Your Input needed for new SM Resource

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Hi, I'm helping to design a website and database of product ... - Feb 28, 2002 by

Andrew- I look for usefulness in web sites.I hate having ne... - Mar 01, 2002 by CAL

Thanks Cal, for your comments. I'm specifically working on w... - Mar 04, 2002 by

Andrew H Otwell

#19007

Your Input needed for new SM Resource | 28 February, 2002

Hi, I'm helping to design a website and database of product information for the packaging and SM industry. We're at an early stage, and I'm interesting in learning as much as possible about how people like you (Design/Dev. Engineers, Researchers, or Students) use the web in your work.

If you have the time, please send me a quick note, or reply here, about how you might use web-based product resources at your job.

Do you frequently check certain websites (like smta.org) for specific information?

How often do you use manufacturers' sites?

When you look for product information on the web, do you usually know the specific name of a product (the "Foobar X500 Solder Paste Printer"), or do you look for a category of products and just find what you need based on its specs?

Can you give a specific example of something SM-related you recently searched for on the web?

Thanks.

Andrew

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CAL

#19027

Your Input needed for new SM Resource | 1 March, 2002

Andrew- I look for usefulness in web sites.I hate having news mail sent to my email box. Having a site post technical information, links to useful stuff, and all around beneficial information is good. It seems to me the vogue thing on the Technology web sites are 1)forums 2) "Breaking News" 3) Email news. Dont get me wrong there are some useful web sites (smtnet being useful) but there are tons of Electronics related sites that are pittiful. Keep the info current. Having an APEX January 2002 Banner add posted on March 1,2002 is irratating to me. The day after APEX we removed from our site the APEX link until 2003 comes out.

There are a lot of people wanting to post technical papers,.... have them available for down load.

Keeping it simple is key. I hate web sites that have to many graphics it takes 1 hour to load.....each day or week the web page cover should change.

Create a site that makes people crave the information you post. People will come back time and time again.

When I search on the web I look for obscure equipment manufacturers. Those not current to USA that is. There are some great machine manufacturers in Europe and Asia that interest me. One thing about search engines is the "key word Search" get priority. Sometimes what I am looking for may have 200 links. I look at the first 10 or 20 and then move on else where. Just as an example I typed in "Pick+and+Place" with in a search engine and got everything from SMT Equipment to LLBean Gardening to EBAY Cookie Cutters to sell your Dodge in Auto trader.

I limit the use of Manufacturers Web sites Just pop in every now and again to see if anything has changed. I do like websites the provide Business info (i.e. Hoovers.com). I am able to track a companys progress via Hoovers. I will know if a company is going Chp. 11 or will be moving from Pick and place machine to bar code label machines.

just some personal random thoughts.

Cal

PS... If I were to search for "SM Resource" from your subject title, I would have more Porn sites than I know what to do with.

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Andrew H Otwell

#19040

Your Input needed for new SM Resource | 4 March, 2002

Thanks Cal, for your comments. I'm specifically working on ways to improve how search results are presented, since we're building a very large product database. In particular, I'm implementing ways that search results can behave more like librarians: interpreting typos and acronyms (so "BGA" and Ball Grib Array" would both give you results for Ball Grid Arrays), and so that search results are integrated into category browsing (so that it's easy to quickly find "more like this" or related topics). We know that you guys, like us designers, use Google for everything, and that the best we can do is make this site act like Google.

I think you'll be pleased that it will include a LOT of obscure European manufacturers, too! And no porn. You'll hear more about it when it's ready....

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