Frequently asked questions, known issues, and solutions.

TOPICS

How does the Technology Navigator work?

This tool makes available over 8,000 "topics", “topics” or key terms that can be used to find and navigate to thousands of relevant IEEE resources including conferences, publications, standards, and published articles through IEEE Xplore.

What is a "topic" ?

A topic is a word or short set of words that can be used for navigation and searching. The topics in the Technology Navigator are generally high-level technology keywords which are typically used to identify application and information needs by non-expert users.

How does the tool enable users to navigate through topics?

If users already have a search term in mind, they can use the search bar to locate the associated topics. They can then select the topic and determine under which industry sectors and discipline sector it falls. By clicking on the topic, users have the option to pull down list of IEEE associated resources.

How are topics filtered?

Users have the option to navigate lists of topics that can be ordered alphabetically or by other filters, including most “connectedness,” most resources, most sectors, most related topics, and most IEEE Societies.

What are “related topics”?

When experts created topics for this tool, they were asked to select topics that were directly or indirectly related. This connection was intended to help users see broader connections within and across disciplinary areas.

What is “connectedness”?

“Connectedness” takes into account a combined measure of number of resources, most Societies, and most sectors. The tool shows “connectedness” by color coding the list of topics. Dark red indicates high connectiveness, and light blue low connectiveness.

NAVIGATION

What are the options for viewing topics?

Users can toggle (bottom screen) to see topics presented through the Textual Map Interface and the Visual Map Interface.

RESOURCES

What can a user expect from the Conferences, Periodicals, and Standards tab?

The conferences and periodicals tabs direct users to locations where the topic selected contains intellectual property, including future as well as past IEEE conferences. URL links (where known) are also included. There are also links to periodicals and standards. The standards tab directs users to both issued standards and active PARS in process that are associated with the navigation topic.

What happens when I select a topic?

Selecting a topic will reveal the list of associated resources listed on the top menu bar. By default, the tool will feature the IEEE Technical Societies as a series of logos that lead to Society Home Pages. You then have the option to explore the Society web site. If you want to return to the Tech Navigator tool, you must re-enter the site. It is not possible to back up. This also happens when landing on pages from other web sites describing a conference, periodicals, and standards.

What is the purpose of the “IEEE Societies” tab?

This result provides a link to all the technical societies within IEEE that have mapped intellectual property to the topic that you have selected to investigate. Links are provided to the IEEE society home page where users can investigate areas of interest.

What options exist to narrow navigation?

Navigation can be narrowed by choosing a sector, or choosing a society. In both cases a user can type a topic in the search bar and navigate in this manner. Additionally a user can type a topic in the search bar without selecting a sector or a society.

What if the Articles tab returns intellectual property that is earlier than dates indicated in conferences, periodicals, and standards tab?

The articles tab does in fact return Xplore intellectual property that precedes the dates shown in the listings of intellectual property titles. The system was designed to return abstracts from the entire Xplore database.

Are the topics associated owned by single society?

Many topics are held in common by two or more IEEE societies and technical organizations. Hence, they are linked to resources that are owned by more than one IEEE organization.

Will future versions of the Technology Navigator include other resources?

The Technology Navigator is now limited to conferences, standards, periodicals, and articles. The current version does not include educational materials, courses, speakers, or conferences and workshops outside of those offered by IEEE Technical Societies. Future versions of the tool are envisioned to include these.

How does the Technology Navigator help users browse and locate conferences?

Once a topic is selected, users have the option to select “conferences” from the top menu bar. This will consist of a listing and concise description of recent and future IEEE conferences. Clicking on the conference will bring the user to the conference home page. The tool allows users to navigate from views of conferences by topics to views of conferences by Society and by Industry Sectors. Note that the conferences only go back five years.

What is the relationship of Technology Navigator to the IEEE Conference database?

The listing of conferences in the Tech Navigator is based on periodic feeds from the IEEE Conference database that can be accessed through the IEEE Home Page.

What are the limitations in searching conferences?

Tech Navigator includes conferences that are in the IEEE Technical Activities database, those which are sponsored or co-sponsored by an IEEE Technical Society. They may not include conferences with technical co-sponsorship or those that are sponsored by other IEEE organizations, such as Regions, Sections, and Standards. Users have the option to browse IEEE Xplore for conference articles published by not only the IEEE but also the IET and AIP/AVS.

How does the Tech Navigator help users browse and locate standards?

When selecting a topic, users can see a list of standards along with their descriptions. The items on the list lead to the pages, with additional information, maintained by the IEEE Standards Association. Users have the option to do detailed searches through IEEE Xplore and through the Standards Association websites.

How does the Tech Navigator help users browse and locate periodicals?

The IEEE Technology Navigator enables users to use topics to browse the nearly 300 periodicals and magazines available through the IEEE. Once a topic is selected, users can select from a list of periodicals, including concise descriptions. Upon selecting a periodical citation, users are taken to a page in IEEE Xplore describing the periodical. Users can also browse periodicals by society and by industry sector.

How up-to-date are the resources in the Tech Navigator?

At present, the conference and periodicals databases are refreshed annually. Quarterly updates of conferences are envisioned for future versions of the tool. This means that there may be a lag between the launching of new resources and their appearance in Tech Navigator. There may also be incomplete information, such as lack of abstracts, for recent events that have not been fully published.