The list of chip manufacturers is but a small partial list of the hundreds of companies now in business, but they comprise a lion's share of the market of standard linear and digital IC's. Of course, first in the list is Analog Devices, whom I work for. Most of these companies will send out free data books; however, they might have several diverse product lines so find out which data books you really need and limit your requests to these. More and more, they have free CD's packed with data sheets and application notes - check their web sites for details on all of this.

The General Technology section are links to web sites that I have found to contain valuable design and application related information. First among these is Don Lancaster's Guru Lair, which has reams of fascinating articles that Don has written over the years as a columnist for various magazines. Everything is presented in high-quality PDF format, too. Most of the other pages tend to be more focused on a particular technology or application. Keep in mind that most of these sites are owned by individuals who have presented the information at their own time and expense. Often they will be glad to answer questions or give limited assitance, so don't be afraid to ask and don't forget to thank them for their efforts.

The magazines listed include those that have published relevant articles in the past as well as other magazines that are excellent resources. Some of the magazines cited in the Reference list are no longer published or have changed names. In particular, Electronics Now and Popular Electronics are published by Gernsback, who used to publish Radio-Electronics. Everyday Practical Electronics is the result of the merger of Practical Electronics and Everyday Electronics and it's publisher recently acquired ETI as well. Electronics World acquired and absorbed Wireless World. Finally, the current Popular Electronics is not the same magazine as the old one, which ceased publication in 1989(?).