Technical Reports

Contents: What are Technical Reports? | Identifying Technical Reports | Locating Technical Reports | Declassified Reports and Grey Literature | For More Information

What are Technical Reports?

The term "technical report" refers to the research reports written as part of government funded research on a variety of subjects. The term is not limited to research of a scientific or technical nature. Most federal government funded research is performed by universities, nonprofit organizations and industries under contract to government agencies. NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is the primary agency responsible for the distribution of technical information. Some technical reports are distributed by the Government Printing Office.

The collection at the Morris Library is very strong in technical reports from: Environmental Protection Agency (SuDocs call number EP), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (SuDocs call number NAS), and Department of Energy. Technical reports issued from 1994 to present will be included in DELCAT, the University of Delaware Library catalog, if they were received as a part of the federal depository collection. Otherwise specialized indexes (databases) must be used. Some specialized databases, such as Compendex and WorldCat (both on the Library Databases list), include citations to technical reports but do not always include the SuDocs call numbers which are used in the U.S. Documents collection.

Identifying Technical Reports

DELCAT. LOCATION: Internet (http://delcat.udel.edu/): DELCAT includes selected technical reports. If reports are not located, try some of the other resources listed below.

NTIS Database. (link directly to Advanced Search) LOCATION: Internet (http://www.ntis.gov/) (1990-) LOCATION: Morris Library - Computerized service by request at Reference Desk (1964-): A catalog of government produced technical reports distributed by NTIS (National Technical Information Service). Includes reports produced as a part of government-sponsored contracts, even if the reports are not strictly technical in nature. Does not include journal articles and conference proceedings. The entire database covers 1964 to the present and is available as a fee-based computer system (DIALOG File #6). Some publications listed in NTIS Database may be in the U.S. Documents Collection. Check the information following the title in the entry, to see if a SuDocs call number is listed or check DELCAT. (Note: Equivalent to the printed index Government Reports Announcements & Index (GRA&I), which ceased in 1996.)

DOE Information Bridge. LOCATION: Internet (http://www.osti.gov/bridge/): The Information Bridge provides bibliographic records and full text of energy related reports from the Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy National Laboratories, and grantees from 1994 to present. The subject coverage is broad and includes physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, energy policy, and other topics. DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) makes this Web site available to the public in partnership with the Government Printing Office (GPO). Note: journal articles and conference proceedings are not included in the database.

Energy Citations Database (ECD). LOCATION: Internet (http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/): Energy Citations provides bibliographic records of literature in energy related disciplines, such as chemistry, physics, and engineering. It includes citations to report literature, conference papers, and journal articles. ECD covers technical information from the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies, the Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The database covers 1948 to the present.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP). (1976-) LOCATION: Internet (http://catalog.gpo.gov/): A catalog of government published reports and documents. Equivalent to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications and to the information in MarciveWeb DOCS. Covers 1976 to present.

Government Reports Announcements & Index (GRA&I). Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service, 1971-1996. LOCATION: Morris Library - Computerized service by request at Reference Desk (1964-) LOCATION: Library Annex (C 51.9/3: & C 51.9/4:): A catalog of government produced technical publications distributed by NTIS (National Technical Information Service. Includes reports produced as a part of government-sponsored contracts, even if the reports are not strictly technical in nature. Ceased in 1996. The annual cumulative index ceased in 1994. For more current information, use the NTIS Database. Note: some publications listed in Government Reports Announcements & Index include SuDocs call numbers and are located in the U.S. Documents Collection.

Locating Technical Reports

U.S. Documents Collection (SuDocs Collection) LOCATION: Morris Library - U.S. Documents (Lower Level) LOCATION: Morris Library - U.S. Documents Microfiche cabinets (Lower Level)

The U.S. Documents Collection consists of both a paper collection and a microfiche collection. The collection uses the call number system designed specifically for documents from the federal government. This system, called the Superintendent of Documents classification system (SuDocs), groups publications together by the agency which released them. Example: "NAS" for NASA. The Morris Library collection is very strong in technical publications from the Environmental Protection Agency (SuDocs call number EP); the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (SuDocs call number NAS), and the National Aeronautics Advisory Committee (SuDocs call number Y 3.N21/5:). Many publications are not listed in DELCAT.

Major report series:

EP 1.23: Ecological Research (600/3)
EP 1.23/2: Environmental Protection Technology (600/2)
NAS 1.26: Contractor Reports
NAS 1.60: Technical Papers

Technical Reports Collection LOCATION: Morris Library - U.S. Documents Microfiche cabinets (Lower Level): The Technical Reports Collection contains selected reports received from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). This collection is not included in DELCAT, the University of Delaware Library catalog. The collection is arranged by the NTIS order numbers. Example: the publication Domestic Emergency Management is listed in NTIS Database as NTIS Order Number: AD-A288 452/6 and Report Number: NDU-ICAF-94-F5. If the library has this publication, it would be under the "AD" call number in the Technical Reports collection.
NOTE: in some cases, the NTIS order number begins with "DE" (indicating Department of Energy); if the library has this publication, it will likely be in the Energy Collection, arranged by the report number, not the "DE" number.

Energy Collection LOCATION: Morris Library - U.S. Documents Microfiche cabinets (Lower Level): The Energy Collection at the Morris Library contains over 50,000 reports in microfiche. Some of these reports date back to the early 1960s. The reports are arranged by report number, e.g., EPRI-EM-5843, not the "Order Number" or the NTIS Accession Number, e.g., DE93004589. This collection is not included in DELCAT, the University of Delaware Library catalog. Note: The Collection (in microfiche) ceased in 1996 and is continued by the DOE Information Bridge.

The Virtual Technical Reports Center. LOCATION: Internet (http://www.lib.umd.edu/ENGIN/TechReports/Virtual-TechReports.html): Listing of institutions or agencies that provide online access to full-text documents or to searchable abstracts.

Declassified Reports and Grey Literature

EnergyFiles.
LOCATION: Internet (http://www.osti.gov/energyfiles/): A platform for searching across 500 databases and hundreds of Web pages covering the topics of energy, environment, etc. Includes sources from the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) and sources from various government agencies, research laboratories, and professional groups. These Websites include publications and resources that have not previously been searchable through any major databases and publications which were not widely distributed.

GrayLit Network. LOCATION: Internet (http://www.osti.gov/graylit/): GrayLit Network "makes the gray literature of U.S. Federal Agencies easily accessible over the Internet. It taps into the search engines of distributed gray literature collections, enabling the user to find information without first having to know the sponsoring agency."

OpenNet Database. LOCATION: Internet (http://www.osti.gov/opennet/): Contains bibliographic information about energy reports, correspondence, or other material which has been declassified. It includes declassified materials from the Department of Energy and from its predecessor agencies. Some of the materials date from the 1940s and concern the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. These documents were reviewed under the provisions of Executive Order 12958. Also includes reports declassified and released through FOIA requests. Some of the materials listed are films, e.g., nuclear bomb test films; clips of these can be viewed over the Internet. Some documents were never classified, but are being made available through this database because they were not widely distributed at the time of their publication. Includes the full text of selected documents.

For More Information

Reports not in the Library collection may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan or may be purchased from NTIS.

NTIS Database. LOCATION: Internet (http://www.ntis.gov/): NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is the primary agency responsible for the distribution of technical information. NTIS accepts orders by mail, phone, fax, or e-mail; see the Web page for details.

Technical Reports (UMCP). LOCATION: Internet (http://www.lib.umd.edu/ENGIN/techrpts.html): A guide to Technical Report information from the University of Maryland at College Park. Includes a description of the Technical Reports Center. The Center, located in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library, is one of the largest Technical Reports collections in the country.

Technical Reports (U of Colorado at Boulder). LOCATION: Internet (http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/us/techrep.htm): A guide to Technical Report information of the Government Publications Library at the University of Colorado at Boulder. CU Boulder has a comprehensive collection of technical reports from NTIS, one of the largest collections in the world.

This page is maintained by Rebecca Knight, Reference Department.
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Version 10/2006
Last modified: 10/02/06