Due to the nature of today's rapidly changing technology, it becomes essential that the log analyst devote a specific portion of his time reading technical journals and other sources of new technological information, so that he can
make full use of previously established and recorded knowledge;
become familiar with improved techniques and new developments in his field; and
not become obsolescent in his ways and knowledge, hence replaceable by younger, more up-to-date, college graduates.
The value of new technical information constantly being published is great but, unfortunately, many valuable articles are not readily available to the log analyst, or he is not aware of their publication and overlooks them. This is especially true of articles, technical papers and published patents appearing in foreign countries. Rather than pursuing a hit-or-miss system of locating new knowledge or retrieval of older data from voluminous files, the log analyst should make use of newly developed facilities in the information field. ABSTRACT ing services encapsulate current technical output in a form that makes it possible to review large quantities of information readily, and become aware of pertinent references worthy of more thorough study of the original document. Special indexing systems and searching tools make it possible to locate published information on any desired subject in a very short time. A description of the various information retrieval systems currently available to the log analyst is included.
