1. Do you own Dreamweaver CS3 or newer?
2. Do you own WA DataAssist (latest version)?
3. Do you have a web server with PHP and MySQL (phpMyAdmin would be a plus)?
4. Do you have a MySQL Database, Table, User Access, and a functional connection?
5. Assuming your MySQL Table has the necessary fields to assist you in managing USERS, and your PDF files.
*** WA Security Assist would be helpful to identify user level access ***
If the all of the above questions are answered yes then I'd start off by running the WA DataAssist wizard, be sure and add the SEARCH to your RESULTS page (that will be an option in the wizard).
Once you create the initial wizard INSERT, RESULTS, UPDATE, SEARCH, DETAIL pages (I personally wouldn't offer a DELETE page, but that's totally up to you), I would then recommend that you test your INSERT page to verify that your data input for each PDF record is working (I'm also assuming that you'll add all of these PDF files to a repository directory).
Once you get comfortable with your input, you should be able to test your search capability from the Results page.
After that meets your requirements, you then can assign security access for users so that your admin can manage the files collectively.
This was a very brief rundown for the process, but perhaps it will provide you with a workable guideline.
Tom
