P4 M3

P4

There are many different sources to get useful information within this modern age. I will now go through a variety of sources to explain them as well as their advantages and disadvantages. 

Books

Books are one of the oldest sources of information that you can get that provide advice and guidance. They can contain a wide variety of information that will allow you to learn pretty much everything you will need to know. Advantages of books are that they can contain lots and lots of information. The second advantage to using books for advice and guidance is that they are very portable; they require no power and can be lightweight meaning they can be carried around everywhere. The third and final advantage to using books is that often books that are worth their salt are usually verified by external companies ensuring their validity. However there are some disadvantages to books, for example books can get out of date very easily causing them to become invalid and even wrong. Secondly books can get wet making them not very environment proof because the medium itself doesn't work very long.

User manuals

User manuals are small pamphlets or booklets that are provided with the product that you are purchasing. The user manuals give you useful information about the product that you have purchased. The first advantage of using user manuals to provide advice and guidance is that the user manuals are very specific to the product and are therefore very accurate when it comes to giving guidance. However a disadvantage to using user manuals are that they contain very little in regards of a variety of information, having limited info.

Forums

Forums are internet pages where users contribute to a thread in response to other people’s problems. There are many different types of forums out there all with varying levels of helpfulness. The first advantage to using forums is that they can at time be very accurate at solving issues, this is due to other users having the problem and then finding a way to repair it, then posting it on a forum, this is also very similar to a fault log, but for many people. The disadvantages to forums however is that they can also be very bias and incorrect, meaning that forums can’t be a very trustworthy source.

Chat lines

Chat lines are an online text messaging service that connects directly straight to an IT support specialist. They can help you with any problems that you may have. An advantage to using chat lines for support and guidelines is that all of the support that you will get will be likely how to fix the problem and the staff are usually trained experts. However a downside to using chat lines for advice and guidelines is that support could be limited and can also be very long winded to get done.

Teachers & Trainers

Teachers and trainers are people who already know about everything there is to know about a specific product, meaning that they can be very useful. The first advantage to using teachers and trainers as advice and guidance is that they are real people with real knowledge, not just people with a script to read, making then invaluable. The disadvantage to using teachers and trainers however is that they will often have bias of their knowledge because of their experience.

M3

Training

Training is very useful for explain advice and guidance, this method is useful because it will teach you everything that you need to ever know within the regards of that area, this type is usually the most reliable. On the downside however, training can take a very long time and end up being quite expensive for getting trained. Another downside is that not all the training will be what you want.

Telephone recommendations

Telephone recommendations are very useful when it comes to explaining advice and guidance. This is because a company can provide their own advice and guidance service that can work around the world meaning that they’re very versatile to have when giving advice and guidance. The downside to using this however is that there are often many communication and culture issues when it comes to phone lines, such as if someone doesn't speak good English or they have a hard to understand accent.

Manufacturers support website

The manufacturer’s website is also a useful to explain advice and guidance, this is because it will contain all of the information that you need from the product that is relevant to your needs. However on the downside a website is not the best way to get advice or guidance across as it can become just walls of text quick and lead to poor amount of information soaking in.

Repair shop recommendations

Repair shop recommendations are useful way to explain advice and guidance for IT systems. This is because repair shops are very knowledgeable in many areas of IT and could help you greatly with any of the advice or guidance you need. However on the downside following the repair shop recommendations could be quite bias, this is because the owner wishes to make money so he may give you recommendations meaning it might not be very trustworthy.