Also Seiko 1.74 is now available in AR coated finished stock.

OpenOptix ABO Study Guide

Many thanks to everyone that has helped with this project so far!

While the guide is complete now, in the sense there is infomation under each section, I do not consider it finished. In addition to the immediate improvements and editing that still need to be completed, my hope is that those who have contributed, continue to help improve the document; those that use the document for training, provide feedback; and those that use the guide to study for their exam, let us know where we need to improve. In this way it will continue to improve over time and ultimately become the best training resource available for ABO certification and basic optical training.

In the mean time, please let us know what you think!

More specifically, the initial goals I spelled out (meant only as a starting point) were as follows:

By providing free and open access to optical education [and information] the goals of the OpenOptix initiative are to:

• Improve optical care worldwide by providing free and open access to optical training materials, particularly for parts of the world where training materials and trained professionals may be limited.

• Provide opportunities for optical professionals of all skill levels to review and improve their knowledge, allowing them to better serve their customers and patients

• Provide staff training material for managers and practitioners

• Encourage ABO certification and advanced education for opticians in the U.S.

• Inspire innovation, creativity, and collaboration in the optical professions.

Pretty lofty, I know. But hey, shoot for stars, maybe you’ll hit the moon.

So, today, with your help, we’ve published the first version of the OpenOptix ABO Study Guide. While not 100% complete, hopefully it will still provide some value and, with your continued help, only improve over time. The guide is free for anyone to use, print, publish, modify, or whatever as you see fit. All we ask is that you maintain credit for the contributors of the document, share the document with your friends and colleagues, and consider making a knowledge contribution (additions, corrections, clarifications, images, diagrams, etc. as long as they are original non-copyrighted works) to help improve the guide.

In addition to the ABO Study Guide, we have launched two other OpenOptix related projects over the past year:

The OpenOptix Wiki

The Free Lens Availability Database

I sincerely hope that you will benefit from the OpenOptix project in some way, tell your friends about it, and together we nudge the optical world in a positive direction.

There are obviously no easy answers and the state of the economy is not making it any easier. One thing is certain, all the complaining in the world about low salaries or dreaming about being viewed as scientists or medical professionals will not turn things around. Opticians as a group, as well as individually, need to look for ways to increase their value to both their employers and their customers.

John Seegers, optician, author, and college instructor has taken an active role in affecting change. John sees a stronger educational focus on practical knowledge and movement away from some of the more technical and outdated material studied today in opticianry programs, as an important first step. “They should be spending their time learning insurance, sales, repairs, technology, current trends, fitting, adjusting, customer service, business skills, and lab work.”, Seeger writes. I would also add a greater emphasis on soft skills as being critical. The ability to educate and relate to customers is grossly undervalued. John has spent considerable time and resources compiling an online library of practical opticianry knowledge. The breadth of knowledge he has put together on OpticianWorks.com is quite impressive and certainly worth some of your time.

What are your thoughts on the problems opticians face and how to address them?

Essilor has agreed to buy Signet Armorlite, a U.S. manufacturer of opthalmic lenses with revenues of more than $130 million. Essilor did not disclose how much it paid for Signet Armorlite.

Link

A few asthetic changes were also made including row numbering and contrasting row shading. We are also making headway on cleaning up and standardizing multifocal naming.

Perhaps, most notably, names and terms in the search results are now linked to wiki pages on openoptix.org. This allows optical community members to add and maintain related information beyond what is available in the application for the benefit of themselves and others. While I’ve started creating skeleton wiki pages and populating others, not all terms are linked to active pages. However, creating a page is simple enough, so feel free to create your own or add information to an existing page. In fact, please do, this is what it is there for. To simplify creating a new page, you can and edit and copy the code behind existing pages to start with a basic format and add your own information. Wiki help is availiable on openoptix.org or on wikipedia.org.

One more thing on editing wiki pages: while you are allowed to edit pages without registering and logging in, I would ask that you consider doing so. This will facilitate future communication and collaboration among people interested in participating and building the wiki.

I truly hope you can use and enjoy the new features. Still more to come.

Let me know, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Happy Holidays!