
AUTOCAD APPLICATIONS, by Gerald E. Jones, published by Scott, 
Foresman and Company, 1989.

This new book differs significantly from tutorial and expert 
approaches taken by other books on AutoCAD.  If you are regarded 
as a CAD expert in your own business organization, this book can 
save you a lot of time in dealing with novice AutoCAD users.  
Tell them that reading this book will give them a jump-start on 
thinking about their applications.  Developers and dealers may 
want to distribute it to prospects to help them up the learning 
curve.  In essence, the book is a primer for user-driven systems 
analysis of business problems that can be solved with CAD.  It 
contains concise, nontechnical theory, an overview of AutoCAD 
features and functions, and in-depth case histories.

This book should be available in stores beginning the last week 
in September, 1988.  Review copies or quantity discount orders 
may be requested from Pat Friedlander, Marketing Director, 
Professional Books, Scott Foresman and Company, 1900 East Lake 
Street, Glenview, IL 60025, 312 729-3000 ext. 2140.

The following overview is excerpted from the book's preface:

     This is a book not for people who want to learn 
  the technical details of AutoCAD but for busy 
  professionals who want to satisfy curiosity about 
  whether computer-aided design (CAD) has any place 
  in their own work routines.  So, in the jargon of 
  the marketer, this is a book--not necessarily for 
  users--but for CAD intenders.  And, if the microCAD 
  marketplace continues to grow as it has since 
  AutoCAD was introduced in 1982, there are still 
  many more intenders out there than experienced 
  users.

     The need for this approach was pointed out when 
  my research associate David Strybel and I attended 
  a meeting of the AutoCAD Los Angeles Users Group.  
  Many of the members of this group are superusers 
  and have come to be recognized rather as in-house 
  CAD experts in their respective organizations.  
  This status brings with it, I learned, a certain 
  degree of unwanted popularity.

     The potential discomfort of being an AutoCAD 
  top gun is that, unless it's your job actually to 
  manage the CAD function, being an ad hoc adviser 
  means that you can have trouble getting around to 
  doing your own work.  One of the members of the 
  group complained that he spends far too much time 
  dealing with questions from his associates about 
  AutoCAD.  Most of the questions, he said, aren't 
  about the technical details of commands or hardware 
  configurations. Instead, people mainly want to know 
  what AutoCAD does.  Or, more to the point, somebody 
  is always asking what it might do for a specific 
  individual in a specific discipline in a specific 
  business situation.

     Faced with this, the experienced AutoCAD user 
  risks adding systems analysis to his or her job 
  description.  The obvious response to the question 
  is, 'What do you want to do?'  If there is a long, 
  silent pause at this point, one begins to 
  understand the similarity between systems analysts 
  and psychoanalysts:  Both get paid to listen to 
  other people's problems.  In either instance, of 
  course, if you could just define the problem, you 
  might not need the analyst! 

     The AutoCAD expert at the meeting wondered if it 
  weren't possible to 'give them something' that 
  could help switch the inquirers into self-help mode.  
  The problem with handing out reference manuals or 
  tutorial texts is that such material assumes that 
  the reader is ready--and willing--to learn AutoCAD 
  at a detailed, operational level.  But, suppose the 
  person hasn't acquired a system yet.  More 
  important, what about those crucial answers to the 
  question:  'What do you want to do?'

     It would be an ideal situation for any person 
  who is considering AutoCAD--or any CAD tool--to be 
  able to observe, first-hand, an experienced user at 
  work.  It would be even better if the CAD tutor 
  could take the time to respond to all the 
  questions, many of them hypothetical, that might 
  occur to the prospect as he or she looks on.  
  However, given the pressures of a typical business 
  environment, training can be difficult on a 
  production system.  Usually it's successful only if 
  both trainer and trainee are involved heavily in--
  and share responsibility for--the same project.  
  Even in a formal training course or in an academic 
  setting, an instructor simply may not have the time 
  to give each student such individual attention.  
  Even so, the classroom or computer lab make lack 
  some of the excitement and immediacy of a 
  production environment.

     This book, then, attempts to meet the need for 
  an over-the-shoulder glimpse at AutoCAD in 
  action.  The objective is to get readers thinking 
  about their own CAD requirements--both from 
  business and technical perspectives--by focusing on 
  some extended case histories of actual AutoCAD 
  applications.

   Applications are drawn from a variety of professional 
disciplines and business areas, including:

     *   Electronic publishing

     *   Manufacturing process control
  
     *   Facilities management

     *   Architecture, engineering, and construction

     *   NC machine-tool operations.

Excerpt Copyright <c> 1989 Gerald E. Jones

                         ***   end   ***







































