Knovel Significantly Increases Productivity of MEs According to ASME Member Study
 
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-January 26, 2009 - More than three-quarters of surveyed members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) report a productivity increase with the use of Knovel, according to a recent study. Knovel, an online resource that helps engineers find reliable technical information faster, powers ASME's e-Library, providing 127,000 ASME members with relevant and reliable technical information to help solve engineering challenges as they arise.

Knovel and ASME teamed up to survey more than 450 ASME members on their use of reference information in their work. The study demonstrated that in addition to increasing respondents' productivity, the ASME e-Library is frequently used and highly valued by ASME members.

The findings show that some of the most time-consuming research activities for mechanical engineers, which include process design, product design and material selection are also the most dependent on reference information. The productivity gains cited by respondents corresponded to Knovel's ability to quickly deliver reliable information relating to these activities into the workflow of mechanical engineers.

Study findings include:

• 80% of respondents reported that using Knovel increases productivity by at least 10%-equating to 4 hours saved per week
• 34% of respondents stated productivity increases of at least 20%with Knovel
• 81% of respondents use Knovel and directly apply findings to a specific engineering project
• 91% of respondents find the resource to be a useful professional development tool

"ASME aims to provide its members with benefits that support them in their work. This study confirms that the ASME e-Library powered by Knovel is an invaluable productivity tool for our members. Sixty percent indicated that they would recommend Knovel to a colleague and 83 percent were pleased with the e-Library as a member benefit," said Michael Kreisberg, ASME's director of Membership Development. "Because ASME members can quickly locate and compare critical information from published works, interact with data in customizable graphs, charts and tables, and inject them into their own work, they are able to solve problems, complete projects and quickly move on to their next challenge."

The ASME e-Library provides access to a selection of Knovel's 2,000 leading reference works as a members-only benefit. Knovel provides users with access to reliable reference information produced by more than 40 international publishers and professional societies. Knovel's unique search and interactive features help users answer specific questions and find solutions to problems quickly. Knovel is the only engineering-specific resource that provides interactive graphs and tables that enable users to interact with and export relevant data, helping save time and increasing productivity.

"We created Knovel to help engineers become more productive by providing them with reliable data they can use in their work. When Knovel first partnered with ASME in 2005, we saw it as a great way to help ASME deliver a valuable service to its members while allowing Knovel to impact more end users," said Chris Forbes, Knovel president and CEO. "It is gratifying to quantify the extent to which ASME members feel that Knovel contributes to their productivity- especially in today's economic environment where productivity matters more than ever ."

About ASME

Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences. ASME develops codes and standards that enhance public safety, and provides lifelong learning and technical exchange opportunities benefiting the engineering and technology community. (www.asme.org)

About Knovel

Knovel is an online resource that helps engineers find reliable technical information faster. Knovel's reliable content, optimized search and interactive tools, help engineers solve problems faster by providing answers at the point of need, in turn helping organizations increase the productivity of their engineering staff. Knovel's thousands of customers worldwide include 75 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than 300 leading universities. Founded in 2000, Knovel is a private company headquartered in New York City. For more information visit www.knovel.com or call 866.303.3336