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Technical communications in aerospace - An analysis of the practices reported by U.S. and European aerospace engineers and scientists

The flow of scientific and technical information (STI) at the individual, organizational, national, and international levels is studied. The responses of U.S and European aerospace engineers and scientists to questionnaires concerning technical communications in aerospace are examined. Particular attention is given to the means used to communicate information and the social system of the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. Demographic data about the survey respondents are provided. The methods used to communicate technical data and the sources utilized to solve technical problems are described. The importance of technical writing skills and the use of computer technology in the aerospace field are discussed. The derived data are useful for R&D and information managers in order to improve access to and utilization of aerospace STI.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 19: Computer and information technology and aerospace knowledge diffusion

To remain a world leader in aerospace, the US must improve and maintain the professional competency of its engineers and scientists, increase the research and development (R&D) knowledge base, improve productivity, and maximize the integration of recent technological developments into the R&D process. How well these objectives are met, and at what cost, depends on a variety of factors, but largely on the ability of US aerospace engineers and scientists to acquire and process the results of federally funded R&D. The Federal Government's commitment to high speed computing and networking systems presupposes that computer and information technology will play a major role in the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. However, we know little about information technology needs, uses, and problems within the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. The use of computer and information technology by US aerospace engineers and scientists in academia, government, and industry is reported.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 13: Source selection and information use by US aerospace engineers and scientists: Results of a telephone survey

A telephone survey of U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists belonging to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) was conducted between December 4, 1991 and January 5, 1992. The survey was undertaken to (1) validate the telephone survey as an appropriate technique for collecting data from U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists; (2) collect information about how the results of NASA/DoD aerospace research are used in the R&D process; (3) identify those selection criteria which affect the use of federally-funded aerospace R&D; and (4) obtain information that could be used to develop a self-administered mail questionnaire for use with the same population. The average rating of importance of U.S. government technical reports was 2.5 (on a 4-point scale); The mean/median number of times U.S. government technical reports were used per 6 months was 8/2. Factors scoring highest for U.S. government technical reports were technical accuracy (2.9), reliable data and technical information (2.8), and contains comprehensive data and information (2.7) on a 4-point system. The factors scoring highest for influencing the use of U.S. government technical reports were relevance (3.1), technical accuracy (3.06), and reliable data/information (3.02). Ease of use, familiarity, technical accuracy, and relevance correlated with use of U.S. government technical reports. Survey demographics, survey questionnaire, and the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project publications list are included.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 14: Engineering work and information use in aerospace: Results of a telephone survey

A telephone survey of U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists who were on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) mailing list was conducted between August 14-26, 1991. The survey was undertaken to obtain information on the daily work activities of aerospace engineers and scientists, to measure various practices used by aerospace engineers and scientists to obtain STI, and to ask aerospace engineers and scientists about their use of electronic networks. Co-workers were found important sources of information. Co-workers are used to obtain technical information because the information they have is relevant, not because co-workers are accessible. As technical uncertainty increases, so does the need for information internal and external to the organization. Electronic networks enjoy widespread use within the aerospace community. These networks are accessible and they are used to contact people at remote sites. About 80 percent of the respondents used electronic mail, file transfer, and information or data retrieval to commercial or in-house data bases.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 33: Technical communications practices and the use of information technologies as reported by Dutch and US aerospace engineers

As part of Phase 4 of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, two studies were conducted that investigated the technical communications practices of Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to aerospace engineers and scientists at the National Aerospace Laboratory (The Netherlands), and NASA ARC (U.S.), and NASA LaRC (U.S.). This paper presents responses of the Dutch and U.S. participants to selected questions concerning four of the seven project objectives: determining the importance of technical communications to aerospace engineering professionals, investigating the production of technical communications, examining the use and importance of computer and information technology, and exploring the use of electronic networks.

Barclay, Rebecca O.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report number 20: The use of selected information products and services by US aerospace engineers and scientists: Results of two surveys

The U.S. government technical report is a primary means by which the results of federally funded research and development (R&D) are transferred to the U.S. aerospace industry. However, little is known about this information product in terms of its actual use, importance, and value in the transfer of federally, funded R&D. To help establish a body of knowledge, the U.S. government technical report is being investigated as part of the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. In this report, we summarize the literature on technical reports and provide a model that depicts the transfer of federally funded aerospace R&D via the U.S. government technical report. We present results from two surveys of our investigation of aerospace knowledge diffusion vis-a-vis the U.S. government technical report and close with a brief overview of on-going research into aerospace knowledge diffusion focusing on the role of the industry-affiliated information intermediary.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NADA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report number 19: The US government technical report and the transfer of federally funded aerospace R/D: An analysis of five studies

The U.S. government technical report is a primary means by which the results of federally funded research and development are transferred to the U.S. aerospace industry. However, little is known about this information product in terms of its actual use, importance, and value in the transfer of federally funded R&D. To help establish a body of knowledge, the U.S. government technical report is being investigated as part of the 'NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project'. In this report, we summarize the literature on technical reprts and provide a model that depicts the transfer of federally funded aerospace R&D via the U.S. government technical report. We present results from five studies of our investigation of aerospace knowledge diffusion vis-a-vis the U.S. government technical report and close with a brief overview of on-going research into the use of the U.S. government technical report as a rhetorical device for transferring federally funded aerospace R&D.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 35: The US government technical report and aerospace knowledge diffusion: Results of an on-going investigation

The U.S. government technical report is a primary means by which the results of federally funded research and development (R&D) are transferred to the U.S. aerospace industry. However, little is known about this information product in terms of its actual use, importance, and value in the transfer of federally funded (U.S.) R&D. To help establish a body of knowledge, the U.S. government technical report is being investigated as part of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. In this paper, we summarize the literature on technical reports and provide a model that depicts the transfer of federally funded aerospace R&D via the U.S. government technical report. We present results from two surveys (one of five studies) of our investigation of aerospace knowledge diffusion vis-a-vis the U.S. government technical report and close with a brief overview of on-going research into the use of the U.S. government technical report as a rhetorical device for transferring federally funded aerospace R&D.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. XXXIII - Technical communications practices and the use of information technologies as reported by Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers

As part of Phase 4 of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, two studies were conducted that investigated the technical communications practices of Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to aerospace engineers and scientists at the National Aerospace Laboratory (The Netherlands), and NASA Ames Research Center (U.S.), and the NASA Langley Research Center (U.S.). This paper presents responses of the Dutch and U.S. participants to selected questions about four of the seven project objectives: determining the importance of technical communications to aerospace engineering professionals, investigating the production of technical communications, examining the use and importance of computer and information technology, and exploring the use of electronic networks.

Barclay, Rebecca O.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 28: The technical communication practices of aerospace engineering and science students: Results of the phase 4 cross-national surveys

This report describes similarities and differences between undergraduate and graduate aerospace engineering and science students in the context of two general aspects of the educational experience. First, we explore the extent to which students differ regarding the factors that lead to the choice of becoming an aerospace engineer or a scientist, current satisfaction with that choice, and career-related goals and objectives. Second, we look at the technical communication skills, practices, habits, and training of aerospace engineering and science students. The reported data were obtained from a survey of students enrolled in aerospace engineering and science programs at universities in India, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The surveys were undertaken as part of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Data are reported for the following categories: student demographics; skill importance, skill training, and skill helpfulness; collaborative writing; computer and information technology use and importance, use of electronic networks; use and importance of libraries and library services; use and importance of information sources and products; use of foreign language technical reports; and foreign language (reading and speaking) skills.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 31: The technical communications practices of US aerospace engineers and scientists: Results of the phase 1 SME mail survey

The U.S. government technical report is a primary means by which the results of federally funded research and development (R&D) are transferred to the U.S. aerospace industry. However, little is known about this information product in terms of its actual use, importance, and value in the transfer of federally funded R&D. To help establish a body of knowledge, the U.S. government technical report is being investigated as part of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. In this report, we summarize the literature on technical reports and provide a model that depicts the transfer of federally funded aerospace R&D via the U.S. government technical report. We present results from our investigation of aerospace knowledge diffusion vis-a-vis the U.S. government technical communications practices of U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists affiliated with, not necessarily belonging to, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 53: From student to entry-level professional: Examining the technical communications practices of early career-stage US aerospace engineers and scientists

Studies indicate that communications and information-related activities take up a substantial portion of an engineer's work week; therefore, effective communications and information-use skills are one of the key engineering competencies that early career-stage aerospace engineers and scientists must possess to be successful. Feedback from industry rates communications and information-use skills high in terms of their importance to engineering practice; however, this same feedback rates the communications and information-use skills of early career-stage engineers low. To gather adequate and generalizable data about the communications and information-related activities of entry-level aerospace engineers and scientists, we surveyed 264 members of the AIAA who have no more than 1-5 years of aerospace engineering work experience. To learn more about the concomitant communications norms, we compared the results of this study with data (1,673 responses) we collected from student members of the AIAA and with data (341 responses) we collected from a study of aerospace engineering professionals. In this paper, we report selected results from these studies that focused on the communications practices and information-related activities of early career-stage U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists in the workplace.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 8: The role of the information intermediary in the diffusion of aerospace knowledge

The United States aerospace industry is experiencing profound changes created by a combination of domestic actions and circumstances such as airline deregulation. Other changes result from external trends such as emerging foreign competition. These circumstances intensify the need to understand the production, transfer, and utilization of knowledge as a precursor to the rapid diffusion of technology. Presented here is a conceptual framework for understanding the diffusion of technology. A conceptual framework is given for understanding the diffusion of aerospace knowledge. The framework focuses on the information channels and members of the social system associated with the aerospace knowledge diffusion process, placing particular emphasis on aerospace librarians as information intermediaries.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DoD aerospace knowledge diffusion research project. VIII - The role of the information intermediary in the diffusion of aerospace knowledge

The U.S. aerospace industry is experiencing profound changes created by a combination of domestic actions and circumstances such as airline deregulation. Other changes result from external trends such as emerging foreign competition. These circumstances intensify the need to understand the production, transfer, and utilization of knowledge as a precursor to the rapid diffusion of technology. This article presents a conceptual framework for understanding the diffusion of aerospace knowledge. The framework focuses on the information channels and members of the social system associated with the aerospace knowledge diffusion process, placing particular emphasis on aerospace librarians as information intermediaries.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 30: The electronic transfer of information and aerospace knowledge diffusion

Increasing reliance on and investment in information technology and electronic networking systems presupposes that computing and information technology will play a major role in the diffusion of aerospace knowledge. Little is known, however, about actual information technology needs, uses, and problems within the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. The authors state that the potential contributions of information technology to increased productivity and competitiveness will be diminished unless empirically derived knowledge regarding the information-seeking behavior of the members of the social system - those who are producing, transferring, and using scientific and technical information - is incorporated into a new technology policy framework. Research into the use of information technology and electronic networks by U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists, collected as part of a research project designed to study aerospace knowledge diffusion, is presented in support of this assertion.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 36: Technical uncertainty as a correlate of information use by US industry-affiliated aerospace engineers and scientists

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study that investigated the influence of technical uncertainty on the use of information and information sources by U.S. industry-affiliated aerospace engineers and scientists in completing or solving a project, task, or problem. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Survey participants were U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists whose names appeared on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) mailing list. The results support the findings of previous research and the following study assumptions. Information and information-source use differ for projects, problems, and tasks with high and low technical uncertainty. As technical uncertainty increases, information-source use changes from internal to external and from informal to formal sources. As technical uncertainty increases, so too does the use of federally funded aerospace research and development (R&D). The use of formal information sources to learn about federally funded aerospace R&D differs for projects, problems, and tasks with high and low technical uncertainty.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 1: The value of scientific and technical information (STI), its relationship to Research and Development (R/D), and its use by US aerospace engineers and scientists

This paper is based on the premise that scientific and technical information (STI), its use by aerospace engineers and scientists, and the aerospace research and development (R&D) process are related. We intend to support this premise with data gathered from numerous studies concerned with STI, the relationship of STI to the performance and management of R&D activities, and the information use and seeking behavior of engineers in general and aerospace engineers and scientists in particular. We intend to develop and present a synthesized appreciation of how aerospace R&D managers can improve the efficacy of the R&D process by understanding the role and value of STI in this process.

Pinelli, Thomas E.↗

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 40: Technical communications in aerospace education: A study of AIAA student members

This paper describes the preliminary analysis of a survey of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) student members. In the paper we examine (1) the demographic characteristics of the students, (2) factors that affected their career decisions, (3) their career goals and aspirations, and (4) their training in technical communication and techniques for finding and using aerospace scientific and technical information (STI). We determine that aerospace engineering students receive training in technical communication skills and the use of STI. While those in the aerospace industry think that more training is needed, we believe the students receive the appropriate amount of training. We think that the differences between the amount of training students receive and the perception of training needs is related partially to the characteristics of the students and partially to the structure of the aerospace STI dissemination system. Overall, we conclude that the students' technical communication training and knowledge of STI, while limited by external forces, makes it difficult for students to achieve their career goals.

Kennedy, John M.↗