NTIS Provides a Variety of Services in Addition to Its Statutory Function of Collecting and Disseminating Research Reports

In addition to NTIS’ basic statutory function of collecting and disseminating technical reports, NTIS also provides various other fee- based services for agencies. Brokerage services. Distribution services. Demand for products was primarily from business and industry sources. Fewer Than One in Ten Reports in Repository Has Sold Since 1995

Since 1995, we estimate that NTIS has sold one or more copies of about 187,000 (8 percent) of its 2.46 million reports. Of the 1.8 million reports over 12 years old (pre-1989), we estimate that only about 1 percent has sold since 1995. Nineteen Percent of the Reports in NTIS’ Repository Were Available From Other Public Sources

We estimate that about 470,000 of NTIS’ 2.46 million reports (19 percent) could be readily obtained through one or more of the four sources at the time that we searched. Agencies Did Not Always Send Their Reports to NTIS, as Required by Law

Executive branch agencies are required by 15 U.S.C. NTIS harvested 10 or more of the 1,127 reports from each of the following agencies’ Web sites:   Federal Reserve System (169 reports)  International Trade Commission (151)   Office of National Drug Control Policy (108)   Commerce’s International Trade Administration (95)   Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (61)   Commerce’s Bureau of the Census (52)   Department of Justice (41)   Federal Emergency Management Agency (24)   Federal Communications Commission (20)   Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (18)   Agency for International Development (18)   The White House (13)   Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (11)   Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (10)
Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (10)   Federal Trade Commission (10)
The seven agencies with the most harvested reports had one or more of three general reasons for not sending their reports to NTIS: they were not aware of the law (2 agencies); they would incur additional costs and duplication of effort to format and transfer the information to NTIS that is free on the agency’s Web site (4 agencies); and/or they thought that a few of the reports harvested by NTIS were not scientific, technical, or engineering reports and, thus, did not fall within the law’s scope (3 agencies). This information suggests that it may be useful to consider whether all scientific, technical, and engineering information should be retained permanently. In NTIS’ permanent repository of about 2.5 million reports, the number being added has been declining in recent years, and about 75 percent of the reports are now over 12 years old.
Why GAO Did This Study

This report reviews the Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which is a permanent repository and principal disseminator of scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information. NTIS acquires research reports primarily from federal agencies and their contractors and grantees as well as from international sources. GAO discusses (1) the various functions of NTIS; (2) the quantity, age, and demand trends of reports in NTIS' repository; (3) the extent to which the reports in NTIS' repository are readily available from other public sources; and (4) whether federal agencies are sending their reports to NTIS for sale to the public, as required by law.

What GAO Found

GAO found that NTIS provides its basic statutory clearinghouse repository function of collecting and disseminating full-text paper reports and various other fee-based services for agencies. These include brokerage services, distribution services, and Web services. NTIS has about 2.5 million reports in its repository that are to be retained permanently. About 75 percent of the reports are more than 12 years old, and NTIS has sold one or more copies of about eight percent of its 2.5 million reports. Of the 1.8 million reports more than 12 years old, only about one percent has sold since 1995. About 19 percent of NTIS reports were readily available from one or more of the four sources at the time GAO searched. Agencies often did not send their reports to NTIS as required by law. The reasons agencies cited for not sending their reports were that they (1) were unaware of the law; (2) would incur additional costs and duplication of effort to format and transfer information to NTIS that is free on the agency's Web site; or (3) did not believe their reports were covered because, in their view, their reports did not contain scientific, technical, or engineering information.