 Table of Contents ECNDT '98 Session: Special Copenhagen 26 - 29 May 1998 | The Advantages of the Internet in the Field of NDTRolf DiederichsNDT Internet Publishing Tacheniusweg 8 D-32052 Herford Germany Tel: + 49/(0)5221/769314 Fax: + 49/(0)5221/769731 Email: rd@ndt.net |
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The NDT Newsgroup and other forums are playing an important role in expediting meeting and communication among your NDT colleagues on the Internet - Email is the most important tool for that. Not only technical discussions but also business to business or even direct inquiries are today handled via the Internet. Statistics are presented with more information on specific usage.
Companies have to face the problem of how to be maximize visible, that means how to get many visitors to a Website. Website marketing is a new field that needs to be understood before you invest in an Internet presence - to avoid ineffective and unnecessary expenditure.
The first full text NDT Journal on 'www.ndt.net', the Online Journal of Nondestructive Testing & Ultrasonics, is on the Internet and each month provides new information as well as a comprehensive overall reference - access is free since it is sponsored by the NDT online exhibition.
| Fig 1. NDTnet Access Trend |
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| Fig 2. NDTnet access by countries |
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While professional awareness has increased, there are still hindrances to universal access in the workplace. Today almost all companies have access to the Internet, but company policy may limit usage during business hours or on company equipment. Also, many countries still face prohibitive online access charges, although free market competition will take care of that in time, and Canada's no-charge policy may well be the wave of the future!
2.1 E-mail
This is the backbone of all Internet communication. E-mail is quickly replacing many other communication tools, e.g., phone, fax and mail. This is increasingly becoming the preferred method of communication, especially in technical circles. Even though the "conversation" usually takes place in time-frame of minutes to hours, one can check the messages at any time.
Back up and search capability are just two features of most common email programs. E-mail is
very inexpensive. This is especially good for long distance communication. In addition to text messages, binary or image files may be sent by e-mail. you can use your e-mail address to have
information delivered right to your mailbox, like the NDT-Mailing List, which can save a lot of time.
2.2 WWW Browsers The browser is the door to the World Wide Web, a viewer and navigator for all Internet hypertext documents (HTML). Due to the integration of many other protocols, e.g. E-Mail, Chat, Phone and newsgroups, for many users, the browser is increasingly becoming the center of all Internet functions. Browsers are user-friendly human-to-machine interfaces to the WWW. There is a large number of browsers and the leading ones are: Netscape Navigator and MS Internet Explorer. Interactive communication between a web server and a browser is provided by tags of the language HTML. While this language has, at present, a limited capability it is expanding rapidly with the assistance of other languages such as Java and Javascript.
2.3 Newsgroups
For easy newsgroup access, a separate newsgroup reader provides many features. There are over 35,000 newsgroups, each with its own distinct topic of discussion ranging from the care of houseplants to techniques in mass spectroscopy. Technical communities form newsgroups to communicate various announcements, inquiries, etc. Usually, a specific question is posted and then answered by newsgroup readers within a few hours. The NDT newsgroup was chartered in 1995, "sci.technique.testing.nondestructive", and about 2 to 3 messages are posted daily. This newsgroup does not allow advertising and amazingly, there is a remarkably small number of ads, especially for a non-moderated group (NDT newsgroup topics see Figure 3).
3.1 NDT Literature
Complete Article, Abstracts, Bibliography, Table of Contents,
Announcements of New Books.
3.2 NDT Societies
Literature, Calendar, Courses information.
3.4 NDT Market
Company Home Pages
Software/Demo Downloads.
3.5 NDT Newsgroup
Announcements of opportunities, technical inquiries, availability of capabilities, call for papers, requests for proposals, employment announcements. Figure 3 shows a breakdown of newsgroup messages by topic.
| Fig 3. Topics on the NDT Newsgroup |
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3.6 NDT online Journal
The online Journal of Nondestructive Testing & Ultrasonics (NDTnet) is the only real online Journal which provides all the types of information mentioned above. Since January 1996 the site has rapidly established itself as a popular resource for about
6000 readers each month (Fig.1). In addition to providing the same coverage as "regular" publishing, NDTnet offers a special focus on NDT highlights on the Internet. Here you'll see the future of online publishing brought to your desktop today, with workshops (conferencing), articles incorporating interactive material, and a Boolean search to help you retrieve the information you want. A permanent forum is a discussion group similar to the Newsgroup, but because it is operated through a Web page together with a mailing list it offers even more flexibility.
Here we offer two methods for finding the information you want.
4.1 Search
You will need to know addresses (http://www.) of the major Internet search engines. But search engines are still not perfected and the results may contain certain amount of noise, i.e., irrelevant information. Some companies use tricky things to get your attention; we found many NDT related words like 'TOFD' hidden as meta keywords in every page of some websites. If a search engine leads you to this site you will find no actual information provided, not even a single visible instance of the word TOFD.
To allow search of specific items, most search engines are now allowing the use of Boolean combinations (and/or). The search is an iterative process of browsing and information retrieval, where the search engines attempt to provide ranking of search results with best matches shown first. Effective results are require a systematic, exhaustive and highly specialized search. Examples of the available search engines include: Yahoo, Alta Vista (full text), Lycos, Infoseek, Excite, [4] as well as simultaneous search over multiple databases via Meta Search Engines (e.g., Savvy Search). Most search services offer a simple input window, without any additional help information, whereas some advanced tools are available with hidden links [4]. The NDTnet server log shows 12% access for pages performed through public search engines. In particularly 6% by www.altavista.digital.com, 3% by www.yahoo.com and 2 %from www.lycos.com. But 30% of NDTnet pages were accessed through NDTnet's own search engine. User interests are illustrated in Table 1. For this statistic search words of the NDTnet server log were evaluated in groups of main topics.
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Table 1: Breakdown of major queries through NDTnet sorted by groups |
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1424
Basics of Ultrasonic Testing
1155 Misc.Application/Materials 822 Transducer 720 Proper names 711 Civil 496 EMAT,EMUS 445 Lamb Wave 326 UT-Equipment techniques 291 TOFD 210 Laser 197 Composite 184 Job 161 Thickness 160 Simulation, modeling 137 Air-coupled 136 SAFT 132 AE 118 Radiography 105 Stress/residual 103 Weld 102 Plastics 91 Automotive 84 Visual testing/Optics 83 Temperature 76 Rail/Railway 67 Hardness 67 Pipeline 67 Corrosion 63 Training 58 Porosity 56 Pipe/tube |
4.2 Browse through specific sites
Usually an Internet user learns after a while where to go for specific information. The Browser provides a bookmark function where all these addresses can be organized by different subjects. Typical bookmark folders are Societies, Companies, Journals, Institutes, Databases, Search engines. The NDTnet Journal provides a virtual library that makes it easy for newcomers to find NDT sites. Unfortunately, some sites provide a lot of information but do not offer a search function.
Each of the methods described above has its pros and cons. The search method can be the most effective way to find information, but you will need 3 things:
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1. A good search engine 2. Knowledge of Boolean and other advanced search features 3. Time |
On NDTnet both retrieval methods are optimally combined, however that is only successfully because the content on the server is extensive and valuable (Table 2). A full text search with all advanced search features is available and the site also provides a table of contents for each month and archives are organized in subjects together with an alphabetical index.
About 80 MB containing more than 3 000 pages and 4 500 pictures:
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Table 2: Brief Content of NDTnet in 1996 -1997 (Source: NDTnet'97 CD-ROM)
Alternatively, those at the other end of the market speak proudly of their own exclusive server. But the true financial costs of this can range from US$30-100 thousand annually. Costs increase (rapidly) with the sophistication of functions offered. On the other hand, increased function is the reason for buying a server!
A suggested middle ground is a quality server provider who can deliver the features you need. Load your pages on the Server and get your own domain, "www.company.com", that means you operate a virtual server. Your presence is then quick and inexpensive to achieve. You also remain flexible and independent, so can always transfer to another server if you decide to change providers for any reason.
Another basic for a good Internet
Some may say: "We have invested in our own Internet presence (Home Page), so why we should advertise on the Internet? Simply informing your established customers of your new Internet address is not sufficient. We've already discussed some of the challenges users may face in searching for information. Your potential customer may lack the patience to follow hundreds of links of search engine output.
The Internet advertising mechanism works much the same way as its "real world" counterpart. Company Homepages are electronic brochures and are disseminated by using 'new' methods. But the methods are actually not new; they are basically the same as those used in printed journals. This is efficiently done on an online Journal like NDTnet where advertising is concentrated in a virtual NDT Exhibition that attracts many readers to the site. The exhibitors have had good experiences with their presentations. In contrast to individual Homepages which may often experience minimal traffic, NDTnet is visited by more than 6000 readers each month. Links to its exhibitors' Homepages increase the audience and the information available.
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