"Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing." Engineer's Motto
He stares at you from behind his thick glasses. Years of stress and long hours have taken a toll on him. He's dressed in a faded blue shirt and a pair of worn out khakis. He takes a sip from his coffee mug and waits for you to say something. From his expression, he thinks this is a waste of time.
You nervously glance at the wall clock. You have 58 minutes with this engineer. And you have no clue where to start. Two hours ago your project manager assigned you a new project. Here's how her email read:
"We've been asked to create a step-by-step procedure for correctly installing life rafts on our Water Speed Type 1 luxury boats. The target audience for this project is our graveyard shift assembly line techs.
Currently, they view a twenty minute video on how to install these life rafts. Our Quality Assurance department reported that these life rafts were incorrectly installed. So we will provide them step-by-step instructions on how to do this. It will be part of a manual which will be assigned to each line tech.
Contact Ron Anderson who is the lead engineer and the SME for this project. I just spoke to him - he has an hour available today, and then he is off on a two week vacation."
Suddenly, a light bulb goes on in your head. You dig through your notes and find a list of 10 questions. You vaguely remember reading about this list in an old issue of TWTK. You turn on your voice recorder and start asking the SME these questions:
1. How much do you know about this project?
You want to find out from him all the background information about this project. This information may be useful for your project and may cut your research time.
2. What is your view of the target audience for this project?
Your goal is to get the SME's perspective on the target audience. The SME may provide you with useful insights which could help you in the target audience analysis.
3. What skills are most critical to success for the target audience?
By gaining this knowledge you can write your instructions keeping in mind the audience's skill set.
4. What prior knowledge should someone have before attempting this job/task?
Very important question. When you write your instructions, you need to know what prior knowledge the audience has because this may save you time and effort. You won't have to include additional information in your instructions.
5. Where can I find more information about this project?
You need to know if there is any existing information you can use for your project.
6. What are the challenges you think we'll face?
You want to know in advance about the problems you'll need to solve.
7. What are some causes for failure you have observed in people who have not been able to successfully perform this job?
One of your project's goals should be to address past failures and provide solutions to ensure that these failures are not repeated.
8. Are there reference materials (such as policies and procedures) or manuals available?
Existing material can provide you with valuable information.
9. Who are the other parties involved in this project?
There could be others who are already working on some aspect of this project. You need to know who they are so you can follow up with them to get more information.
10. Do you have any questions for me?
Give the SME an opportunity to ask questions.
These questions are not a complete list but they will help steer your project in the right direction. And when you're just starting off on a project, you need to know which direction you need to head towards.
Many people say traditional textbooks are on their way out. To some, this is still far from being wholly truthful. There will still be students and book readers who will always prefer printed copies over ebooks. Thus, it is to be expected that even if ebooks become the more common and widely used form of reference materials, traditional books will still exist.
Some experts assert that the fate of printed books will be like the fate of cassettes in the past. When CDs first became popular, there were still many cassette users who have sworn not to abandon cassette players and tapes. But eventually, CDs apparently became more preferred and used. Of course, some people still prefer cassettes.
In the case of traditional textbooks versus ebooks, many are still thinking it is impossible for printed books to become obsolete. The following benefits of printed reference materials compared to electronic formats may change your opinion about this matter.
Printed books can be truly 'owned'
Many users feel truly 'owning' the printed books they purchase. Full ownership may be obtained by making an item a part of the owner. To many, that can be in the form of physically owning the material and even writing in it. Ownership is not just physical but also irrevocable. You may agree that owning a right to read content of a digital file is different from owning a book that will sit beside you.
Printed books can be lent or borrowed
One of the disadvantages of ebooks is that those can never be loaned or borrowed, unless you agree to hand over your ereader or device to others, which can be awkward or uncomfortable on your part. eBook distributors make sure the downloaded content upon purchase cannot be re-distributed or shared to others. Thus, a traditional book has the advantage of being able to serve as many readers or students during its life span.
Printed reference materials offer experience
Traditional books facilitate tactile experience. In comparison, ebooks are reducing books into mere words. That is where the major difference sets in. Conventional books can be held, touched, and 네이버 계정 판매 even smelled---experiences that combine to make books. In contrast, ebooks create experiences similar to playing videos and shuffling music-forgettable and not worthwhile.
Used books are advantageous
And who can ignore the usefulness of used reference materials? Traditional textbooks can be bought new (expensive) or used (much cheaper). There are still other options when buying conventional books. That is why ebooks will always be costly as you can never find used eBook copies across the Internet.