DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE WEB-BASED SYSTEM FOR MANAGING DISSERTATION RECORDS AND GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR NDATA SCHOOL OF CLIMATE AND EARTH SCIENCES

Transforming from manual based methods of managing documents in academic institutions to computerized digital methods in a very important technological improvement. Nagrama, N.D.C. (2021) explains that regardless the fact that document management systems are still standard especially in developing countries like Malawi, new technologies have allowed various institutions and organizations to switch from traditional manual record keeping document management systems to electronic document management systems. The aim of this project was to develop a comprehensive web-based system for managing dissertation records and geospatial data for Ndata school of climate and earth sciences dissertations. The aim of developing this web-based system was to address challenges associated with manually handling dissertations at Ndata school of climate and earth sciences. These challenges included limited accessibility to dissertation records by students, ineffective data retrieval and vulnerability of dissertations to damage. The implementation of this system allowed easy and fast access of dissertation records by students through the web using different devices (computers, mobile phones and tablets). The system also proved to be effective in providing a secure storage for the dissertation records thereby limiting the vulnerability of these dissertations to physical damage. The developed system uses Google Firebase services (Backend as a service provided by Google) for authentication, cloud database storage, and file management. The system uses with Next JS, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for the front-end interface. Firebase Authentication ensures that user access is securely managed, thereby allowing administrators to log in, upload, edit, and delete dissertation records. Firestore is the main database for storing metadata, while Firebase Storage is utilized for handling uploaded files such as GeoJSON and JPEG formats that represent study area maps. The platform is designed to be easy and user-friendly therefore it enables students to search dissertations based on title, author, school, supervisor, or study location, while administrators are provided with functionalities that allow them to manage dissertation records. The project used prototyping as a system development methodology. Dennis et al explains that system prototyping involves performing analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently in order to quickly develop a simplified version of the proposed system and give it to the users for evaluation and feedback. This method was selected so as to gather user requirements through their feedback after viewing the system prototype. Results after implementation indicate that the platform meets its objective which is to develop a dissertation portal which will have a web-based interface for user interaction and a database for keeping the dissertation information. Administrators can manage dissertation records efficiently, and students can easily access dissertation remotely. The developed web-based dissertation management system addresses challenges found in the traditional manual storage methods by enhancing easy accessibility, searchability and security of dissertation records. Future efforts to improve the system performance will include enabling the upload of dissertation full-text documents (PDF files of dissertations), implementing backup functionality to avoid data losses, improving indexing for even faster searches under heavy system usage and allowing for upload of both GeoJSON and JPEG formats for single study area to allow users to appreciate the difference when viewing the two formats. These functions will be implemented with access to Google firestore paid services.

(2021) explains that regardless the fact that document management systems are still standard especially in developing countries like Malawi, new technologies have allowed various institutions and organizations to switch from traditional manual record keeping document management systems to electronic document management systems. The platform is designed to be easy and user-friendly therefore it enables students to search dissertations based on title, author, school, supervisor, or study location, while administrators are provided with functionalities that allow them to manage dissertation records. Dennis et al explains that system prototyping involves performing analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently in order to quickly develop a simplified version of the proposed system and give it to the users for evaluation and feedback. Future efforts to improve the system performance will include enabling the upload of dissertation full-text documents (PDF files of dissertations), implementing backup functionality to avoid data losses, improving indexing for even faster searches under heavy system usage and allowing for upload of both GeoJSON and JPEG formats for single study a

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District: Thyolo

Coordinates: -16.12965, 35.1166