Introduction This unit starts by giving an overview of the two main categories of disasters: disasters of natural origin and disasters of human origin. It then analyses the Tay Bridge disaster, which was caused by mechanical failure. Inevitably, human factors emerge as important in many major disasters. They may involve the failure by engineers, designers or managers to recognise faults in safety-critical products, or managers overriding the design team for other reasons – such as keeping to a dea
4.19 Technologies and explicit knowledge continued The following examples give a taste of what is now making the transition from research laboratories into commercial products. Large hierarchical information structures are extremely common, whether in libraries, organisational charts or websites. Displaying such large structures is a challenge, and since the user soon runs out of screen space, navigating them can be tedious. Screen 7 shows a system that uses animation and carefully designed graphical effects to give the impression of manipula
4.18.1 Data mining Data mining refers to techniques for analysing databases or information systems to try to identify hidden but significant patterns that are not possible to detect by standard querying of the database. Moxon defines data mining as follows: Data mining is a set of techniques used in an automated approach to exhaustively explore and bring to the surface complex relationships in very large datasets … most like 4.16.1 Ontologies + the Web = the Semantic Web Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has defined a vision of the Web's evolution into the Semantic Web:
The Semantic Web is not a separate Web but an extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. The first steps in weaving the Semantic Web into the structure of the existing Web are already under way. 4.15.1 Ontologies We noted earlier that, in philosophy, an ontology refers fundamentally to ‘being’, or ‘what can be’. In the field of artificial intelligence the term ‘ontology’ has been appropriated to mean a ‘reusable terminological scheme’ or, if you prefer, a ‘conceptualisation’: a scheme for providing a rigorous description of the concepts, attributes and interrelationships deemed relevant to describe a particular aspect of the world. Its precision means that 4.13 Technologies and explicit knowledge Knowledge-based systems have the ability to analyse specific kinds of information in order to take action. Since we have earlier defined knowledge as arising out of the interpretation of information as mediated by representations, we can claim that in a limited sense such systems can ‘know’ things: they have a representation of part of the world, and they have some rules that allow them to analyse that representation, from which they can decide on a course of action. In that sense, t 4.11.1 Debating and negotiating meaning The two briefings in Boxes 4.10 and 4.11 illustrate other technological approaches to supporting socially based forms of knowledge generation, with the common theme of facilitating negotiation and debate among stakeholders. These are examples of tools which can assist communication between communities of practice as they seek to understand each other's perspectives. 4.7 Technologies and the tacit dimension continued The emergence of the internet and private, higher-capacity corporate intranets makes it possible to ‘broadcast’ over digital networks, saving time and money since staff do not have to physically gather in one location. The term webcastin 4.3.1 Mapping what we know Knowledge maps are often one of the first knowledge management representations to emerge, in an effort to add value over the simple corporate intranet search which returns lists of ‘hits’ that are undifferentiated beyond a ranking in terms of keyword matches. Knowledge maps, like other forms of cartography, should communicate a ‘big picture’ by overlaying meaningful structure on to raw resources. 3.3.1 Metaphors for organisational memory systems
Section 2 argued for a model of knowledge deriving from the situated interpretation of abstract representations. There is an active process by which different interpretations may result from a given information source. This is in contrast to the popular notion that knowledge can be unproblematically encoded and digitally stored and accessed. Bannon and Kuutti (1996) argue that the term ‘organizational memory’ is widely used to mean a repository based on an implicit ‘mem 2.4 Codification and formalisation continued An important point is that the process of ‘objectifying’ knowledge brings with it a gradual change in the knowledge represented, because content and form are inextricably linked. McLuhan's famous quotation ‘the medium is the message’ highlights this phenomenon, but overstates the case a little. We can say that the medium shapes the message, as follows: 2.1 Representation, interpretation and communities of practice Let us start with a thought experiment. Where is the music? The music is in the musical notation. No, the music is in the mind 1.4 Aims The aims of this unit are: to develop an understanding of the relationships between information, interpretation, knowledge and computer-based representations to summarise the range of different technologies that are available and on the horizon, and how they relate to different kinds of knowledge processes to provide frameworks for thinking about technologies for managing knowledge, and for evaluating the claims made Activity 3 Various stock types of difficult sitter recur in the literature. Painters, of course, posed the biggest threat. Other difficult customers included those accompanying sitters: the gentleman with the lady, the mother with the child, the owner with the pet. Space Shelter Sextant Solutions Sneaking Up On Sneakers Engineering in Sports Birthday Moons Studying changing faces in the solar system
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Box 4.5 Technology briefing: audiovisual Webcasting
Activity 2.1
The invasion has taken place and we need to find a new home. To ensure your survival beyond earth's occupation you must design a shelter that can be built on another planet. Students will research the characteristics of a planet of their choice. They will design a shelter that will allow them to survive on a new planet, and explain it in words.
The earliest explorers did not have computers or satellites to help them know their exact location. The most accurate tool developed was the sextant to determine latitude and longitude. In this activity, the sextant is introduced and discussed with the class. Students will learn how a sextant can be a reliable tool that is still being used by today's navigators and how computers can help assure accuracy when measuring angles. Also, this activity will show how computers can be used to understand
This activity explores why different types of sneakers are used in a variety of common sports. It connects how engineers analyze design needs in sneakers and everyday items. The goal is for students to understand the basics of engineering associated with the design of different types of athletic shoes. Sneakers are one of the most commonly worn shoes in our American culture. They provide comfortable support for our feet as we go about our active lives as students, athletes, educators, and engine
Imagining themselves arriving at the Olympic gold medal soccer game in Beijing, students begin to think about how engineering is involved in sports. After a discussion of kinetic and potential energy, an associated hands-on activity gives students an opportunity to explore energy absorbing materials as they try to protect an egg from being crushed.
Students become familiar with lunar phases by locating and then graphing the Moon phase of their own birthdays. After listening and discussing lunar myths and legends they create their own Birthday Moon Stories.
In this middle-school level activity, students work as NASA scientists to make repeated observations of our Sun and the planets to determine their rotation rates. First, students create a playground model of rotation and create representative diagrams. Students then observe NASA images of sunspots to determine the rotation rate of our Sun. In the last phase, students download NASA movies from the Internet and measure rotation rates for objects in the solar system.
