The Neverending Search 6

[Neubaten]

It's been almost two years since I started working as an engineer, 6 months since I started in the aerospatial industry as a materials&processes eng. And there's this thing I noticed: 80% of the things I deal are not easy-access.

I mean, I always end up wasting time, stuck into finding what hell of an ASTM standard is out there for nickel alloy welding, or where I can find the density of the Whateverflom-Butidontnyl polymer or similar stuff.

It is not that I haven't got resources, we have handbooks, manuals, catalogues, access to standard-downloading pay websites and whatnot...

...but it happens more than usually that the component I'm searching for is highly marginal and with so few data available, and I have to look endlessly until I find the property I want into an obscure reference hidden into the darkest place of the archive or into a link in the internet, just before I was about to retreat.

I use this site a lot, and it helps, but sometimes it isn't enough.

Do you, senior engineers, have the same problem or is it that I haven't mastered the art of search or something?

 

[Neubaten]

Having a stick where I can collect things as I find them, to use for future searches might be a good idea.

Anyone experienced on the DocuWiki thing? is it really practical?

Maybe just a log file to index things and throw everything into folders might be enough.

 

[GregLocock]

Just started setting my Dokuwiki up. It really is as good as it claims to be.

It suits the way I work very well, I can write notes, with other files embedded. As wordprocessors go it is not much good for writing reports, and I haven't tried to print anything out yet.

The worst thing is tables, for which wikis, and browsers generally, have rather ugly syntax.



Cheers

Greg Locock

SIGlease see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[PSE]

What I have tended to do is to set up an excel spreadsheet as my index file for either an individual project or data in general. I include the file name, description and then create a hyperlink to the file itself. As long as I do not move stuff around too much (or remember to update links if I do so), I have found that it works well. I can use excel's data sorting capabilities to help me find an individual file reasonably quickly.

Regards,

 

[Taqwus]

I had a wiki at my last job I used heavly. I think the main use for it will be how much you enter in it. The one I had set up had all the major HP printers then you could pull up the most common break/fix routines, the manual, parts list and anything else I could figure out
Also I have heard you can have the wiki search pdf's to find what you are looking for this would be great for going through codes

 

[SomptingGuy]

Wiki/database, same things really.

Databases have two related problems:

1) When they are empty, they are boring.
2) Putting things in is boring.

If you can get over (2), (1) goes away.

- Steve

 

[ubrben]

Hi Greg - Glad you like it. I came across it on a Formula SAE discussion thread about project management.

Ben