LowellDeeds

Along with the new feature that ignores spaces and punctuation, some other changes were made to the website search program. Users can now search by document type, so if you are interested in retrieving all the deeds recorded for Westford for 2003, for example, you can do so over the Internet. Unfortunately, this new feature might just serve to illustrate the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." In activating the new program, our computer company altered the way dates are recognized by the search program. Typically, they didn't tell us about this; we had to figure it out ourselves. As a result, the date range on our in-registry search is now more confusing and the ability to retrieve plans over the Internet was completely eliminated until we figured out what was going on. None of you users should be unduly concerned about this; it's more of an irritant than a major problem. Still, I find it very frustrating. Maybe I'll document this experience in a case study that I'll distribute the next time someone says "why not add this new thing to the computer system?" The reason why is that everytime you change something, the change causes multiple unintended problems that dwarf whatever good thing you were seeking in the first place. If you ever have to design a registry of deeds computer system, never forget the KISS principal - "Keep It Simple, Stupid."