The National
Technical Information Service, NTIS, is the clearinghouse for
technical reports that were produced with government funding. In addition,
it includes some other reports produced in the U.S. and a number of international
reports. Coverage is strongest in the science and technological fields,
but business, education and the social sciences are included. More than
3,000,000 technical reports in 350 subject areas are indexed in the database.
The NTIS database is available on the University Libraries' E-Resource List.
Reports - Almost
all of the items in the database are technical reports, many are published
in print, microfiche format, or on the Web.
Other resources - There are some videos, maps, and computer files, etc. that are included in NTIS.
NTIS
is the foremost resource for technical reports. There are other,
subject specific databases that include some coverage of technical reports
within that subject area, but none that cover the format as thoroughly.
Many of the subject databases do not include technical reports, limiting
their coverage to journal articles, conference papers and, possibly,
books or book chapters. Therefore, NTIS is a key part of a complete
literature review.
An additional reason to search NTIS is the extensive collection maintained in the Engineering Library. Over 500,000 reports have been collected on microfiche. Most of the reports that are not in the Engineering Library will be purchased at the request of the user. The request usually takes ten days to arrive in the Engineering Library. See Document Delivery for more information. Many full text reports are now available on the web.
The CAT does list
some of the NTIS reports. Access is by personal or corporate author
of the report, report title, or report number.
NTIS is the recommended access to the report. Search the NTIS database by personal or corporate author, title of the report, report number, ID number, or subject term. Note the ID number. This is the equivalent to a call number for a book or journal. Fiche are located in cabinets along the left hand side (College Ave. wall) of the Library.
The CAT provides access
to the report if it has been entered into this database. Do
not use inclusion in the CAT as the final answer. Always check the
NTIS database and then check the fiche cabinets by ID number. If
you have any questions, ask at the service desk.
If the Unversity Libraries does not own the report you need, ask for a NTIS report request form. When completed, turn in at the circulation desk. You will be notified when the fiche is received.
For more information about searching the NTIS database on the E-Resources List, see the"Help" tab on the NTIS Database.
