Unit /003 Topic - Using info

1. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
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Information and
information sources

2. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
© Pearson Education 2012 Printing and photocopying permitted
What makes technical information different?
● accurate – the details need to be correct and as precise
as possible
● comprehensive – all of the necessary detail needs to
be provided
● current – the information needs to be up to date
● accessible – the information should be available as and
when required and in a form that makes it easy to use.
Technical information needs to be:

3. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
© Pearson Education 2012 Printing and photocopying permitted
Forms of communication (1)
Communication can take many forms but in everyday life we
can usually break it down into four main categories:
● written communication
● graphical communication
● verbal communication
● other (non-verbal) communication.
Think of two common examples of each of these forms
of communication.

4. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
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Forms of communication (2)
Forms of
communication
Written Verbal
Other
(non-verbal)
Graphical
Books, notes,
letters, memos,
e-mail, reports etc.
Drawings, sketches,
block diagrams,
flow charts, exploded
views, line graphs,
charts, histograms etc.
Conversations,
talks, lectures,
interviews,
phone calls etc.
Body language,
sign language, etc.

5. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
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Information sources (1)
Information is available from a wide variety of different sources including:
What information would you expect to find in (a) an application note
and (b) a catalogue?
● books
● application notes
● technical reports
● other (non-verbal)
● data sheets and data books
● catalogues
● engineering drawings
● CD-ROM
● databases
● websites.

6. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
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Information sources (2)
● as hard copy – documents and drawings printed on paper
● as electronic data – information that is encoded in digital
form so that it can be processed in a computer and stored
using CD-ROMs, memory cards, USB memory sticks, hard
drives, and network servers
● given verbally – by listening to instructions or presentations.
Information can be presented in different ways:
How can electronic data be viewed and what equipment is
required to view it?

7. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
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Hands on activity
Visit the Airbus website and use it to locate information on the
manufacture of an Airbus aircraft. Then use this to answer the
following questions:
1. Where does the final assembly of the A380 take place?
2. Following final assembly, what general tests are carried out
on each aircraft?
3. What happens immediately before each aircraft flies for the
first time?

8. Chapter 3 Using and communicating
technical information
© Pearson Education 2012 Printing and photocopying permitted
Learning summary
These are the main points that you should have learned:
 Information exists in many different forms and we communicate
it in many different ways.
 The way that we communicate information must be chosen
carefully and to be effective it must suit the type of information
that we wish to convey.
 Engineers have access to a wide range of different information
sources.
 Technical information needs to accurate, comprehensive,
current and accessible.