GAO "Review" of NTIS Now Online

[gprice]

Good Afternoon From Washington D.C.

Online today,

A 35 page(.pdf) GAO "review" of the NTIS (National Technical Information
Service).


Full-Text at:
Title: Information Management: Dissemination of Technical Reports
GAO-01-490, May 18
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01490.pdf


>From the report--
Objectives:
1) NTIS' various functions
2) The quality, age, and demand trends of reports in NTIS' repository
3) The extent that reports in NTIS' repository are readily available from
other public sources
4) Whether federal agencies are sending their reports to NTIS for sale to the
public, as required by law, and, if not, the reasons for lack of compliance.

A few highlights from the findings:
NOTE: Page numbers refer to PDF.
1) Fewer than One In Ten Reports in Repository Has Been Sold Since 1995 (p.
14)
2) Nineteen Percent of Reports in NTIS' Repository Were Available from Other
Public Sources (p. 17)
3) Thirty-Seven Percent of the Reports Available Elesewhere Were Free On the
Internet (p. 19)
4)  Agencies Did Not Always Send Their Reports to NTIS, as required by law.
(p. 21)


cheers,
gary


Gary D. Price, MLIS
Librarian
Gary Price Research and Internet Consulting
Information Consultant, George Washington University
gprice at gwu.edu

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Gary D. Price, MLIS
Librarian
Information Consultant, George Washington University
gprice at gwu.edu