation activity
and planned future activity
5) Once we dedicated one person to the project, we divided their attention
with other projects
This guide was specifically developed to prevent schools from making time-
consuming mistakes that may keep them from success. It is intended to give the
Project Manager a clear understanding of the project’s scope and an itemized
implementation plan to minimize staff resources and maximize the cost-
effectiveness of the endeavor.
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Step 1: Establish a Project Manager
Without question, the single most important piece to the Reldog Lite puzzle is
selecting an effective Project Manager. This person will champion the project,
keep it moving forward and will ultimately be responsible for troubleshooting and
training everyone on your staff. While you may choose to have many people
involved in the process of implementing this program, you must have one person
designated to manage it.
Project Manager Selection Criteria
As you begin thinking of who will act as the driving force behind your project, ask
yourself a few things:
Do we have someone currently on staff with the leadership experience
needed to execute a project of this magnitude?
Does this person have enough experience in the industry to understand all
aspects of our business?
Does this person have enough experience at our organization to
understand the strategic direction of our school?
Does this person have a broad enough knowledge of our organization that
they will be able to learn (and carry on a dialogue in) each department for
the purposes of training?
Does this person have experience with other data management software?
To what extent? Are they simply casual users of the software or are they
confident in their ability to manipulate data to get the greatest detail of the
information they are looking for?
Does this person have good cross-departmental relationships? If their job
does not regularly require cross-departmental communication, is this
someone that we feel can confidently develop relationships that will lead
to a successful transition?
Does this person have the time to dedicate to this project? If not, are we
willing to make the adjustments necessary to enable to them to be
successful?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, you have your Project Manager. If you
answered “yes” to most of the questions but “no” to a few, you have a very strong
candidate, but you may need to commit to providing this person with a few tools
or additional training to prepare this candidate for the greatest likelihood for
success.
If you answered “no” to most (or all) of these questions, you have a few options:
Table the project and revisit it in a year to establish if your current staff at
that time meets the needs of the project.
Consider hiring a contract employee who meets the above-mentioned
criteria and whose sole focus is this project.
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Remember, this person is the person you are trusting with the data you have and
to whom you are entrusting the future of your data.
Step 2: Familiarization with the program
There is a demo version of Reldog Lite, which you may download and install to
enable Project Managers to become thoroughly familiar with Reldog Lite by using
a complete, pre-populated version of the software. Project Managers are
encouraged to download the demo and give themselves ample opportunity to
explore the software.
Project Managers should view their role in this transition as “Subject Matter
Expert”. Read and test each section of RDL so that you have a working
knowledge of the basic and intermediate functions of Reldog Lite. A
comprehensive User’s Manual is available for Project Managers to thoroughly
explore the software, its capabilities, and its limitations.
As you head into Reldog Lite, it is important to understand that RDL is designed
as a point-of-entry system, meaning that the people collecting and using the data
are the same ones who enter the data. This concept ensures data accuracy as
you move through the program because the person entering information has a
vested interest in its accuracy. While the program offers unparalleled
transparency between departments, the Project Manager will need to give a lot of
thought and consideration to the people who have a need to access certain types
of information. RDL has been designed to only permit certain users the ability to
add new people and organizations (to limit the likelihood of double entry), to
create or edit dog data (to avoid inaccuracies like a dog coat color being changed
accidentally or the change/deletion of an identification number) and to limit the
users who have the ability to view confidential client information (in compliance
with HIPPA regulations). We will discuss more about user permissions in Step
10: Enter Your Current Personnel – Establish Employees as Users later in this
guide.
Step 3: Determine What You Will Need
You and your management team will need to establish what your organization
will need to effectively implement Reldog Lite.
Technical Support
It is important to determine if the person responsible for the network configuration
of Reldog Lite understands network design and wiring. While setup procedure
may be “simple” to a home computer enthusiast, careful design and
implementation is required to properly install Reldog Lite. In fact, incorrect
installation and improper networking can lead to system crashes, sluggish
operation and corrupted data – all very expensive elements to resolve!
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RDL Support is happy to consult with your implementations staff but is unable to
provide your organization with network tutoring.
Understand Basic Networking:
It is important to understand a little about how the system will work from a
technical standpoint. As you know, upgrades to computers, servers or software
can be expensive, so it will be critical for you to have a basic understanding of
the set-up as you proceed.
Establishing a Network
Why Network?
A network allows multiple personal computers to link together and share
data or other resources, like printers or the Internet. For our purposes, it
allows RDL to be accessed by multiple users at one time.
Understanding the components of Reldog Lite
Reldog Lite consists of two major components:
GEBDATA.mdb: This is where your physical data is stored in
tables. Think of this like a series of large Excel spreadsheets.
Each column corresponds to a field, which is a specific piece of
data such as a Dog’s Name, a microchip number or the date a dog
was called in for training. Each row in the table is an individual
record.
RDL.mdb: This is the front-end user interface. This part of the
program contains the forms and reports you will utilize in Reldog
Lite.
The simplest way to understand how the data integrates together is to
think of a child’s shape drop puzzle.
The physical pieces you drop into the bucket are your pieces of data.
The cover on the bucket with the shapes cut out of it is your RDL.mdb.
The forms within the database say to you: “Place your circle here. Place
your star here” – or for our purposes: “Put your dog’s name here. Put your
medical procedure here”.
Lastly, the bucket itself is your GEBDATA.mdb. It collects your data as
you enter the correct pieces of information.
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How RDL Works on a Network
Most organizations will have at least two users entering data from different
computers, in which case you will need to network RDL. The single database file
housing the data (the “bucket”) resides solely on one computer: the server. The
user interface containing your forms (think of the toy’s top with the shapes “cut
out”) is duplicated on each worker’s computer. This means each person has
their own copy of the interface while entering and retrieving data from the same
place: “the bucket”. This setup allows users to access the information most
quickly.
For example, if you initiate a search for a pup’s name associated with a tattoo
number, the RDL program running on the client computer asks the server for the
name. The server looks up the pup’s name in the RDL database (Gebdata.mdb)
and returns the name to the client RDL on the client computer by displaying the
pup’s name on the screen for you. This is a client/server relationship.
RDL provides a robust database that should provide excellent service when
executed in a multi-user environment. With common off- the-shelf network,
computer equipment, and proper cabling, the program will run with adequate
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speed to facilitate up to 10 users at a time with no problems. For a larger number
of concurrent users you will likely need a more sophisticated networking setup.
Support you will need
Computer Networking can be a fairly complicated subject for the average
computer user. This document will not provide detailed network topology.
Although the RDL software is the same, how organizations choose to use it will
differ based on your organization's needs and funds available for hardware,
software and local IT support.
The RDL support system via rdlsupport@comcast.net will be happy to help
advise you initially. For successful use of RDL networked to multiple users, it is
imperative that you acquire the services of an Information Technology (IT)
professional to plan and implement a network that will accommodate your
specific needs, if you do not have a staff person with adequate IT
experience.
Your implementation of RDL will be unique to your organization. If you have
already acquired the necessary equipment and have established technical
support in place, your job may be easier. If you are building a multi-user network
for the first time, make sure you have a good plan, proven hardware and qualified
support. Successful implementation of RDL relies on a well built backbone of
servers, workstations and network.
Suggestion on Acquiring Software and Hardware
There are many companies that specialize in selling software to non-profit
organizations at a reduced price. They are easily found by doing a Google
search for “non-profit software pricing”. Also, you might be able to apply for a
grant directly with Microsoft where the purchase price is subsidized or donated.
Huge savings can be obtained by purchasing used hardware. Many “off-lease”
workstations and servers are offered at substantial discounts over retail pricing.
Various systems come with a Microsoft Windows XP license sticker on the
chassis, allowing you to avoid the purchase of an operating system.
Purchasing used equipment can be risky, so make sure you know your vendor
and review warranty options. Many Dell computers still have factory warranties.
A local source may be a better option than mail order, since you can obtain
service without shipping charges for returns.
Another option for larger organizations is to lease new hardware and software.
This can be a good business choice, because it may provide tax and
maintenance advantages. Older equipment is returned every two or three years
at the end of the lease, providing an automatic “technology upgrade”. Total cost
of ownership is spread out over the length of the lease with monthly payments
instead of a lump sum payment at acquisition. Also, the same exact hardware
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model is purchased for all users, allowing easier maintenance of just one
standard computer rather than various models purchased over a period of
constantly changing technology.
Network Basics
There are three options to consider based on the number of computers you
anticipate networking:
From 2 to 4 computers: Workgroup Network
From 5 to 10 computers: Small Network with a Server
11 or more computers: Larger Network with a Server
Workgroup Network
The simplest form of a network is called a Workgroup. A Workgroup is a small
group of personal computers wired together, (typically in a small office) with no
server or “master” computer. Each personal computer runs independently of the
other, but can share its data or printers with other computers on the network.
In the workgroup, one personal computer is designated as the “database server”
and is loaded with the RDL Gebdata file. The other computers in the workgroup
access data from this computer and are called clients.
Advantage: A dedicated server computer is not required. All computers
on the network, including the computer which houses the database, can
run the RDL Program.
Disadvantage: The computer which houses the database has a larger
work load as it works to provide data to the other users in the group.
When this happens, the computer’s performance is slowed considerably.
Solution: We recommend that you limit the number of “clients” on this
type of configuration to four.
Small Networks with Server
An enhanced but more complex network is called a “server based network” or
“Domain”. Just as with the Workgroup network, multiple “client” personal
computers are wired together on the network but with the added functionality of a
server, which becomes the “master” of the network. It also provides a dedicated
RDL database for all of the clients. Typically, the server is a more powerful
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computer with faster access to data, speeding up the processing time required by
the RDL program.
Under this setup, each computer accesses the information on the server
independently. The server feeds information back to the user who requested it.
The drawbacks of this particular setup are the same as with Workgroup
Networking since the Server is, ultimately, a single computer with limits to how
much data it can process. The more users you have requesting operations of the
server, the slower your server will operate.
Larger Networks with Server
As the number of clients on the network increases, the demand for data services
increases, so the speed and power of the network and servers require
upgrading. You should retain the services of a network consultant to
properly size your network BEFORE purchasing equipment and
implementing a project of this scale. You are welcome to get in touch with our
RDL Support volunteers for suggestions but the actual integration of hardware
should be implemented by a local systems provider.
Technical Requirements
You will need to speak with your IT Department/Consultant to establish the
needs of your network to support the software.
Operating System Requirements
RDL runs exclusively on Microsoft Windows. Please review the chart below for
OS recommendations:
Computer Platform Minimum Recommended
Client Personal
Computer
Window NT, 2000 Windows XP, Vista
Server Computer Windows 2000 Server Windows 2000, 2003,
2007
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Microsoft Access Versions
Microsoft Access must be loaded on each client running RDL. Access versions
2000, 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2010 have been tested. We strongly advise against
using Access 97. Whichever version you select to run on your network, we
suggest that you run the same version on all client personal computers, if
possible.)
Licensing
There may be a real temptation to copy software to work around the expense of
acquiring a legal license for Microsoft Access. While the RDL program is in the
pubic domain and is, essentially, free to the guide dog breeding and training
community, programs such as Access and other Microsoft Office programs are
not. Illegal procurement and installation of copywritten software is illegal and has
very severe consequences should your organization be caught. As such, your
Reldog Lite installation budget should provide funding for both the computer
hardware required to house the program and the software needed to run it.
Computer Specifications
RDL will run on older computer equipment but we recommend the following:
Single Client Specifications
Device Minimum Recommended
“Client” Personal
Computer
Pentium 4 Pentium 4 or better
Networking Server Specifications
Hardware Versions for a Workgroup Network
RDL will run on older computer equipment but we recommend the following:
Device Minimum Recommended
“Workgroup” Database
Client
Pentium 4 Pentium 4 or better
Network 10 Mb 100 Mb, 1GB
Hardware Versions for a Small Server based Network
For RDL running on a network of up to 10 clients and 1 database server, we
recommend the following:
Device Minimum Recommended
“Client” Personal
Computer
Pentium 4 Pentium 4 or better
Database Server Pentium 4 Xeon, Dual Core
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Network 100 Mb 1GB
Hardware Versions for a Large Server based Network
For RDL running on a network of up to 30 clients and 1 database server, we
recommend the following:
Device Minimum Recommended
“Client” Personal
Computer
Pentium 4 Pentium 4 or better
Database Server Dual Xeon Dual Core
Network 100 Mb 1GB
Terminal Server Pentium 4 Pentium 4 or better
We encourage you to share these networking/system requirements with your IT
Department/Consultant so that they may be able to gauge your current
equipment against your needs. They will be able to provide you with a quote
encompassing the hardware and software purchases that you may need to
continue with the project.
Other Advantages to Server Integration
One of the most useful advantages to well-planned server establishment with
Reldog Lite is its accessibility to remote users. For example:
Employees with Internet access can work in RDL:
o While traveling on business (such as home visits or home placements)
o Personnel can have complete and transparent access to dog training records,
raiser reports, client histories, etc. in real time
o Employees eligible for telecommuting can easily access the information they
need to continue their work seamlessly from alternate locations
o Your Kennels or Breeding facilities can access the database even if they are
not located at your main office or headquarters
Unfortunately, Microsoft Access does not have reliable speed when working as a
client/server application over a network connection as slow as the Internet even
at DSL or T-1 speeds. You will notice substantial lag when trying to work
remotely via the web, but there are other solutions.
The quickest and most economical of these options is setting up a remote
computer-to-computer connection utilizing a third-party service such as
LogMeIn.com or GoToMyPC.com. These services tap directly into the computer
your staff would be using if they were on-campus. Speak with your IT
Department/Consultant about the viability of these tools as there are some
security considerations which should be discussed.
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If you have two or more facilities requiring full time access to RDL, you may
consider installing the Microsoft application “Terminal Services”. This will allow
you to access RDL between locations over the Internet (or from any Internet
connection worldwide). The installation and maintenance of this option is a little
more complicated than the average network installation and you should definitely
retain the services of a qualified IT consultant to set this up.
Step 4: Reldog Lite Familiarization
In order for your Project Manager (PM) to be effective, it is crucial for the PM to
be a subject matter expert. There are two very important, and wholly integrated,
elements which must be considered as you move forward at this stage:
The Project Manager must have a firm grasp of the information that is
important to each department and how they will use the data entered into
Reldog Lite
The Project Manager must have an understanding of the organization’s
operation as a whole to anticipate potential uses for the data being
collected
The Project Manager must have a complete knowledge base in the program and
how it operates to effectively communicate with personnel and to help guide
departmental managers in the future uses of the program (ie: Reports/Queries,
Estimated Breeding Values, etc.)
An Important Note About Converting the Language in Reldog
Lite
For those users whose primary language is one other than English, you may
customize Reldog Lite so that the forms and drop-downs are in your native
language. To do this, please see “Converting Reldog Lite to Other Languages”
The Reldog Lite Demo
Guiding Eyes for the Blind has developed a fully functioning Demo version of
Reldog Lite. This is a very important tool which allows you to see the program
and experience its flexibility. The Reldog Lite Users Manual can help you to fully
understand different elements within the program. We strongly advise that you
take the time to use the demo and the accompanying Users Manual to become
as familiar with the program as you can.
Contact rdlsupport@comcast.net for complete instructions on downloading a
demo version of RDL.
Preparing the Demo for Use
As we discussed in the “Understanding Basic Networking” section, the Reldog
Lite program consists of two database files. These two files must be linked
together in order for the program to work. Gebdata.mdb (where the actual data
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is stored) is nothing more than an incredible amount of data if you don’t have the
form structure with which to view it (RDL.mdb). Conversely, if you were to only
use the forms (RDL.mdb), every field would be blank if you didn’t tell the program
“Go look at this information (in the file Gebdata.mdb) and report it back to me”.
To enable these two elements of the program to speak to each other, there are a
few simple steps you will need to complete:
1) After you have successfully downloaded and installed the demo database
files, double-click the “RDLDemo.mdb” file to open the program. (The
name of the RDL program file you have may be slightly different.)
a. Note: You may get a message asking you if you would like to
proceed because the program that you are opening “contains code
which may be harmful to your computer”. Select “Open” and the
program will continue to open.
2) From the top toolbar, select “Tools”. From the drop-down, select
“Database Manager”.
3) From the subsequent drop-down, select “Linked Table Manager”.
4) A window will open which will require additional action from you:
5) In the window, place a check in “Always Prompt for a new Location”. This
checkbox is located on the lower left-hand side of the screen.
6) Then, press the “Select All” button.
7) Once completed, press “OK”.
8) The following window will ask you where your data is located. Navigate to
the location of “Gebdata.mdb” on your computer or your server and select
the “Gebdata.mdb.” file then press “Open”. This will link your front-end
user interface to your backend data file.
More About Linking Tables
The actions you have just performed linked the user interface to the data behind
it. For instance, if you look at the graphic above, the first table you are linking is
“tblAALiveTest”. Imagine that within the user-side form of “tblAALiveTest” there
is a field called “First Name”. The table manager says: “Please connect
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tblAALiveTest” (including the field named “First Name”) to the data located in
“Gebdata” which holds “Janet”.
The Linked Table Manager performs this same function for all the tables you see
listed in the Linked Table Manager window and all the fields contained within.
Using the Demo Database
The Demo Database has been pre-loaded with working data to give you an
opportunity to explore and try things on your own without the anxiety of using
your real data. It is very important that you use the demo database to
experiment before you begin data loading your real data into your own blank
program. Once you start to use your program, deletion or repair of bad data can
be tricky, so take advantage of the no-consequences environment the demo can
provide you!
Note: You may explore the Demo without a Users Manual but we do not suggest
you start entering your data in a new, blank database without the aid of the
manual. There is a “right way” and a “wrong way” to enter data and old habits
may be hard to break later! Not to mention the bad data you could have in your
database as a result of not following the instructions as written.
Step 5: Meeting with Management
Once the Project Manager has had ample opportunity to navigate and test
Reldog Lite (and after they have read this guide and are familiar with the
direction of the project), it is imperative that the Project Manager and the
organization’s management meet to discuss the project. The purpose of this
meeting will be:
o To gain momentum for the project by way of enthusiasm at the management
level
o To share with management the project’s scope and establish expectations
o To keep management apprised of upcoming activity and encourage
cooperation/collaboration
Gaining Momentum
Share with your management team the tools available in Reldog Lite and how it
will improve your organization’s ability to manage data and improve breeding
quality.
Establishing Expectations
Inform the team of your expected timeline and the activities that you expect to
take place in the next 30 and 60 days.
Cooperate/Collaborate
Encourage managers to participate in the process in any and every way. Their
support of the program is crucial.
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Step 6: Preparing for What’s Ahead
The importance of planning cannot be overstated as your organization begins to
move in the direction of Reldog Lite implementation. There are many pieces to
the data-transition puzzle and management of the details will best enable your
organization to move quickly and smoothly toward a completed transition.
Establishing Who Will Do the Data Entry
The importance of having someone who is dedicated to accurate data entry
cannot be overstated. As you begin the data entry process, it will be critical to
identify who will be performing data entry and equally important that the
person(s) responsible for data entry at this level have an understanding of the
project’s scope, some basic understanding of how the program operates and the
organization’s operation (such as reasons dogs are career changed, active
program, etc). Taking the time to ensure that your data entry person(s)
understand these two factors will increase the validity of your data exponentially.
Collect Your Data
There is a non-negotiable order which must be followed when beginning the
initial process of loading data into Reldog. Try as you might, any efforts to
manipulate this order will result in wasted man hours. We promise.
The order in which you will be entering your data is the same order you should
be following to collect your data. This process will help the Project Manager to
establish a timeline that is realistic and will provide the greatest likelihood for
timely success.
At this point, it may be worthwhile to work with a staff member, volunteer, or
contractor/vendor on “mining” or pulling the data you currently have stored in
your current database into a format that is easily manipulated, such as MS Excel.
We will talk later about the information that will need to be covered as you pull
this information from a current database, but for now start thinking about who
around you may be able to help with data exports.
Step 7: Entering Reldog
Opening Reldog Lite for the First Time
Once you have had ample opportunity to review the Reldog Lite Demo and you
are confident that you are prepared to set-up your own empty Reldog Lite
Database, you will download and install your own version of the RDL program.
Download a Clean Version of the Program
Contact rdlsupport@comcast.net for complete instructions on downloading a
clean version of RDL in which you can load your data.
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Installing Reldog Lite
Install the Reldog Lite database files (GebData.mdb and RDL.mdb) in the
location you would like. This location can be moved later and we advise you to
seek the counsel of your IT Department/Contractor to establish the best location
for your data to be stored long-term.
Connecting the Databases
Using the same steps outlined in “Step 4: Reldog Lite Familiarization – Preparing
the Demo for Use”, link the Gebdata and RDL database files together.
Establish Yourself as a User
To begin the process of preparing Reldog Lite for data and other users, you must
first establish yourself as the program’s administrator.
1) Open Reldog Lite. Once the system has finished loading, it will present
you with a sign-in window (this should look familiar to you from your use of
the RDL Demo).
2) Select “Administrator1” from the drop-down menu and enter the password
“PASS”.
3) Once in the Reldog Lite program, select the MAIN MENU button located at
the bottom of the screen.
4) From the Main Menu, select PEOPLE.
5) From the People Menu, click ADD NEW PERSON on the left-hand side of
the menu.
6) Enter your name and contact information. (Some organizations may
prefer to use the organization’s contact information instead of the
individuals user’s, to protect the user’s personal information. Each
organization will need to make the decision on how they choose to handle
that.) Once you have successfully entered yourself as a person, save and
close the form.
7) Return to the Main Menu by selecting RETURN in the lower right-hand
corner of the People Menu.
8) From the Main Menu, select UTILITES.
9) From the Utilities Menu, select MAKE USER.
10)Enter your name in the format you wish it to appear on the login screen.
11)Enter your desired password.
12)Check the boxes for:
a. Authorized to View Confidential Client Info
b. Authorized to Enter New Dogs and Edit Dog Data
c. Authorized to Enter New Organizations and People
d. Authorized to Enter Old Litters
e. Live Version
13)Double-click the “Select Person unless user is Department or Group” field
and find your name to link yourself as a user to your person record.
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14) Once done, press SAVE to return to the Utilities Menu.
15) From the Utilities Menu, select CHANGE USER, select your name from
the drop-down list, enter your password and press OK. This will switch
you from “Administrator1” to your specific profile.
Step 8: Register Your Organization
The process of registering your copy of Reldog Lite is similar to registering any
other software you may use. It identifies the program as yours and the data
stored in it as belonging to your organization. Once you complete the registration
process, the program will default the owner of every dog you breed as being
owned by your school.
How to Register Your Program
1) Sign in to Reldog Lite as Administrator1 and select UTILITIES from the
Main Menu.
2) From the Utilities Menu, select START UP.
3) The Start-up process is run only once and is done when you first set up
your copy of Reldog Lite. You need not, and should not, ever run this
function again.
4) Click the drop-down box under “Select Your Organization Name”. If the
name of your school is not on the list, contact rdlsupport@comcast.net for
assistance.
5) Enter the name of your organization in the “Enter Name of Organization”
field.
6) Select your organization type from the drop-down menu.
7) Enter your full mailing address in the address lines.
8) Click RETURN to save and return to the main menu or CLOSE to return to
the Main Menu without saving.
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Step 9: Table Customization
What is a Table?
On many input forms, you will find drop-down fields that offer you a list of
restricted choices for entry in that field. Within the form, there is a query which
tells the field to only show data from a specific source. The source is a table. It
is a datasheet (similar in appearance to Excel) which houses data. In the
GebData.mdb file, these tables are referred to as TREF tables for “Table
Reference” Tables. For example, the picture below of the Dog Data Enter form
shows a drop-down for “Breed”. The data you see available for selection is
actually stored in a table called trefDogBreedCodes.
While you may view these trefs by clicking the “Tables” tab on the Gebdata
program before the login process, only very few high level users should have the
ability to access the tables or other “back-end” design elements of the program.
Moreover, if you do not have experience in ACCESS, it is highly
recommended that you refrain from making ANY CHANGES in data stored
in the back-end of the program. There are many intricate relationships and
hidden records created when data is stored by the program and changing or
deleting any information in the “backend” of the program can and will result in
data corruption and bad records.
How Tables Are Used in Reldog Lite
These tables are used all over Reldog Lite to provide an opportunity to enter
restricted, standardized data. From a data management standpoint, this tool is
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powerful’ as you will be better able to work with data during analysis using
standardized entries.
How to Customize Your Tables
Organizations differ in many ways. Reldog Lite has been designed with this in
mind. In many cases, you have the ability to select which list items are pertinent
to your organization and which are not. You have been provided a series of
forms in the Utilities section for editing drop-down menu choices.
From the Main Menu, select UTILITIES and then UPDATE REF TABLES.
Note: Do not go to the back end of the program to delete choices and type new
text in existing fields. Some of the reference tables contain code that is critical for
proper program functionality. Using the steps outlined above will keep your
database clean, user-friendly and in proper working order.
Tables You Need to Customize
In some cases, it is important that the choice list remain consistent among all
organizations using RDL. For example, breed lists or the list of diagnoses must
match among datasets from multiple schools if we intend to combine them for the
purpose of analysis.
Departments and Sub-departments
As the system administrator, you will need to establish your organization’s
departmental/subdepartmental hierarchy in the GebData tables which house this
data.
Edit Departments
To Edit the departments of your organization:
1) Open Gebdata.mdb
2) In the TABLES tab, select trefDepartmentCode (the tables are listed
alphabetically).
3) In trefDepartmentCode, note that each department has a number
assigned to it (field Department Code). This number will be very important
when you make adjustments in the Sub-department codes.
4) VERY IMPORTANT: The following Departments need to be treated with
special care in order for the program to continue working properly:
a. Training
b. Veterinary
c. Breeding
These departments can be modified cosmetically but you should not
change the meaning of the department. For example:
It is OK to change: “Veterinary” to “Medical Services Department”
It is NOT OK to change: “Veterinary” to “Development Department”
Make the adjustments you need to make so that the list accurately
represents your organization’s structure. As you add new departments,
remember to continue assigning numbers in the Department Code field in
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sequential order. If there are departments in trefDepartmentCode that
you do not need, you should leave them in the table and not delete
them.
5) Once you have finished making adjustments to the list, either print or write
down the departments and the corresponding department code numbers.
Edit SubDepartments
1) Open Gebdata.mdb
2) In the TABLES tab, select trefDepartmentSubdeptCode (the tables are
listed alphabetically).
3) In trefDepartmentSubdeptCode, note that each sub-department has a
number assigned to it (see diagram below: column named
“SubdepartmentCode”). Also, and perhaps more importantly, each sub-
department has a department code to which it corresponds (see diagram
below: column named “DepartmentCode”).
4) Using the list of department codes you obtained in step 5 of “Edit
Departments” (above), familiarize yourself with how this table utilizes the
department codes to categorize which subdepartments belong to the
associated department. For instance at Southeastern Guide Dogs,
Veterinary Services and Trainers fall under the “Training Department”. In
our case, the “Training Department” is DepartmentCode “1”. As such, the
SUBDEPARTMENTS “Medical Services”, “Breeding” and “Trainer/Inst.”
each have a “1” in the DepartmentCode column in the example above.
This means that “Medical Services”, “Breeding” and “Trainer/Inst.” are
attached to DepartmentCode “1” (Training Department).
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Department Codes
SubDepartmentCodes
Litter Care Plan
The litter care plan is the vaccination and de-worming schedule for each dog’s
life. Each organization has its own vaccination protocol. As such, you will need
to make adjustments to the Litter Care Plan so that your due dates reflect your
organization’s policies. Once you have entered your protocols here, each time a
new litter is born due dates for vaccinations and procedures for that litter will
automatically be calculated based on your regular protocols.
1) From the Main Menu select UTILITIES
2) From the Utilities Menu select UPDATE REF TABLES
3) From the Table Reference Update menu, select LITTER CARE PLAN
4) To ADD a new vaccination to the list, select ADD MORE
VACCINES/CARE and fill in the form with the appropriate vaccination
information and schedule. Press SAVE to save and return to the previous
screen or RETURN to return without saving.
5) To EDIT a vaccination already on the list, select the vaccination then
select EDIT DETAILS and make the adjustments you need. Press
RETURN once you have finished editing the vaccination and your
changes will be saved automatically.
6) To REMOVE a vaccination from the list, select the REMOVE ITEM FROM
THE LIST button located on the lower left-hand corner of the screen. This
will walk you through the deletion process.
7) Reldog Lite will make puppy vaccinations up to 8 weeks available in the
Litter Care Menu of the Breeding Section and any vaccinations over 8
weeks will be available through the Dog Health section of the program.
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Jobs
As you enter your staff in Reldog Lite, you will need to assign each employee a
job. Before you can do this, you must update your Job List so that the employee
jobs are available as choices on your drop-down lists.
The Job Titles Menu gives you an opportunity to assign certain jobs to specific
departments and sub-departments.
To customize the Job Titles Menu:
1) From the Main Menu, select UTILITIES.
2) From the Utilities Menu, select UPDATE REF TABLES.
3) From the Reference Table Update menu, select JOB ENTER/EDIT.
4) This will open a form labeled Browse Job Titles.
5) To add a new job to the list:
a. Click ADD JOB.
b. In the Enter Job Title and Info form, enter the official job title you
want to add.
c. Enter a job abbreviation code.
d. Select the department to which the job you are adding is assigned
according to your organization’s staffing structure.
e. Select the sub-department to which the job you are adding is
assigned.
f. From the list of “Combos” at the bottom of the form, select those
that are applicable for this job title by putting a check mark in those
box(es). Many forms have fields where you choose an employee
from a drop-down (combo) list. By checking one or more boxes on
this form, you are telling RDL that for certain drop-downs, any
person with this job title will appear on your drop-down list. For
instance, a breeding manager may need to be available in the drop-
down lists on whelping forms (Whelping Combo) and vet care forms
(Vet Care Combo), whereas your training staff may need to be
available only in drop-down lists on training-related forms (Trainer
Combo).
g. Press SAVE to save and return to the main menu or RETURN to go
back without saving.
6) To edit a job already in the list:
a. Click EDIT JOB.
b. Edit the data which needs to be edited using the same rules
outlined under: “Step 9: Table Customization – Jobs: To add a new
job to the list”; steps “c” through “g” above.
Breeds
RDL is preloaded with commonly used breeds, but in the event that you need a
breed that is not in the list, we ask that you contact rdlsupport@comcast.net to
have the breed added to the list. It is desirable that breed table remain
consistent among all RDL users. Therefore, whenever a new breed is added, all
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users will be instructed on how to import a replacement tref table, or how to add
the necessary record(s) to their existing tref. (Additional information on replacing
tables will be available under “Maintain the Database: Your Role as
Administrator”)
To customize which breeds will appear in your drop-down lists:
1) From the Main Menu, select UTILITIES.
2) From the Utilities Menu, select UPDATE REF TABLES.
3) From the Reference Table Update menu, select DOG BREEDS from the
left-hand column.
4) This will open a form labeled Breed Code Edit.
5) Update the list by clicking or un-clicking the breeds that are used at your
organization. A “check” in the RDL box will make the dog available on
your drop-downs while un-checked boxes will leave the dog off your drop-
down lists.
Diagnoses
Similarly, if there is a diagnosis you need that is not already in the list of options,
please contact rdlsupport@comcast.net to have the diagnosis added to the list.
Impairments
It will be important to review and adjust the client impairments portion of Reldog
Lite to ensure that the impairments important to your school are available when
you enter client detail information. Reldog Lite comes pre-loaded with a
somewhat comprehensive list of impairments which can be edited or added to.
1) From the Table Reference Update menu, select CLIENT IMPAIRMENT on
the left side column.
2) From the Client Impairment Edit browse either:
a. Add an impairment by selecting the ADD button and entering the
appropriate information.
b. Edit an impairment by typing directly into the Client Impairment Edit
browse.
3) Once completed, press RETURN to return to the Table Reference Update
menu.
Client Occupations
There is a preloaded list of client occupations in Reldog Lite that may be adjusted
or added to if you feel that it is necessary. Select the CLIENT OCCUPATIONS
button in the Reference Table Update menu to make the appropriate
adjustments.
Dog Placement Type
To adjust the jobs/careers common to dogs released from your program, select
DOG PLACEMENT TYPE from the Reference Table Update menu.
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Step 10: Enter Your Current Personnel
Before you begin, collect the following data about each employee with your
organization:
Name
Start Date with the Organization
Current Title
Address, if you decide to enter home addresses of employees in your
database (see #6 below).
Phone number
Email address
Enter Each Individual as a Person
1) Open the Reldog Lite program and proceed to the Main Menu.
2) From the Main Menu select the PEOPLE button.
3) From the Person/Organization Menu, select CREATE NEW PERSON
RECORD.
4) In the Find a Person By Phone Number form you must enter a phone
number in the field in the upper right-hand corner of the form and click
SEARCH. Reldog Lite will then search for any duplicates of that phone
number, to assist you in avoiding the inputting of duplicate person
information. If there are no duplicates, nothing will appear. Click
CONTINUE.
5) The Enter New Person form opens, which is a second level of checking for
duplication. Reldog Lite will check for certain combinations of information
on this form and will let you know if duplicates are found, at which point
you will want to investigate whether it is a true duplicate or not. If there is
no duplication, then clicking CHECK FOR DUPLICATES will take you to
the Add New Person form.
6) Enter the employee’s information according to the form. You may choose
to input your organization’s address and phone number for each employee
to protect the employee’s personal information.
7) Once completed, click SAVE and this will take you to the ADD or Edit
Additional Phone Nbrs/Email/Addresses form, where you can enter this
additional information if you wish.
8) Click RETURN to return to the Person/Organization Menu.
9) Repeat these steps for each individual on your staff.
Establish Each Person as an Employee
Once you have entered each employee as a person:
1) Select the person you intend to make an employee from the drop-down
Last Name field located at the top of the Person/Organization Menu.
2) Click MAKE/EDIT PERSON EMPLOYEE
3) Enter the employee’s start date, orientation date (not required), and
initials. Note: Initials must be unique, so you may want to use three initials
whenever possible.
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4) Once you have completed the form, press SAVE to save and return to the
Person/Organization Menu or CLOSE to return without saving.
Assign an Employee to a Job
By now you should have completed the steps outlined in: Step 9: Table
Customization – Tables You Need to Customize; Jobs, so you are ready to
assign employees to jobs within your organization:
1) From the drop-down menu located at the top of the Person/Organization
Menu, select the person to whom you are assigning a job.
2) Once you have selected the employee, click the ASSIGN EMPLOYEE A
JOB button.
3) Enter the date the person began in this position, the department and
subdepartments to which the employee has been assigned, and select the
position the employee holds.
a. Note: If the list available in your drop-down does not reflect your
departmental/subdepartmental structure, you will need to review
your trefDepartmentCode, its relationship to
trefDepartmentSubdeptCode, and/or the Add/Edit Jobs section in
the Utilities Menu to identify where something has been miscoded.
4) Once you have successfully entered all the information, press SAVE to
save and return to the Person/Organization Menu or CLOSE to return
without saving.
Establish Employees as Users
Using the same steps outlined in “Step 7: Entering Reldog – Establish Yourself
as a User”, establish a user ID for each person who will be using Reldog Lite at
your organization.
1) Tips:
a. You can print your staff list by clicking PEOPLE from the Main
Menu, then VIEW EMPLOYEES. Print the report by going to File
Print.
As you begin entering employees as users, you will need to think very carefully
about who should have access to specific types of information and who will have
the ability to enter certain kinds of data. As we discussed in Step 2:
Familiarization with the Program, making these types of decisions is key to
ensuring the accuracy of your data. When you really think about it, very few
people at your organization need the ability to enter new people, new
organizations or new dogs. Even fewer need the ability to edit dog data that is
already in the system. And only a small handful of people need the ability to read
and access confidential client information. Give this careful thought before you
give people certain authorizations.
You can always grant permission to a user later by entering the Utilities Menu
from the Main Menu and selecting EDIT USER. At Southeastern Guide Dogs,
only 6 people (out of 70) have the ability to enter new people or organizations; 2
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have the ability to add new dogs, 3 have the ability to edit current dog data; and 3
have the right to view confidential client data (all of whom are managers).
Step 11: Preparing Your People Data
Export Your People Data
For the purposes of this section, “People” are defined as non-employees (since
your employees were entered earlier). People will include Sponsors, Puppy
Raisers, Guide Dog Users, Veterinarians, Breeders who have donated dogs to
your school, etc. Organizations are also entered in the People section. Your
people data is one of the very few datasets which may be uploaded into Reldog
Lite rather than individually hand-entered, but the process to successfully do this
is specific and must be executed exactly as follows:
1) Have your data contractor/vendor/volunteer export into Excel all the
people from your current database who have either sponsored, raised,
hosted/fostered, or graduated with a dog from your school.
This data must include the following information:
a. First Name (Nickname)
b. Last Name OR Organization’s Name
c. Official Name (Person’s formal first name, if different from the name
in the First Name field; not required)
d. Prefix
e. Sex
f. Primary Salutation (if available) such as “Jon”
g. Formal Salutation (if available) such as “Mr. Smith” (not required)
h. Address
i. City
j. State
k. Zip
l. Phone Number
m. Cell Phone Number (not required)
n. Office Number (not required)
o. Fax Number (not required)
p. Alternative Number (not required)
q. Primary Email Address (not required)
r. Secondary Email Address (not required)
2) Once you have successfully pulled your information out of your current
database, you will need to prepare the data to be uploaded into Reldog
Lite. To do this, there are three key factors to be considered when
preparing your people data for import into Reldog Lite:
a. Remove any duplicates from your person list. Also verify
employees already entered are not also on the person list because
of their other relationships with your organization, such as raisers,
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graduates etc. We suggest that when you look for duplicates, you
check for:
i. same first name and last name
ii. same last name, city and state
iii. same address line 1, city and state
b. In RDL each person has a unique number attached to them known
as a “Primary Key” (or Person ID).
c. Reldog Lite utilizes three separate tables to track Person
information:
tblPerson (which houses the points “a” through “k” above in
#1)
tblPhone (which houses points “l” through “o”)
tblAddress (which houses points “p” through “r”)
3) Prepare your current data for upload:
a. Using the above-mentioned data, save your Excel document as
“PeopleData.xls” where each point listed above (“a” through “r”) is
represented by a column.
b. Once complete, insert a new column and name it (temporarily)
“PersonID”.
tblKeyData
key_KeyType key_KeyValueNum key_KeyValueText key_KeyComment key_KeyFiller1
1 7116 Person Counter
c. In RDL open table tblKeyData to find the number in the field
key_KeyValueNum for field key_KeyType = 1 (Person Counter). In
the PersonID column on your excel spreadsheet, begin with the first
person in the list and enter the number you found in field
key_KeyValueNum + 1. For the example above, the first person
on your excel spreadsheet will be 7117 because
key_KeyValueNum = 7116 and you would add 1to that to get your
first PersonID. Continue numbering each person in the column on
your spreadsheet with the next sequential number (Person 2 =
7118, Person 3 = 7119, etc) for each person in the list.
d. Leave this document open.
4) Now it is time to break up your list and place the data you have into the
templates that you will need:
b. In your GebData.mdb, select the TABLES tab then “tblPerson” by
clicking tblPerson one time. Right click and select “Export” from the
drop-down menu.
c. Save the document in the location of your choice as
“tblPersonRDL” and save the type as “Microsoft Excel 97-2003” or
whichever version of Excel you are using.
d. When finished, select “Export”
e. When you open tblPersonRDL.xls, the column names from Reldog
Lite will be listed across the top of the Excel document.
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f. Copy the header row (A), then move over to PeopleData.xls which
you left open earlier.
g. Click Row A.
h. Right Click and select “Insert Copied Cells”. This will paste the
header rows just above the data in your document.
NOTE: When you click “Insert Copied Cells” it will
automatically put the copied row ABOVE your existing row.
What you are effectively creating is two rows where the first
(row A) represents “The required structure” (What RDL is
looking for in terms of column naming structure) and the
second being “What we have” which is the column naming
structure brought over from the current database being used.
5) In order for the upload to work properly, the data within the cells of your
Excel document must match exactly the structure of the Reldog Lite table.
This means, for instance, that if Reldog Lite is expecting numerical data
(“123”) then you cannot enter alpha data (“ABC”). The next step will help you
prepare your data’s format to avoid any errors.
6) To identify the data structure to which you must adhere, open the RDL
Gebdata.mdb file.
i. From the top toolbar, select Tools Analyze Documenter
j. Click OPTIONS to see the type of information you will need
k. Select Names, Data Types, and Sizes under “Include for Fields”
l. Select Nothing under “Include for Indexes” then click OK
m. From the list of tables, select tblPerson by putting a check in the
box to the left of the table name.
n. A printable report will open. Go to File Print to print the
document.
o. Repeat these same steps for tblAddress and tblPhone.
p. Using your Documenter information you printed in step “n’, make
sure the contents of each cell on your spreadsheet matches in type
and size to the Reldog Lite field requirements for that field and
adjust your data as needed.
q. Do this for tblPerson, tblAddress, and tblPhone
r. Once you have collected all the information, we strongly
recommend you work with a database professional who
understands how to merge the data you are seeking to upload.
This person will be best able to adjust the data within your Excel
document to meet the layout and field requirements in Reldog Lite.
s. Once the Excel documents are finished, save the documents as
tblPerson.xls, tblAddress.xls, and tblPhone.xls
t. Once that is complete and your data is ready to be loaded into
Reldog Lite, open the Gebdata.mdb database.
u. Select FILE Get External Data Import
v. Select the Excel file you are attempting to import and follow the
import wizard’s directions carefully. When the wizard asks you
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where you would like to store your data, select “In an existing table”
and select the corresponding table from the drop-down list.
w. Continue the steps to complete the wizard.
x. If you encounter errors during this process, there are other ways to
move forward with data upload. Please contact
rdlsupport@comcast.net for additional support, but you should
weigh how much time you have already spent on uploading,
evaluate the amount of data you have to upload and decide
whether it might be better to just enter the data by hand. (A good
data entry person can realistically enter 1.4 people per minute –
that is 672 people per day and over 3,360 per work week. A skilled
data entry person can do this even more quickly.)
tblKeyData
key_KeyType key_KeyValueNum key_KeyValueText key_KeyComment key_KeyFiller1
1 7516 Person Counter
y. Once you have finished importing your People data, you need to
update tblKeyData with the highest PersonID on your spreadsheet.
Enter that number in tblKeyData.key_KeyValueNum for
key_KeyType =1 (Person Counter). For example, if the highest
PersonID is 7516 because you started with PersonID 7116 and
entered 400 people, you will type 7516 into the field
key_KeyValueNum. That tells RDL that the next new person you
enter should be given the next ID number after 7516, and the next
person created will automatically be assigned the PersonID 7517.
Step 12: Establish What Dog Data Will Be Entered
You will need to make some hard decisions about how much data you will initially
load into Reldog Lite. For instance, your organization may be capable of
entering all of its historical data. Or you may choose to enter only the last ten
years.
In some cases, the answer that is right for you may lie somewhere in between.
At Southeastern Guide Dogs, we determined what data was most important to us
and entered it accordingly. Below, we will share with you what decisions we
ultimately made and why we felt it was critical as this may help you to determine
what course of action you will ultimately take.
Step 13: Preparing Your Dog Data
The simplest possible approach to this very daunting project is to export every
dog in your database into an easily manipulated format such as Excel. You need
to include all of the data on the following list, wherever that information is
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available. For some dogs you will not have all of the information below and
some of the items on the list will not be applicable to specific dogs. But for ALL
dogs, the absolute minimum information needed to enter a dog in RDL is the
dog’s name, DOB, breed, color and your School ID for the dog. You cannot
enter a dog without all five of those things. But it is STRONGLY suggested you
enter all of the following pieces of information that you do have:
Sire
Sire Tattoo
Dam
Dam Tattoo
Dog’s DOB
Litter ID
Dog’s Name
Dog’s Current Program
Dog’s Sponsor (if applicable)
Dog’s Puppy Raiser
Dog’s Date Placed with Raiser (you can calculate this based on birthday if
needed)
Dog’s In-for-training Date (you can loosely calculate this based on birthday
if needed)
Dog’s Vet (not required)
Dog’s Graduate with whom he/she was placed
Date of Graduation
Date of Retirement (if applicable)
Whether the dog was placed on-campus or by home placement
Dog’s Foster/Breeder Host
Dog’s Date Placed with Foster/Breeder Host
Dog’s Date Released from the Breeder Program
Reason for release (if applicable)
Adopter’s name
Dog’s Microchip Number
Dog’s former ID number (usually generated by the database from which
you are pulling your information).
By generating an Excel document with the information above (by column) in the
exact order listed above, you will be creating an Excel document that will do a
few things for you:
You will have a document from which you will be able to most quickly
perform data entry.
You will have a document that is most easily manipulated to provide you
with the information you need by utilizing autofilters.
The document is capable of easy cross-referencing to verify the data and
make appropriate adjustments as needed.
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If you are able to adjust the margins and size of the font to keep all columns on
one page, it will be most easily used for data entry. This can sometimes be
accomplished by using legal sized paper.
Take the Time to Verify the Data
We chose to verify the information in our database by checking it against
the paper records we had onsite. This helped us to double-check the
accuracy of the data we had loaded into the database and fill in any gaps
that had been created over the 25 years SEGD has been in business.
While doing this increased the time needed for this part of the project by
nearly two weeks (with two people assigned), it was worth every moment
because as a result we were very confident in the data we were entering.
Why We Verified:
During the 25 years prior to this project, our organization had transitioned
from paper records to an electronic database and was looking at yet
another transition. Each of these moments in our history presented an
opportunity for our data’s accuracy to be corrupted. By checking the data
in our current database against the original paper records, we were able to
verify parentage, identification information, birthdays, and other key data.
By managing this step in Excel, we were able to easily identify missing
information, seek out corrections, and correct our data before we began
the process of data entering the dogs.
Why It’s So Important:
One of the most attractive features of Reldog Lite is its ability to calculate
inbreeding coefficients. By verifying our data before we entered it into
Reldog, we were able to immediately utilize this feature of the program
and feel confident that the number generated by the program is accurate.
Step 14: Establish a Data Entry Plan for Dog Data
First Things First
Establish Puppy Raising Program Leadership
Before you can begin entering any dog data, you must be sure that you have a
list of your current puppy raising regions, the area coordinators who oversee
them and, if applicable, the supervisor(s) in charge of overseeing the area
coordinator(s) (Some positions may be staff and some may be volunteer. This
varies in different organizations.). NOTE: Even if you do not use regions, you will
need to create one region to use as a default (you can call it “Region”), because
certain forms will require you to select a region. Once you have entered all of
your people data:
1) From the Main Menu, select the UTILITIES button.
2) From the Utilities Menu, select UPDATE REF TABLES
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3) From the Reference Table Update menu, select REGION PUPPY
RAISER ADD/EDIT.
4) Select ADD REGION and fill in the Region Start Date, Region Name,
Region Abbreviation, and the Puppy Supervisor (the puppy raising
department staff members should be available as choices in this drop-
down field).
5) Double click the AREA COORDINATOR field.
6) Select the area coordinator assigned to the region then press RETURN.
7) Once you have completed the form, press SAVE to save and return or
CLOSE to return without saving.
The Order
The order in which you enter your dog data in Reldog Lite is critical for a few
reasons:
An organized plan allows you greater efficiency when doing the physical
data entry.
Planning provides the person doing the data entry the greatest level of
confidence that every record has been entered.
Smart planning will give you the greatest return on your investment from a
time perspective.
Breeders
First and foremost you will need to collect and enter into Reldog your colony’s
“foundation”. You will need to collect a list of every breeder dog your
organization has ever had. While you can make the decision to pick a point in
your organization’s history from which to start entering dogs, the further back in
history you can go, the more accurate your pedigree and inbreeding coefficients
will be. For that reason, Southeastern Guide Dogs elected to enter every
breeder.
How We Did It:
1) We had our database professional/contractor extract/export all of the dogs
that were in our database into Excel.
2) We sorted the list in order of birthday then by Sire’s name.
3) We then filtered by Program (in our case “BREEDER”)
4) This system allowed us the greatest flexibility to cross-reference pups and
their parents and fill in any missing information.
5) We identified our “original colony” by finding the dogs who were clearly not
progeny of our own stock. We added to this list all “donated service”
dogs and any parents of donated dogs where we had the parent’s names.
Once this was done, we uploaded the dogs into the backend tables. See
Uploading Dog Data for more information on how to accomplish this.
6) Note: If you elect to start at ONE point in your organization’s history, you
will want to select all the breeders from the year that you select and
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upload those dogs. In this case, you are making the decision to ignore
their parents and any previous generations.
7) Once we loaded our “original colony”, we began entering the rest of our
breeders utilizing the “Enter Old Litters” feature in the Dog section (See:
Entering Old Litters: Batch Entering Old Litters in the Reldog Lite Users
Manual for more details.)
a. Note: This data entry process is time consuming and entirely
necessary. Be sure that you have accurate personnel dedicated to
data integrity. If you encounter a dog for which you are missing
information, you will need to find the information before you can
move forward (since every dog you enter in the future is dependant
on its parents having been entered correctly).
Uploading Dog Data
In the same way you prepared you people data in Step 11: Preparing your
People Data – Export your People Data, you will want to work with your database
professional to prepare your dog data. If you do decide to upload a portion of
your dog data, you will be uploading to only one table: tblDog (whereas with your
people data you had to work with tblPerson, tblAddress and tblPhone). Work
with your database professional using the same methodology as you did your
people data to upload the foundation stock.
Note: Do NOT attempt to enter all of your dogs in this way. I spent nearly
2 weeks (with my database support person) trying to figure out way to
upload all of my dogs. At the end of the day, I wasted two weeks. There
is no good way to accomplish it and you WILL waste more time
manipulating the data than you will actually hand-entering it.
Puppies in the Program
Once you have finished entering all of the Breeders, you will start to enter all the
rest of the dogs in your program utilizing the master spreadsheet you created in
Step 13: Preparing Your Dog Data. The smartest way to accomplish this is to
start with Pups in the Field.
How We Did It:
1) We re-filtered the same Excel list we used to enter Breeders, this time
filtered to show only active pups, then began data entry using the “Enter
Old Litters” feature in the Dog Menu (See: Entering Old Litters: Entering
Pups in Existing Litters in the Reldog Lite Users Manual for more details.)
2) In the same fashion as entering breeders (above), it is vital that you enter
as much information on each dog as you possibly can. If you are missing
information about a dog or its relationships with people, you will need/want
to skip the dog and enter it once you have the information you need.
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Dogs Active and In Training
Once you have completed all puppies in the field, begin entering all dogs in the
training program.
How We Did It:
Re-filter your list again, this time to show your Active/Training/IFT dogs
and begin entering dogs using the “Enter Old Litters” feature in the Dog
Menu (See: Entering Old Litter: Entering Pups in Existing Litters in the
RelDog Lite users Manual for more details.)
As with each previous step, do not enter dogs for which you have
incomplete information.
Active Graduated Dogs with Clients
You will need to decide which active graduated dogs you want to enter. At
Southeastern Guide Dogs, we elected to enter all dogs 11 years and younger to
best account for our active partnerships in the field. This was accomplished
using the same steps as above.
Career Changes/Released Dogs
Dogs that did not make the primary program of your organization may, on the
surface, seem less important. But it’s important to consider a litter’s success rate
when making breeding decisions. For this reason, you may want to consider
entering dogs which have been career changed at your school for as far back as
you have chosen to enter your active graduates. This will best enable your
breeding department to utilize litter success rates (if they so choose) when
making mating decisions. It also enables you to track health information for full
litters, not just those dogs that remained on your program.
Managing Missing Data
Every effort should be made to collect accurate data – and we mean every effort.
Having a “good enough” mentality as you enter information into Reldog Lite will
not only cause you problems in the program and potentially create bugs in the
system, you will effectively be saying: “I am using Reldog Lite as practice for my
data entry skills. We don’t really want to be able to use it for anything”. The
Project Manager must make every possible effort to obtain accurate information.
This will be an exhausting process with plenty of “dead ends”, but you must push
through it.
Should you exhaust every possible way of obtaining the data you are seeking,
you will need to have a contingency plan so that you can continue your data
entry and begin using the program. As such, we will provide you with some
guidance on the best way to manage missing data.
If you are:
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1. Trying to enter one of your original breeding colony members or a donated
service/donated and you do not have the dog’s date of birth:
Select ONE date that is obviously prior to the inception of your
organization, which is clearly and obviously a fictional date. For
Southeastern Guide Dogs, there were dogs in our original colony
for which we did not have information, but who were significant
breeders for us. We decided that these dogs’ birthdays would be in
Reldog as 1/1/1980 since our organization was established 1982.
Now, whenever we see a birthday of 1/1/1980, everyone on
campus knows that the information was not available at the time of
entry.
2. Trying to enter a puppy born on campus whose date of birth you do not
have:
Do everything you can to find it. Research siblings. Research who
the puppy was placed with and when, and try to estimate the
birthday as closely as you can. Only in a very very very extreme
case should you make up a puppy’s birthday. Of the 3,000 dogs
loaded by Southeastern Guide Dogs, only 2 were entered with
incorrect birthdays.
3. Trying to enter a puppy raiser, foster or area coordinator but you don’t
have the information:
After you looked for the information in your current database,
researched with Puppy Raising Services/Breeding Department
coordinators who may have paper records, and even had dialogue
with staff members who may have been around during that time, if
you are still unable to find the relationship information you seek,
attach the dog to a person called “Unknown Unknown”. This
means you will need to enter a new person whose first and last
name is “Unknown” and false address information. This should
only be used as a very last resort. If you have people assisting
with data entry, it is imperative that they understand this.
Managing Change
There is no doubt about it – change is hard for everyone and your organization
will not be unique. The single most important thing you can do during this
process is to keep people excited about the things your organization will be able
to do with Reldog Lite. As you become more familiar with the program and its
abilities, keeping every member of the organization apprised of your progress
and what RDL will be able to do to make their work-lives less cumbersome will
be a key factor in a successful transition. Make each member of the organization
a part of the process by sharing with them new things you have found in the
program. Identify the elements of the program which are important to them and
start a relaxed conversation about it. This is even easier if you are well-versed in
the previous database system and what its limitations were!
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Identify the Benefits of the Program
At Southeastern Guide Dogs, our previous database system required many,
many steps to accomplish a very small change. For instance, changing a dog’s
status from active working-dog to career changed/retired required us to
1) Make a cosmetic change to the dogs record
2) Change the dog’s status in one part of the dog’s record and enter a
reason for career change in another part of the record and
3) Change the graduate’s status.
As you can imagine, our records were not very accurate, because new personnel
didn’t know all the steps needed and so in many cases some of the steps weren’t
done! Reldog Lite retires the dog, updates the client’s status, and enters a
reason for career change/retirement simultaneously with one click.
To enter a newly born litter of puppies in our old database required us to enter
the new puppies (including date of birth and tattoo number), attach each puppy to
its siblings, and attach each offspring to both parents – and we weren’t entering
any information about the whelp such as breech births or cleft palates. For a
litter of 10 puppies, you are performing 110 activities just to enter a new litter’s
sibling/parent relationships! No wonder it took our puppy department staff
member up to three days to enter a new litter (after all, she DOES have other
work to do!). I timed myself in Reldog Lite to see how long it took me to generate
the same relationships: 4 minutes and 16 seconds later, I had every pup, their
tattoos, their birthdays, sibling relationships, parental relationships, any whelping
complications, and a myriad of other information entered into the system.
By sharing these anecdotes with the people who most frequently encountered
challenges in our old system well in advance of their training and involvement
with Reldog Lite, we were able to generate a “buzz” around campus so that when
training finally came, people were receptive and excited.
As you begin to move forward with the project, think about the information that
will be available in Reldog Lite. Who will be able to utilize it? How is this system
better than your last one? In what ways can those changes make a positive
impact in the way each person on campus fulfills their job responsibilities? By
sharing your discoveries with management and staff, Reldog Lite will be
welcomed with open arms.
Test, Test, Test
It will be imperative for the Project Manager to stay ahead of the organization’s
users. Fight the temptation to complete your data entry and immediately launch
into training the entire organization at one time. You will want to take the time to
familiarize yourself with the program once you have real data in it. Remember,
by now you have become an expert at entering old data, but you are NOT
necessarily an expert at entering NEW data. A great way to gain this experience
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is to use the Reldog Lite Users Manual and enter new data that has come in
since you pulled your original spreadsheets.
At Southeastern Guide Dogs, we pulled our data entry spread sheets in July
2009. By the time we finally finished our initial data entry in its entirety, a few
months had elapsed. This was a perfect opportunity to enter data as a front end
user rather than a back-end administrator.
I went to our breeding manager and asked her for breeder host partnerships
established since July 2009 (this gave me a chance to enter new breeder host
applications, to change breeder evaluates to active breeders and enter new
partnerships). Then I asked her for a list of all new births since July 2009 –
teaching me how to enter new whelps.
I went to our Puppy Raising Department and asked for all new puppy placements
that had occurred in the last few months (this gave me experience in naming
puppies, entering microchip numbers, entering new raiser applications, and
creating new puppy raiser partnerships) and then asked her for a list of all dogs
that had returned from the puppy field and were now In-for-Training (this
challenged me to learn how to change the status of a puppy from puppy active to
Active in Training, and assign trainers to a dog)
And lastly, I asked Graduate Services to provide me with a list of recent
graduates (and therefore learned how to enter a new applicant, match them with
a dog, retire previous dogs, assign students to class, graduate the class and
change the student and dog statuses from in class to active graduate).
By doing this, I was able to accomplish three invaluable things:
1. I was able to learn the program so well that I could answer any question
from any person – and I could answer them with confidence.
2. I was able to identify and resolve any bugs or missteps before our
organization’s users did, which helped to minimize the anxiety our team
would feel learning a new system and encountering frustration with bugs
or glitches as a result of new user input.
3. I was able to give each user confidence because the process was clear,
direct, organized and “ready to go”. As a result, few users were afraid to
leave the old system behind.
Establish a Cut-Off Plan
Once you are confident that Reldog Lite has current and accurate data, you will
need to establish and communicate a cut-off plan for your old system. The cut-
off plan will let everyone know that “from this date forward, please do not enter
any new information into the old database”. If you do not do this, there will
forever be “holes” in Reldog Lite’s data. Many people find this prospect very
scary if they do not feel confidence in the new system, so it is important to have
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on-going dialogue with the personnel and managers of each department as you
identify information being entered in your new system and when to stop using
your old one.
Breeding Services
We notified the Breeding Department in November that we would cease
entry of new puppies born on campus into the old database effective
January 1st.
We assigned one person to enter into Reldog Lite all new puppies born on
campus from that point forward as we moved forward with departmental
training. (This happened to be our Project Manager).
We notified Puppy Raising Services and Medical Services that effective
January 1st they would not find any of the new puppies born after that date
in the old database.
We trained the Breeding Department how to properly enter breeding and
whelping events and how to manage their colony.
Puppy Raising Services
We instructed our Puppy Raising Department to cease adjusting in the old
database the status of dogs coming in for training effective February 1st.
As such, the very first thing we trained the department to do was to “call a
dog In-For-Training” to manage the back-log they might encounter.
We conducted training in the Puppy Raising Services department in mid-
January
Upon completion, we notified Medical Services that all puppies born after
January 1, 2010 and any puppies active in the program as of February 1st,
2010 would have medical records in both our old database and Reldog
Lite.
Medical Services
We trained Medical Services at about the same time that we trained
Puppy Raising Services.
Once medical services was adequately trained on how to enter new Data
into Reldog, they double-entered for 30 days in both systems. This meant
that they were duplicating their work in both our old database and Reldog
Lite. While the initial plan was for them to double enter for 30 days, they
elected to do so for only about 20 days, at which time they felt comfortable
enough to stop entering the information into our old database and enter
information only into Reldog Lite. As a result of this plan, for a while we
will print medical records for dogs that were started in the old database
from BOTH databases as they leave campus.
Because we properly managed when to stop entering new births we will
only need to print medical records form both databases for approximately
2 years. We made sure that all personnel on campus understood that
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some dog’s medical histories exist in two places and we have had no
issues.
Training Department
March 1st, we trained the Training Department on the many areas which
affect them:
o The TRAINING Menu
o Finding and viewing medical information
o The CLIENT SERVICES Menu
This training was done in two parts. The first was a meeting with the
entire training department in which we went through the whole of the
Training Menu.
We elected to teach each training team independently as they worked
through a class. We did this training a few days before class began so the
information was fresh and could be applied in real-time. Since this part of
the training is spread out over such a long period of time (up to four
months), we established ways to streamline preexisting processes and
move as much as we could from paper into some electronic format. This
allowed many of our trainers (some of whom were less tech-savvy) to
become more comfortable with using computers to accomplish their work.
Admissions
We held training for Admissions in early April.
Graduate Services
Training for Graduate services took place in mid-April.
Create a Training Plan
As you can see by the above outlined timeline, we gave substantial time between
departments before moving on to another. This allowed each department to “get
their footing” before the Project Manager was less available with another
department. The day we conducted each training, we established the next
department’s training day. At each staff meeting, we reviewed with the staff what
work had been accomplished and what the next step would be. In the near
future, a training timeline and “Things to Consider” will be available as an
addendum to this Administrator’s Guide.
Be Available
There is nothing more frustrating for your organization’s staff than working in a
new program – unsure of what they are doing – and encountering a problem that
won’t allow them to continue working. When new users encounter this they are
likely to respond in 1 of 2 ways: 1) They will either save it for later, rack up a
bunch of work and be stressed that they are now backlogged until they can get a
resolution or 2) They will go back to the old database and enter it there because
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it is familiar, they know what they are doing and they are able to complete their
work.
Follow Through On Your Commitments
Success is 100% contingent upon the members of the organization trusting that
the Project Manager is providing them a system that will meet their needs,
minimize their work load, streamline their working environment, and improve the
quality of the data they use everyday. If a user has a question, it is imperative
that the Program Manager keep track of the inquiries which need answering and
follow through on commitments that they have made. Without this level of
commitment from the Project Manager, staff will become disinterested in the
momentum of the project and jaded about the program’s capabilities.
Never Turn Back
The Question: What could be more scary that no longer entering information into
the old database? The Answer: taking people’s permission away in the old
database to write new records.
Even if you have the most skilled Project Manager and every potential problem
has been planned for, you will have people who are nervous about completely
abandoning your old system. At Southeastern Guide Dogs, we had a very small
number of people who, unbeknownst to us, had moved rather seamlessly into
Reldog Lite but were still entering the same information in our old system. They
just couldn’t let it go.
There is only one way to manage this.
Remove the user’s permissions to write or edit records in the old database.
Your organization may have a tremendous amount of historical data stored in
your old system. As such, you cannot simply kick everyone out of it and delete
their shortcuts. Instead, the database will need to remain available so current
and future personnel can review information so they have a full picture of the dog
or client they are working with. To accomplish this, you will need to reduce their
permissions in the old system to “view only”. If the anxiety of this is too great,
establish two people (a primary and a back-up) who have permission to write
and edit old records. If information arises that absolutely must be entered in the
old database, your selected few have the ability to enter it.
Maintain the Database: Your Role as Administrator
An administrator’s work is never done!
If the Project Manager is not a full-time staff member, the Project Manager will
need to work with management at the organization to establish who will carry the
project forward, perform maintenance on the program, and troubleshoot
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problems. If the Project Manager is a full-time staff member, that person would
be an ideal candidate to continue as the system’s administrator since their
experience to this point makes them easily qualified.
Regularly Scheduled Maintenance
There are a few elements of Reldog Lite which will require constant
maintenance. While many of these functions are not terribly time-consuming,
they do require a certain level of methodology.
Compacting and Repairing Gebdata
Regularly compressing your data will keep the functionality and speed of Reldog
Lite optimal for performance. This operation must be performed weekly with no
other users in the system. As such, you must do one of the following:
a. Work with your IT manager to establish a way to boot all users from the
system when maintenance functions must be performed
b. Perform this type of maintenance before or after hours
How to Compact and Repair your Gebdata
a. Open Gebdata.mdb
b. Click TOOLS from the toolbar located on the top of the
screen
c. From the dropdown, select “Database Utilities” then
“Compact and Repair Database…”
d. Close Gebdata.mdb once the system is done performing the
compact/repair process
Backing-up Your Data
It is strongly advised that you backup your data on a regular basis. Most
organizations are able to include Gebdata.mdb in a nightly backup performed
system-wide. For those organizations that do not have this level of IT, you will
need to assign a team member who is responsible for the backup of the system
every afternoon. If you do not perform this maintenance, you risk losing any and
all data which has been entered since the last time you backed-up. With daily
backups, you risk losing one day’s worth of data at the most. It is also strongly
advised that these backups be stored off-site. There are reasonably affordable
online off-site storage systems available through a simple Google search.
How to Backup Reldog Lite
There is no specific way you must back up your Gebdata. You can either simply
make a copy of the database or use the tool within Access to backup (Tools
Database Utilities Backup Database Save to desired location)