Report literature. II. Sources of Information and acquisition. Report centres

Abstract

Information on report literature - in its present state - is handled by establishments, agencies and libraries collecting and disseminating reports. Most of the report literature readily available originates in the USA where government supported institutions fulfill the tasks of input and output centres of report literature. The National Technical Information Service (NTIS). Springfield, functions within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It collects processes and disseminates scientific and technical reports, projects, documents and data supported by the Federal Government. Among its current publications and services the most significant are the Government Report Announcements (GRA), a bibliography published biweekly, and the Government Reports Index (GRI) intended for facilitating information searches. Other important services of the NTIS include the Fast Announcement Service the NTIS Search, and the Selected Categories in Microfiohe SCIM. 

Among the disciplines of science it was the field of nuclear physice where national and international organizations first organized report centres and information services. One of the leading information services in nuclear physice is the Nuclear Science Abstracts (NSA), publiahed by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commisaion (USAEC), Washington. Another important biweekly publication is the INIS Atomindex with semiannual cumulations, published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. The Nuclear Science Information of Japan serves as an excellent source of information on Japanese research in this field.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, collects reports on space research and related fields from all over the world and publishes the abstracting Journal Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR).
The British Library's Lending Divlaion (BLL) is one of the central organs collecting and disseminating report literature in the United Kingdom. It intends to bulid up a fairly complete collections of non-classified British reports and of reports available in other countries, first of all in the USA.
The monthly bibliography entitled BLL Announcement Bulletin. A Guide to British Reports. Translations and theses provides information on the most recent British reports and translations. The Technology Reports Centre (TRC), Orpington, is another important collecting and disseminating agency functioning within the Department of Trade and Industry. Its journal, the R&D Abstracts includes abstracts of reports listed in the BLL Announcement Bulletin as well as foreign, mainly USA reports.
In the German Federal Republic systematic collection processing and disseminating reports started in 1969 when the Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB), Hanover started its collection of reaearch and technical reports in the field of natural and applied sciences not available through commercial channels proposed by universitles and induatrial reaearch institutions. The Deutsche Porschungsberichte (formerly Deutsche Porschungsberichte, Neueingange) published since 1971 provides information - although not too frequently and not too extensively - on these reports. It is available free of charge from the TIB.