Fingertip Access to Software Engineering Information and Learning: SAIL on the Informedia DVLS

Practicing software engineers have difficulty accessing state-of-the-practice technologies in a timely manner. As a result, software engineers frequently re-invent the technology. Fingertip information (project, state-of-the-practice, state-of-the-art, domain specific, etc.) should be provided so that software engineers perform their profession more effectively. The System for Access to Information and Learning (SAIL) approach on the Informedia Digital Video Library System (DVLS) demonstrates the feasibility of providing fingertip access to information and learning materials, using requirements elicitation as the technology base. Also, Informedia DVLS and the World Wide Web can supplement each other; by using the Web to gain access to certain areas of software engineering, we can begin to assemble libraries of technical information. Informedia DVLS can provide timely access to such information and can also be used to house current project materials.