NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, Paper One: The Value of Scientific and Technical Information (STI), Its Relationship to Research and Development (R and D), and Its Use by U.S. Aerospace Engineers and Scientists
Abstract
Viewed as a process, aerospace research and development (R and D) consists of three phases--idea formulation, problem solving, and invention. It is a process that is inexorably linked to the economic growth, prosperity, and technological progress of modern nations. The collective management and performance of the process affect the innovation and productivity as well as the economic competitiveness and vitality of modern nations. The nature of science and technology makes scientific and technical information (STI) an important function of the R&D process. The communication or transfer of STI is thus central to the management of R and D activities. As Fischer (1980) points out, Not only is the communication or transfer of STI an important portion of performing R and D, it is also vital to the dissemination and application of the R and D product. Embedded in STI are knowledge and ideas that are pursued and transferred by those engineers and scientists engaged in the aerospace R and D process. The fact that, in R and D, knowledge and ideas are frequently embodied in a physical product should not detract from the realization that R and D is first and foremost an information processing and communication activity, and engineers and scientists are information processors who are constantly faced with the problem of effectively and efficiently acquiring and processing STI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 19, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA252565
Entities
People
- Myron Glassman
- Rebecca O. Barclay
- Thomas E. Pinelli
- Walter E. Oliu
Organizations
- Langley Research Center