Test-equipment users who have been frustrated by the inability to access the equipment manufacturer's original documentation on the product may find a new online resource to be invaluable. TestMart (San Bruno, CA), an online marketplace for test and measurement equipment, has introduced an original manufacturer catalog library. Available at the company's site, www.testmart.com, the library is designed to give users direct access to specifications, product histories, and other previously unavailable information.
The library features more than 1,700 catalogs and brochures, as well as more than 87,000 one-page marketing documents from more than 130 manufacturers. The documents date back as far as 1969. Pages appear in graphic form exactly as they appear in print form, including all product photos, charts, and graphics. Manufacturers whose product literature appears in the library include Agilent, Anritsu, Fluke, and Tektronix.
A user seeking data from the original library can search simultaneously across catalogs by manufacturer and year of product introduction, and the user can e-mail or download content in grayscale or high-resolution for future use.
For users who also want to purchase instruments, entries in the catalog are cross-referenced to the TestMart product database, letting users check for product availability. TestMart says the catalog content can also allow users to match accessories to existing equipment; determine product options, replacements, revisions, and production runs; and perform product lifecycle analysis for asset-management considerations.
Peter Ostrow, TestMart's president and chief executive officer, says the library "contains more data from these hard-to-find catalogs in one place than can be found anywhere else on the Internet."
-Patrick McLaughlin