Introduction to Interactive Electronic Technical Manual and Its Classes

Interactive Electronic Technical Manual, shortly known as IETM, is a portal that allows managing technical documentation. IETM includes volumes of text into CD-ROMs or online pages that may include sound as well as video, and allow readers to locate required info far more rapidly instead of paper manuals. IETM became popular in the year 1990 as huge technical documentation projects for the aircraft as well as defence industries.

History of Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) – Overview

In the United States, the United States Military started to look at other ways to deliver technical manuals. With the advancement in computer technology, it was theorized that sending technical manuals to an electronic format could be cost-effective and allow better integration along with other logistics systems as well as better usability of the technical material.

According to the research performed in 1970 and 1980, all branches of the United States military get information on what the goals should be to meet the electronic technical manuals needs. Initial research was conducted at the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the Army Communicative Technology Office at Ft. Eustis, and the David Taylor Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Program created by the Navy, Navy Technical Information Presentation System and the Air Force, Computer-based Maintenance Aid System, was used with user surveys, technology analysis as well as design studies to come up with usual concepts for IETMs.

On the basis of field tests with technicians maintaining military equipment, the tests identified that performance was improved and effective improvement occurred for inexperienced technicians. There was one questionnaire that 90% of the technicians preferred electronic manuals and said that they are easy to use.

Interactive Electronic Technical Manual Classes

The functionality of the Interactive Electronic Technical Manual system is divided into six classes. And, these classes include aa spectrum of features along with most real-world IETM products falling in between two classes.

Type I

Class 1: This class follows the structure as well as the format of a printed book that includes indexes as well as tables of contents that are hyperlinked into the content of the document. It also includes a scanned book along with some links.

Class 2: This class consists of more hyperlinks tan Class 1, including figures, tables, and section references. A hyperlinked PDF document is the most common example.

Class 3: The main difference between Class 2 and Class 3 is analogous to the difference between PDF book and a web site. The structure of the book is discarded that document is structured more freely following the logic of the content.3

Type II

Class 4: It now expects the data to be stored in a relational database that gets the benefits of data integrity and removal of data redundancy. Relationships in the content are mapped directly to relations in the database schema. Content is no longer possible to print a linear format of the document.

Class 5: Here, the documentation is combined with expert systems that may affect the display of content. For instance, the Interactive Electronic Technical Manual system may aggregate data from users input, feed that to the expert system in order to analyze it and then the result gets feedback to the user via the IETM system.

Class 6: A network model database was used. The dynamic multi-destination system was used. It included system-oriented layers, troubleshooting, assembly and disassembly aspects, and more. The Advanced Interactive Electronic Technical Manual was an R&D AR version of the system that is designed to help to guide the standards used in the mark-up of the documentation.

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