enhancing access to ntis information through libraries: a proposal

Government Ptcblications Revim~, Vol. 20, pp. 421-436, 1993 0277-9390193 $6.00 + .OO

Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Copyright 0 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd.

ENHANCING ACCESS TO NTIS INFORMATION THROUGH LIBRARIES A Proposal*

HAROLD B. SHILL** Head, Division of Library and Information Services, Pennsylvania State University,

Harrisburg, Middletown, PA 17057, USA

Abstract - As the U.S. federal government’s central repository and clearinghouse for scientific and technical information (STI), the U.S. National Technical Informa- tion Service (NTIS) can contribute significantly to American competitiveness and to domestic economic development. However. during the 1980s repeated Reagan administration attempts to privatize the agency and other operational factors impaired the ability of NTIS to fulfill this role.

One of two 1988 laws prohibiting NTIS privatization (the National Technical lnformation Act) provided for the appointment of a five-member advisory board. Since its initial meeting in April 1991, the NTlS Advisory Board has made a series of recommendations to encourage equipment modernization. mandatory deposit of ST1 from federal agencies, appropriations support, and greater access to and marketing of NTIS reports. In this paper, the author. as a member of the Advisory Board, presents a possible strategy for enhancing access to and use of NTIS information through libraries. Some of the document’s recommendations have been incorporated into the NTIS business plan.

INTRODUCTION

Despite increased recognition of the importance of scientific and technical information (STI) to American economic competitiveness ]l], the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) experienced an approximate 50 percent decline in document sales during the 1980s. Paper format sales declined from 752,000 copies in 1980 to 393,000 copies in 1987. Microfiche document sales were reduced from 155,000 copies to 67,000 copies during the same period. At the same time, prices were increased 70 percent to compensate for the loss of revenue from document sales.

Numerous causes-lack of mandatory ST1 deposit legislation, prior distribution of documents by the producing agencies, lack of technological modernization, NTIS’s man-

*An earlier version of this paper was presented to the NTIS Advisory Board and to senior NTIS management at the Board’s February 6-7, 1992 meeting. A revised introduction has been added to provide additional background on scientific and technical information and NTIS operations. However. except for the introduction, minor corrections, and refinements, the concept paper is identical to the version presented to the NTIS Advisory Board and forwarded to the Assistant Secretary for Technology Administration with the Board’s recommendation for serious consideration.

**Harold B. Shill has served as chair of the ACRL Legislation Committee, Federal Relations Coordinator for the West Virginia Library Association, and chair of the ALA Legislation Assembly. In addition to serving on the NTIS Advisory Board, he has testified before congressional committees on six occasions, received the West Virginia Library Association’s distinguished service award, written 34 journal articles and book chapters, served on the editorial board of Gouer~tment Ir&wmtrtion Q~u~.ter/y, and received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina. Prior to assuming his present position at Penn State Harrisburg in 1991, he was head of the Evansdale Library at West Virginia University for I I years.

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422 H. B. SHILL

date to recover all operational costs rather than receive appropriations support, the Reagan administration’s privatization initiatives, regular price increases without improvement in qua.lity, and conservative management, among others-have been cited to explain NTIS’s apparent decline in effectiveness during the 1980s. Whatever the causes, it is clear that the agency is less successfully meeting its mission “to collect and disseminate technical information produced by governments worldwide in orderto increase U.S. competitiveness in the global economy” [2] than it had been in the 1970s.

One potential strategy for increasing access to and use of NTIS information is the cuitivation of collaborative arrangements with American libraries. While historically re- sponsive to feedback on NTIS products and services from the library community, NTIS

has not vigorously explored either depository relationships or expanded marketing arrangements with libraries. Instead, NTIS has tended to view libraries as one type of paying customer within its primary client categories-businesses, governments, and academia. The potential information dissemination role of libraries as decentralized repositories providing recurring, systematic access for individual users has also not been appreciated by NTIS. Instead, relationships with the library sector and particular library organizations have been assessed primarily on the basis of their profit/loss potential.

NTIS is placed at a profound operational disadvantage by its cost-recovery operational mandate, the practice of free ST1 report distribution to primary clientele groups by federal research sponsoring agencies, and the absence of an ironclad mandate for agencies to deliver their ST1 to NTIS. The Reagan administration’s repeated privatization initiatives discouraged the search for creative alternatives to organizational decline. While increased sales are clearly necessary for NTIS’s survival in a cost-conscious information environment, attention to the agency’s mandate to serve the broader public good is also essential.

This paper proposes a possible approach to enhancement of NTIS’s public service mission through closer collaboration with libraries. At the same time, it is recognized that, barring a repeal of NTIS’s statutory cost-recovery mandate and the provision of adequate appropriations support, large-scale, free distribution to libraries would undercut the agency’s long-term viability by diminishing its sales.

BACKGROUND: NTIS AND THE LIBRARY RESOURCE

The United States has 29,062 libraries, excluding school libraries. The Americrrn Library

Diru,torv reports the following distribution by library type: [3]

Public libraries 14,893

Academic libraries 4,593

Special libraries (business, industry, 9,051

associations. hospitals, etc.)

Government libraries 1,735

Armed forces libraries 489

In addition, many of the nation’s 83,165 public and 25,000 private schools have their own

library facilities 141. However. in a 1991 contractor survey of customers’ perceptions of current NTIS prod-

ucts and services and their needs for additional products/services, only 3,572 libraries, or four percent out of a total population of 83,468 customers, were listed. The contractor report divided NTIS’s library customers into the following categories: I.51

Business/industry libraries 1,980

Academic libraries 831

Access to NTIS information 423

Public/government libraries 481 Federal government libraries 280

The same report also noted that “only 65% of responders identify and use technical information” [6]. A closer review of respondent job titles confirmed that a significant part of the customer population is composed of librarians and other information intermediaries. This finding led the contractor to conclude that “a significant proportion of the NTIS customers are NOT the end-users of the products distributed by NTIS” [7]. These findings suggest that the library/intermediary community may have an impact on document use far exceeding its 4.3 percent share of the total customer population. However, NTIS does not have reliable data indicating the overall percentage of sales generated by the library community. A five-to-six percent estimate in 1986 by Hernon and McClure remains the best available projection, and that estimate covered only academic and public libraries [S]. Moreover, NTIS does not collect data on the use of NTIS documents in library collections. Such information must be sought in the research literature.

In order to assess the potential of expanded NTIS-library relationships for enhancing the performance of NTIS’s public service mission, this paper will: (1) assess current and potential use of libraries as access points to NTIS documents and information; (2) identify the library community’s strengths and weaknesses for promoting use of NTIS materials; (3) identify future trends affecting the library sector and assess their likely impact on the library community’s ability to serve potential NTIS information users; and (4) suggest opportunities for using the library resource as a vehicle for broadening access for current users and for reaching potential, unserved populations.

LIBRARIES AND FEDERAL INFORMATION DISSEMINATION PROGRAMS

Historically, the library community has had a closer relationship with the Government Printing Office’s Depository Library Program (DLP) than with any other federal information dissemination program. Building upon legislative authority granted by various congressional resolutions and culminating in the Printing Act of 1895, Congress has permitted its members to designate full, regional, and selective depository libraries in their states and congressional districts. These depository libraries are eligible to receive copies of public documents printed by the Government Printing Office (GPO) and made available for depository distribution. The number of GPO depository libraries has increased from 12 in 1859, to 492 in 1929, to nearly 1,400 in 1992 [9].

Document distribution and collection use in depository libraries have increased geometri- cally over time. In 1978, 14,473,656 copies of 36,187 separate titles were distributed to depository libraries. By 1983, that figure had risen to 30,302,569 copies of 62,142 titles. At the same time, GPO made a major shift from paper copy to microfiche as the preferred format for distribution, with just 10.7 percent of its documents distributed as microfiche in 1978 and 71.7 percent of its depository documents distributed in that format in 1983 [lOI.

GPO commissioned a major user/use study of depository libraries in 1988, when it was unable to provide the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) reliable data on depository library use for that agency’s informing the Nation study [ 1 I]. Based on a sample week study with responses from 1,188 depository libraries, GPO has projected the following usage levels for the depository libraries: [ 121

0 195,214 users per week 0 10,151,165 users per year.

424 H. B. SHILL

Although most depository libraries are located in academic institutions and precise projec-

tions from a sampling week survey may be questioned, it is clear that the DLP successfully disseminates government information to a very large number of public users. The authors of the 1988-1989 DLP survey seem essentially correct in concluding,

The number of userx enumerated indicates a level of public impact that far exceeds the definition of “safety net.” Kather. the findings limn the DLP as nothing less than a primary and heavily-used channel for delivery of Federal information to the American public [Ml.

In addition to administering the Depository Library Program, GPO operates a small sales program of 15,000 “best-seller” titles, such as the Three Mile Island report, the Challenger report, and the report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Some of these titles are eventually archived by NTIS, although the market for them may substantially have been exhausted by issuing agency distribution and GPO sales. The regional depository libraries receive all of these titles, and selective depositories acquire

many of them. Several other agency information programs have developed their own, smaller deposi-

tory library programs to provide permanent access to agency information at geographically distributed locations. New patents are distributed for $50.00 per year to libraries that agree to purchase a 20-year backfile, and the Patent Depository Library Program now includes participating libraries in 46 of the SO states. The Census Bureau has developed its own depository program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) operate smaller depository programs with cooperating libraries. All of these programs are dwarfed by the DLP, however.

NTIS has enjoyed a long-standing. generally cordial relationship with the library community, although no formal depository program has even been established. NTIS has usually been an exhibitor at conferences of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and American Library Association (ALA), although it discontinued the latter program because it was not deemed to be cost-effective. The NT/S Ncuxlinc has kept library-based and nonlibrary users informed of developments at the agency and in scientific and technical information (STI) dissemination more generally. NTIS users conferences were held each spring until 1991. Individual librarians in libraries with significant NTIS report holdings were asked to serve as a lihr~rr~ lirri.son.s with NTIS in the mid-1980s. Finally, NTIS officials have provided programs explaining NTIS products and services at various state and regional library conferences through the NTIS outreach program. The future status of the users

conferences, liaison program, and outreach program is uncertain at this time. The relationship between NTIS and the library community has been a two-way street,

with librarians and library associations being among the most active opponents of NTIS privatization initiatives considered in the mid- and late 1980s. A letter-by-letter analysis of R~.~pon.sc.v to the April 28, 1986 FEDERAL REGISTER Notice Rryrrcstirlg Public Commrnt Ott NTIS Priutrtixtion Study reveals the following distribution of responses:

1141

Responses favoring privatization Responses opposing privatization

Organizations and individuals opposing privatization (122 letters, 104 st>parcrtc entities):

16 122

41 Universities and colleges (primarily librarians) 14 Scientific and professional societies (AAAS and 13 library associations)


13 Federal agencies and laboratories 6 Medical facilities and medical libraries 6 Private citizens 5 State libraries 5 Public libraries 2 Members of Congress 1 State Department of Education 1 Committee on Information Issues

Among national library associations opposing NTIS privatization were the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Special Libraries Association (SLA), the Medical Library Association (MLA), and the GPO Depository Library Council (DLC). Clearly, the library community has strongly supported the continued existence of a viable, one-stop NTIS located within the federal government. The library community does have an ongoing stake in a service-oriented NTIS committed to working with libraries to promote broad, equitable access to NTIS documents and information. However, the library community has also been a vocal critic of NTIS price increases, including the October 1991 placement of microfiche document copies on the same price scale as paper copies. Due to the declining purchasing power of acquisitions budgets, many libraries have had to reduce their purchases of NTIS documents, their concern for local access to NTIS information notwithstanding.

LIBRARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUBLIC ACCESS TO NTIS PRODUCTS/SERVICES

Libraries of all types-public, academic, special (business, industry, hospital, etc.), governmental, and school-have enhanced access to NTIS products and services in ways that are not always understood by nonlibrarians. These approaches include both conven- tional acquisition and storage of documents and the provision of value-added services.

Individual libraries may acquire NTIS products for their own collections, thereby acting as purchasing agents for the user clientele they serve. Many libraries acquire documents, either in microfiche or paper formats, for their own collections through a Selected Research in Microfiche (SRIM) profile, as a result of librarian collection development efforts, or upon user request. If the documents are added to the library’s collection, the library is able to provide access immediately to subsequent users without the time delays involved in placing an order. This on-site presence of NTIS materials is a value-added service to the organization’s primary clientele. If the library is open to the general public, NTIS materials are also readily available to ageographically dispersed user population, regardless of ability to pay. However, repeated uses of NTIS documents through libraries are not currently regarded at NTIS as examples of successful dissemination, given the agency’s legislative mandate to recover costs.

In addition to providing local access at low cost or no cost to the user, libraries or their parent organizations typically assume the costs of archiving an NTIS collection. These costs of operation include staff, utilities, building upkeep, and equipment, and they are not inconsiderable. However, the expenses incurred by libraries are not always appreciated by federal officials, as was evident in 1990 when the GPO Improvement Act, sponsored by Rep. Robert Bates, included provisions requiring cost-sharing by depository libraries. Investigation by several library associations confirmed that the costs of depository library

476 H. B. SHILI

operations absorbed by just 86 libraries exceeded the entire amount budgeted for DLP operations [ 1 S].

Bibliographic access. whether through NTIS’s printed index, Government Reports An-

tlo/lncemCnts und Index (GRA&I), the online NTIS database or announcement bulletins, is another important service offered by all types of libraries. GRA&Z is distributed free

to depository libraries and purchased at a subscription rate of approximately $600 per year by others. Regardless of the access tool used, bibliographic access is necessary to permit researchers, businessmen, and others to determine the existence in the NTIS database of documents or other information meeting their needs. The expertise of trained librarians and paraprofessional staff is also important for identifying and locating NTIS materials, particularly since GRABI is not an especially user-friendly index in its paper format. Librarians also perform expert searches of the online NTIS database and provide guidance to users in searching the CD-ROM version of NTIS.

Libraries may loan their NTIS documents to other libraries, or make microfiche copies of requested items. thereby saving peer institutions the cost of acquiring a document that lies outside their collection scope. Almost 14,500 libraries have access to the 24-million title Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) bibliographic network, enabling them to identify more than 8 1,000 NTIS document records in that cooperatively library-produced database and to borrow NTIS reports from other libraries. In this instance, NTIS titles are identified and borrowed from other libraries just as a book would be shared. The presence of an NTIS document record in the online OCLC Union Catalog normally indicates that a participating library has acquired a copy of the report, cataloged it. and made it accessible through its local catalog exactly as a book would be handled.

Academic libraries contribute to the development of techniccll information literacy skills through their library instruction programs, teaching users how to identify and to obtain access to both print-format and machine-readable information. The knowledge of and appreciation for technical report literature and systematic search strategy acquired through these programs should be transferrable into industrial and research settings, thereby con- tributing to regular use of NTIS products and services by a new generation of scientists

and engineers. Finally, some libraries have made unique. value-added contributions to enhance access

to NTIS information. The University of Washington’s Health Information Services Library, for instance, has been keying in National Library of Medicine (NLM) subject headings and maintaining a database of health-related documents since 1984. The director

of that library indicates, “I expect to convert the data-base to Pro-Cite (R) in the next few weeks so I can share my data with other researchers in the department who may want copies of the database” [ 161. This example is indicative of the contributions made by specific libraries throughout the country to enhance access to NTIS materials.

CHANGES IN THE LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT

The library world has changed radically with advances in computer and communications technologies over the past decade. In a 1984 primer for academic administrators, Barbara Moran indicated that the major changes from the print-based library world were: (I) bibliographic utilities like OCLC; (2) online catalogs; and (3) online database searching [17]. That list would need to be expanded today to include, at minimum: (I) CD-ROM and other optical technologies; (2) local area networks; (3) high-speed data networks permitting simultaneous transmission of data, voice, and graphic information; (4) journal price increases outpacing the ability of library budgets to stay apace and forcing widespread


journal subscription cancellations; and (5) a philosophical shift in library acquisitions strategy from local collection development toward provision of accept to information resources worldwide. These trends, and others related to them, have important implica- tions for the ability of libraries to provide enhanced access to NTIS products and services.

Most academic and industrial research libraries, most larger public libraries, the majority ofgovernmental libraries, and many school libraries now have online public access catalogs (OPACs). In addition to providing more sophisticated searching capabilities, many OPACs now have dial-in access. Interfaces between different catalogs are also being developed. For example, users on Pennsylvania State University’s LIAS system can now search the University of California’s MELVYL system using LIAS commands, and vice versa. West Virginia University is requiring that its NOTIS automated system be able to communicate with the VTLS system used by most public libraries in that state, and vice versa. As noted earlier, more than 81,000 NTIS documents are identifiable over the OCLC network: as interfaces among automated libraries are further developed, NTIS documents in each library’s catalog will be easily identified by local in-library users, local dial-in users, and remote users connected by intersystem gateways.

The major bibliographic utilities, OCLC, the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) and Western Library Network (WLN), have virtually eliminated cataloging back- logs by sharing the cataloging burden. In 1990-1991, West Virginia University downloaded records from OCLC for 98 percent of its new books and uploaded records for the other 2 percent to OCLC after performing original cataloging. As libraries of all types catalog more and more NTIS documents, an increasing number of cataloging records will be available in OCLC and other bibliographic databases, thereby making it possible for more and more libraries to rapidly catalog and shelve (or file) newly received NTIS documents. In addition, as more records of NTIS documents are added to the OCLC Union Catalog, more and more libraries will be able to borrow these documents by transmitting requests electronically through the OCLC Interlibrary Loan Sub-System or other, similar systems. As the number of cataloged NTIS documents increases and subject specializations can be readily identified, the possibility of cooperative collection development among research libraries of all types will grow.

Increased scanning of abstracts received from online searches of the NTIS database has been cited as one reason for the decline in NTIS document purchases during the 1980s. The rising cost of searching that database (from $45 to $84 per connect hour plus increased printing costs since 1984) has also been advanced as a reason for declining orders [ 181. The increased availability of the NTIS database on CD-ROM, however. may reverse this tendency. At Pennsylvania State University’s Engineering Library, use of NTIS documents in the library collection increased from 586 (pre CD-ROM) to 1,658 in comparable six-month periods after a stand-alone work station for the NTIS CD-ROM was introduced in November 1989 [19]. While CD-ROM has clearly increased use of the on-site collection, it may also stimulate new document orders by eliminating the running

meter of the online search performed on a cost-recovery basis. More information seekers will gain access to the CD-ROM version of the NTIS database than currently use the printed GRABI and the online databases combined, and many users are likely to want document copies for their own use. In short, introduction of the NTIS CD-ROM can be expected to stimulate both in-library use and document orders.

Networks of various types offer still more opportunities for libraries to enhance access to NTIS information. Libraries are now mounting high-use databases (ERIC, MEDLZNE, GPO Monthly Catalog, etc.) on their computers. thereby giving on-site and remote users of the online catalog the option of searching these extra-library databases as well as the

428 H. B. SHILL

host library’s holdings. Local area networks are facilitating such access in universities and industrial organizations. Packets of information, including text reports scanned into machine-readable form, can be transmitted rapidly over high-speed data networks. The National Agricultural Library is currently engaged in aText Digitization Project (NALTDP) in which documents will be optically scanned, transmitted in digitized form over NSFNET and its regional networks, and downloaded at receiving land grant libraries. Ultimately, it is the intent of the NALTDP that these digitized reports be transmitted directly from the receiving library, still in digitized form, to scholars’ workstations. Such opportunities will be increased by the implementation of the National Research and Education Network

(NREN) in the mid-1990s. Serial price increases. on the other hand. have had a serious negative effect on even

large libraries’ abilities to maintain and enhance strong local collections. The I19 member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) suffered a decline of one percent in serial titles purchased between 1986 and 1990, despite a proliferation of new journals in cutting-edge areas of sci-tech research, as the result of a 51 percent rise in serial prices during that period. The University of California at Berkeley discontinued 3,000 journal subscriptions in 1990 as a result of serial price rises, and many other institutions have done likewise. Monograph (book) purchases in the ARL libraries declined 16 percent in the 1986-1990 period as serial cancellation decisions were delayed [20]. As a result of the sharp increase in serial costs. even the largest academic libraries are not financially able to make large new purchases of NTIS documents.

Finally, among the major trends, many libraries have recognized that, rather than focusing on the development of increasingly inadequate collections with a diminishing budget, they should improve their capabilities to gain access to a larger number of off- site materials. This philosophical shift is consistent with the emergence of an increasingly electronic. decentralized information environment. The term lihmty without u~alls has been used to describe this profound change in philosophical orientation [21].

Several developments paralleling those above should be included in any discussion of the emerging library environment. First, libraries in higher education have been impacted by greater societal demands for accountability and service to the community at large, as have the institutions they serve. One outgrowth of this demand has been an increase in the development of “partnerships” between universities and industry. In the library environment, Arizona State University, Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of Michigan, and other institutions have created fee-based information services for the private sector and to the public at large. In addition to delivering database searches and documents (including NTIS documents) to small and medium-sized businesses, these university libraries have welcomed business representatives into their facilities and permitted broad use of their services and collections. The proximity of a major research library is a strong asset for a business that lacks its own information center, and both university librarians and businessmen have been quick to recognize the mutual advantages of a symbiotic relationship.

The second development is, in reality, a series of concurrent federal initiatives affecting the GPO-DLP relationship. First, GPO has begun to distribute a large number of CD- ROM databases with minimal or incompatible search software to depository libraries. In many instances, the depository libraries have found the equipment costs, patron assistance requirements, and need to learn multiple software packages to be daunting. Although only the 53 regional depository libraries are required to accept CD-ROM products, depository librarians have been reluctant to forego the opportunity to make electronic information products available to their users. The American Library Association’s Government Docu-


ments Round Table (GODORT) is in the process of addressing the level-of-service issue, recognizing that depository libraries have been flooded with a diversity of new products requiring major financial investments and making heavy demands on personnel, but without any compensating support from the federal level. While standardization of CD-ROM software would help make this burden more manageable, it is clear that large-scale dissemination of electronic products can pose a formidable challenge to existing government documents departments.

The GPO Wide Area Information Dissemination Online (WINDO) bill, introduced by Rep. Charlie Rose in 1991 and reintroduced in 1992, is a second initiative potentially affecting the GPO-depository library relationship. If enacted into law, this bill would require GPO to either load major agency databases into its own computers or provide an electronic gateway to them from GPO. Recoverable costs in the bill would be limited to marginal cost of dissemination for subscribers, while depository libraries would receive access without charge. GPO would first provide access to a few highly desired databases, possibly including the NTIS online database. Access would eventually be expanded to include all federal agency databases. The library community strongly supports this legislation as a mechanism providing inexpensive, equitable access for libraries and the general public to databases produced at taxpayer expense. It is not clear that the impact upon depository libraries has been fully considered, and negative results similar to those encoun- tered with the current infusion of CD-ROMs with diverse or inadequate searching software are possible. Should this bill be enacted into law and adequate appropriations provided, the possibility of a government-wide gateway to databases through NTIS, as discussed in previous NTIS Advisory Board meetings, would clearly be preempted. The American Technology Preeminence Act mandated that NTIS prepare a comprehensive inventory of federal government information products and services by February 14, 1993, although ongoing administration of the information locator program has not been assigned to any specific agency by this legislation. (NTIS had not completed the inventory project as of April 1993 .)

Finally, GPO has recently released its GP012001: Vision for a New Millennium strategic plan [22]. Dissemination activities under the new plan would include: (1) FIND, an index to all federal government information products and services; (2) SEND, a satellite downloading system that will provide same-day distribution of materials to depository libraries with a receiving capability, including all depository items for regional depositories and profile-specific items for the selective depositories, in addition to paper product delivery; and (3) INTERACT, an online access system to information products/services stored at, or available through, GPO [23]. If GPO is able to fund this system and depository libraries are able to provide the levels of service contemplated by GPO, this plan would be a major step forward in providing access to government information and a significant enhancement of the role of depository libraries. It could also move GPO well ahead of NTIS in the application of new technologies to information dissemination. While it is not clear that depository libraries could play the role envisioned, the GPO strategic plan is a bold initiative that should stimulate creative approaches to information dissemination in NTIS and other federal agencies.

LIBRARIES AND CLIENTELE GROUPS

Different sectors of the library community offer potentially different sets of strengths as access points to and disseminators of NTIS information. Although many of these libraries share resources across library type lines through interlibrary loan and other

430 H. B. SHILL

arrangements, it is important to appreciate their differences in order to assess their potential for reaching current and prospective NTIS users.

Public, Libruries

Public libraries have historically given strong support to local business communities, although provision of ST1 has traditionally not been emphasized by smaller, more rural public libraries. In larger urban centers, however, the public library will frequently have business and/or science and technology reference departments, which are knowledgeable about NTIS resources, have their own NTIS collections, and/or are prepared to assist requestors in acquiring personal copies of NTIS documents. NTIS did conduct an experi- mental program using large public libraries as purchasing agents for NTIS documents in the mid-1980s [24]. Large public libraries represent a potential point of contact with small and medium-sized businesses and the general public, but extensive publicity is needed to alert these potential users to the value of NTIS information and the existence of the service.

Academic Librarirs

The Project Management Enterprises contractor report mentioned earlier indicated that only 831 of a potential 4,593 academic libraries were NTIS customers. This 18.1 percent penetration level may be somewhat misleading, since university libraries order far more NTIS documents than individual customers. The report also does not indicate the amount of use that NTIS collections and services may receive from faculty, students, and nonuniversity users. The University of Washington, for example, with a collection of 1.2 million technical reports in 1986, reported that 15,000 of its technical reports circulated annually, with two-thirds of that circulation figure attributed to nonuniversity borrowers (businesses, government agencies, private citizens) [25]. Columbia University reported that same year that 30 percent of its NTIS collection use came from nonuniversity patrons [26]. North Carolina State University spent $280,000 to acquire virtually all NTIS reports from 1969-1986 and confirmed 1,664 NTIS document uses (NASA and DOE reports excluded) in fiscal year 1986 by a user clientele including “private research facilities in Research Triangle Park, research institutes, federal government agencies as well as faculty and students at this campus” [27].

In addition to serving nonuniversity users, academic libraries develop important NTIS collections serving their institutions’ own research interests and help users to locate needed reports and to order them for personal use. Thus, academic libraries both provide local access to NTIS information at sites geographically dispersed throughout the country and act as referral agents for potential customers in the university and the surrounding community. Moreover, university and college libraries provide the initial exposure to NTIS documents and services for future engineers and, through reference and instruction services, cultivate skills and knowledge in obtaining access to NTIS information that create future customers. Finally, academic libraries act as a safety net, through acquiring local collections and providing major bibliographic tools (e.g., GRAM, NTIS database on CD-ROM, subsidized online searches in some institutions) making access to NTIS information possible for small businesses, faculty, students, and members of the genera1 public.

Special Libruries

Industrial, business and medical libraries have been the most active customers of NTIS in the library community, purchasing both for their own collections and for the private


use of end users. These libraries build their own collections for repeated use, anticipate user needs in selection decisions, and usually have a greater need for immediate document delivery than academic libraries. Access to industrial/business library collections for per- sons outside the organization varies from library to library. Similarly, medical libraries may have open, restricted or minimal access for nonmedical personnel. Industrial, business, and medical libraries are all extremely active users of interlibrary loan services, including the sharing of technical reports.

Special libraries are likely to have a clientele with more focussed needs than academic or public libraries and, consequently, librarians in these facilities are likely to be more closely attuned to the exact information needs of their researchers and organizational leaders. Librarians in these facilities are often active participants in a research team as well, and large orders may be placed by them to meet the needs of a particular research project. Special librarians are also more likely to provide value-added enhancements, facilitating NTIS information use by their primary clientele.

NTIS has recognized the special library sector as a major user group and has actively publicized its products and services at professional meetings, such as conferences of the Special Libraries Association. The SLA has been a consistently active proponent of a vital, modernized NTIS organization. Although special libraries are frequently not as accessible to the general public as academic and public libraries, their service to business and industry has been indispensable for technological advancement and for organizational competitiveness

Government Libraries

Usually considered as a subset of the special library category, government libraries are considered separately here because the American Library Directory and the 199 I NTIS user survey treat them apart from other special libraries. Federal, state, and local government libraries are all grouped into this category.

Federal libraries are important resources for agency researchers and decision makers. Many agency libraries have been hit hard by budget reductions in the 198Os, and some have been privatized. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) efforts to downgrade federal librarians and reduce the requirements for librarian positions have also adversely affected federal agency libraries. Many agency libraries, particularly those represented in the CENDI (Commerce, Energy, NASA/NLM, Defense Information) interagency cooperative organization, have acquired important technical information collections for use by agency personnel and, under varying conditions, by members of the general public.

The three U.S. national libraries, the Library of Congress (LC), the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the National Agricultural Library (NAL), all have significant technical information collections for use on-site by agency personnel and the general public and, through interlibrary loan, by users throughout the United States. The LC collection is the strongest of the three, but it is not well organized for public access. LC has recently shown interest in becoming a fee-based disseminator of STI, although it does not have the dissemination experience of either NTIS or GPO. All three national libraries have been major innovators in the application of advanced technologies for improved access to information and document/information delivery.

Most states have a state library agency that serves as a coordinating force for library services throughout the state, develops a significant collection of its own to support state government agencies and the state legislature, and functions as a conduit for the distribution of Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) funds to libraries (mainly public libraries). The California State Library subscribes to all SRIM categories, spending $30,000 per

432 H. B. SHILL

year for this purpose, and has all AD and PB reports with an A01 price code dating back to 1966. According to Tom Andersen, Head of the Government PubIications Section,

The collection is heavily used. and the use falls into two categories: 1) state employees, for government business: and 2) interlibrary loan to other libraries. Regardless of the requestor. we make a fiche duplicate for use outside the library, in lieu of sending the original. both for direct Icyan and ILL. There is no charge: this is consistent with the State Library’s overall policy of not charging for interlibrary loan [X31.

The California State Library example lies at the proactive end of a service continuum. At the other extreme, the Pennsylvania State Library has been forced to reduce its operating schedule to 27.5 hours per week as a result of repeated budget cuts and provides very limited service in the science and technology area. State libraries vary widely in their interest in and capacity to provide significant access to NTIS materials.

Some state agency libraries, such as environmental and transportation department facilities, have significant report collections and act as ordering agents for agency personnel. These collections are not well publicized, however, and use by nonagency personnel is limited.

Local government libraries also vary widely in their capacity to provide access to ST1 and their interest in doing so. Libraries in larger urban areas with an STI-related mission are more likely to have significant NTIS collections and/or refer requests to NTIS than are municipal libraries, if they exist, in smaller towns and cities.

Although more numer~~us than any other type of library, school library/media centers are mentioned last because they have not traditionally been considered a significant market for technical report literature. The NREN concept, however, includes school libraries as an audience to be served by the network. The technical report literature could be beneficial to students working in science classes, particularly those in the gifted population. It is not likely that school library/media centers will wish to develop large on-site collections, whether in paper or microfiche format, but electronic, on-demand access to full-text report literature is potentially quite valuable for science students and teachers, particularly at the secondary school level.

In summary, it is clear that different types of libraries play a variety of roles in providing access to NTIS information for their primary and secondary clienteles. Some libraries provide important value-added enhancements, actively promote their collections to users and potential users, and have acquired significant local collections for repeated on-site access or external loan to users. Other libraries have made negligible commitments in the STI area as whole. Some libraries have the resources and interest to expand access to NTIS information, while others do not, The geographic dispersal of libraries and their usual provision of no-fee access for all users, however, make them a potentially major resource for providing both traditional and electronic access to NTIS information for the entire population.

PROPOSAL: TOWARD ENHANCED ACCESS THROUGH LIBRARIES

In October 1987, the ARL Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format produced a report, T~~ht~~?i~~~y and U.S. G~)~~~n~~~n~ Inf~r~~~jo?? Policks, proposing a tiered access system for GPO depository information in electronic formats ]29]. This report recognized the differing abilities of large and small depository libraries to provide access


to government information in electronic form, and it recommended that participating libraries be divided into the following categories, according to local resource bases: [301

BASIC Services: This level of depository library would serve as an information center in which there would exist a small government document collection and computerized gateway to electronic government information located elsewhere. The service might be focused on self-help and on-demand levels. There would be a high cost per transaction but a small fixed cost.

INTERMEDIATE Srruices: This level of depository library would maintain a larger government document collection and some electronic information and gateways to other government information located elsewhere. This library might devise products which would work well through the gateways and might invest in developing value-added approaches to government information. The service would include more mediation and synthesis than the Basic level.

FULL Seruices: This level of depository library would contain research level government documents and a full range of electronic information and gateways to other government information. The depository collection would be supple- mented by related, locally available databases. The level of service would include the highest level of value-added characteristics. There would be developed software packages and other approaches which would change wholesale government information into retail government information. The cost per transaction would be low and the fixed cost high.

This report is important for its recognition of the differential effects of electronic technologies upon GPO depository libraries and for its recommendation that libraries be permitted to receive some reimbursement for value-added enhancements. While NTIS does not have a forma1 depository library program, the ARL proposal provides a conceptual framework around which a scheme for enhanced library access to a modernized NTIS can be developed. Such a scheme is presented below. This proposal is one NTIS Advisory Board member’s recommendation and does not represent the official position of any professional organization.

The following proposal for enhanced involvement of libraries in providing access to NTIS information is based on a set of interconnected assumptions:

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Libraries provide access to NTIS information in multiple environments. Much usage of NTIS products and services in libraries is not recognized at NTIS because no sales transaction has occurred. The quality of American research is improved and industrial productivity is enhanced as a result of significant levels of NTIS information use through libraries. Some libraries provide significant value-added enhancements to NTIS products in their possession, but no reimbursement for this service is provided. Libraries provide an information safety net for those unable to afford user fees, thereby enabling these organizations and individuals to contribute to national productivity. More potential users of NTIS products and services could be reached with enhanced marketing/outreach initiatives. Not all libraries are adequately equipped with physical facilities, staff, and equipment to be effective access nodes for NTIS information, regardless of format. Larger, better-funded libraries will increasingly use high-technology solutions to enhance access to information worldwide, including NTIS information, for their users. Networking with larger libraries committed to innovative access solutions is more likely to enhance access to NTIS information for unserved and less-served populations than a broad-scale depository program. Appropriations will be needed to underwrite the effort to extend access to NTIS products and services through selected, larger libraries.

434 H. B. SHILL

The enhanced library access proposal itself is likewise based on a series of related components:

A. A directory of significant NTIS collections and their subject strengths should be developed and updated annually; the directory would promote resource-sharing and cooperative NTIS local collection development among libraries.

B. Distribution of Government Reports Announcements & index to depository libraries should continue in order to promote on-site document use and stimulate orders for personal use by individuals.

C. Visually attractiveprornotional materials should be prepared and distributed to libraries with significant NTIS collections in order to stimulate both use and new orders; these materials should be more appealing than the promotional items currently distributed to depository libraries by GPO. Audiovisual materials explaining NTIS services and access strategies should be distributed to all DLP libraries.

D. The entire NTIS report archive for the pastjive yeurs should be distributed, either in electronic format or on microfiche, to one library per state capable of maintaining and promoting use of NTIS materials. This library should be selected carefully. If no library in a particular state qualifies, pairing of adjacent states may be done.

E. The existing outwrrch progrum should be enhanced through reactivation of the annual users conference, exhibits at a wide range of library conferences at the national and state regional/levels, promotional presentations at library conferences, advertisements in professional library and other association journals, and encouragement of NTIS staff to participate actively in library associations.

F. The NTIS dutahase sholrld be distributed on magnetic tupe to one library per state to be tapeloaded into its online catalog; the acquiring library would need to demonstrate that users are able to dial in to its catalog from throughout the state and that use of the NTIS database would be a primary menu option; the database would be enhanced by the inclusion of an order form for users wishing to purchase a copy and the directory of NTIS subject collections; eventually, holdings information for the library mounting the database would be shown. (Note: The library receiving the magnetic tape would normally be the same library receiving the most recent five years of the NTIS report archive.)

G. The NTIS database should be made available to depository libraries through the GPO WIND0 (if approved by Congress and funded) or a comparable gateway, thereby making the database accessible for telecommunication costs only to a wide range of American businesses, institutions, and citizens.

H. Full-text document subsets in discrete subject areus should be developed on CD-ROM or in other electronic formats; such subsets should be readily transmissible to libraries with matching subject interests around the country. Digital text transmission and satellite downloading should be investigated as means for instantaneous updating of specific libraries’ electronic holdings.

I. Libraries which elect to fully catalog NTIS reports should receive an annual credit on their deposit accounts; this credit would reward them for performing the value-added service of making NTIS documents as easily accessible as books through their OPACs and other bibliographic utilities. This credit should be reported and calculated only once annually to avoid an excessive paperwork burden for the purchasing libraries or NTIS.

J. Appropriations sufficient to cover the unreimbursed expense of thesepro bono activities should be requested annually by the Department of Commerce and provided annually by Congress.


The 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services adopted six resolutions with a direct bearing on NTIS and the library community:

That the Congress should enact legislation that would create an “ERIC-like” information clearinghouse for scientific research, including, but not limited to, federally funded projects [31]. That the President and Congress direct Federal agencies to use the nationwide network of libraries as well as the depository library system to disseminate information needed to address and help solve critical national problems [32]. That federal assistance and support be established for special information centers in nonprofit institutions and public libraries in the areas of business, science, and technology to serve the nation’s business sector, particularly small businesses [33]. That sufficient funds be provided to assure that libraries continue to acquire, preserve, and disseminate those information resources needed for education and research in order for the United States to increase its productivity and stay competitive in the world marketplace . . . . The President and the Congress should fully support education and research by expanding and fully funding statutes related to information services, such as the Higher Education Act, Medical Library Assistance Act, Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), College Library Technology Demonstration Grants, the Na- tional Research and Education Network (NREN), and other related statutes. Further, recommend amending Chapter II of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to allocate funds for networking school libraries [34]. That libraries be encouraged to become active communication ports for legal and government information [35]. That adequate funding be provided to organizations that have national information missions, such as the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library, National Archives, National Technical Information Service, Gov- ernment Printing Office, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and other appropriate federal agencies charged with information dissemination [36].

The White House Conference recommendations view NTIS as a public service for an important national purpose, not merely as an information dissemination program to be operated on a cost-recovery basis. In order to fully implement the recommendations made above, it is necessary that the Advisory Board, NTIS leadership, Department of Commerce, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Congress recognize the importance of NTIS’s public service mission, then request and provide the funding necessary to fully utilize the library resource to enhance ST1 availability throughout the United States. Some of the uses of libraries described above can be made without significant appropriations support, but maximum utilization will require a shift in government officials’ perception of NTIS’s cost-recovery operating mandate.

NOTES

1. See: U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, Federal Scienfijic and Technical Information in an Electronic Age: Opportunities and Challenges (Washington: GPO, 1989); see also U.S. Office of Technology Assess- ment, Helping America Compete: The Role of Federal Scientijc & Technical Znformation (Springfield, VA: NTIS, 1990), PB90-252537.

2. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, NTIS 2000: A Strategic Plan for Improvements and Modernization, version 5.1 (Springfield, VA: NTIS, 1990), 1.

3. American Library Directory, 1990-91, 43d ed., (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1990), x-xi.

436 H. B. SHILL

4.

5.

6. 7. 8.

9.

IO. II.

12.

13. 14.

15.

16. 17.

IX.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23. 24.

25. 26 27 28. 29.

30. 31.

32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

U.S. Bureau of the Census, Sfcrristiccrl Abs/rcrct ofthe United States, 1991, II Ith ed., (Washington: GPO, 1991). 143. Project Management Enterprises, inc.. Report on Survey of NTIS C~torner’s ,fbr rhr Notional Technical Injbrmcltion Srrvic,e, U.S. Deprrr-tmrni of Cotnmei-ce. GSA Contract No. GSOOk90AJD0621, Task No. N2Sl30001 (Fairfax, VA: OgdeniERC Government Systems, 1991), 7. Reporf on Swuey of NTIS C/r~stot~~ers, 12. Report on Swury of NTIS C/rsromer.v, 12. Charles R. McClure, Peter Hernon, and Gary R. Purcell, Linking rhr U.S. Nutionol Technicul Infomzc~rion Scruice ,c,ith Ac,ude/nic rend Public LibrcrrieJ (Norwood. NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp., 1986). 55-56. Peter Hernon. Charles R. McClure, and Gary P. Purcell, GPO’s Depposi/ory Library Program: A Descriptiue Anrr/yJis (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp., 1985), 3. Hernon, McClure, and Purcell, 2. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Igfiwming the Nation: FederuI Information Dksrminclfion in on Electronic, Age (Washington: GPO. 1988). Charles R. McClure and Peter Hernon. USCJ,J c!fAccrdrmic. crnd Public, GPO Depositw?: Librtrr-ies (Washing- ton: GPO. 1989). 5. McClure and Hernon. iii. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, NTZS Priurrfimtion Srrrdy Re- sponse., to April 28. 1986 Federcrl Register Noike Requevr for Public Comment (Springfield, VA: NTIS. l986), PB86-21 1240. Data calculated by author from analysis of letter responses for: Letter from Harold B. Shill to The Honorable John I>. Rockefeller IV, U.S. Senate. February II, 1988, attachment no. 2. U.S. Congress, House. Committee on House Administration. The Gouemn~enf Printing Of$c,r Improvement Ac.1 of 1990, Hertrirl,yJ 011 H.R. 3849, IOlst Cong.. 2nd sess.. 8 March 1990. 7 (Statement of Katherine F. Mawdsley). Electronic mail me,\age from Laura Larsson to Harold B. Shill, via BITnet, January IO. 1992. Barbara B. Moran. Accrdrmk Lihurries: the Changing Kno~r~ledge Centers of Colleges and Universities (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Research Report no. S), (Washington: Association for the Study of Higher Education. 1984), ERIC ED 259689. DIALOG Dtrtrrbnsc Ctrtcllog (Palo Alto. CA: DIALOG Information Service\, 1984); DIALOG Dtrtubrrsr Ctrrcdog (Palo Alto. CA: DIALOG Information Services. 1992). Linda R. Musser and Thomas W. Conkling, “Impact of NTIS CD-ROM on the Use of a Technical Report Collection,” Col/egc, tr,,tl Rcsc~c1rc.11 Librtrrics Ne\cx.v 52 (February 1991). I I I. Paul Evan Peters. Net\~w&~d Iqfhr-mtrrion Resor~rc~cs trnd Seruic~c~s: Nmt Step.\ on the Road to the Distributed Digi/crl Libmries of the 2/s/ Cerltrrry (Washington: Coalition for Networked Information. 1991), n.p. John R. Sack. “Open Systems for Open Minds: Building the Library without Walls.” Col/e,qe rlrld Re.%corch Librtrrics 47 (November 1986). 535-44. U.S. Government Printing Office. GP012001: Vi.ciotl,fi~r cl Nm~ Mi//c/tium (Washington: Government Printing Office. 1991). GPO/2001, 35-38. For an assessment of the Detroit Public Library.3 experience with this program. see Barbara Hulyk and Carol Wischmever, Eutrlrrtrriorl of‘ the NTISIDPL Cooperntiur Ordcrinl: Project (Detroit: Detroit Public Library. 1986). . NTIS Priuu/i;otio/~ Strrdy Response.\, 293. NTIS Priw/i;o~ion Strrdy Rc.sponse.c, 29. NTIS Priwtixr/ion Study Response\, 334. Electronic mail letter from Tom Andersen to Harold B. Shill, via BITnet, January 17, 1992. Association of Research Libraries, Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format. Technology and U.S. Goucr-nruerlt Igforrnclfion Polkirs: Ctrta/y.sts ,for Neu, Partnerships (Washington: Association of Research Libraries. 1987). Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format, 21-22. U.S. White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Infor-rrurtion 2000: Librury trnd Injbrmcc- tion Seruic,c,.s ,for thr 2lst Century; SIIT)I~IN~~ Report of the 1991 White House Conference on Libra/y crnd Iujiwmtrriotl Ser-uic,c.x (Washington: GPO. 1991). 35. It~fiw~~~trtim 2000. 36. Ir~fomtrtion 2000. 41. Ir~,fout7trtion 2000. 42. Ir~,fornrcitior~ 2000, 44. I~;f;wrncrtio~t 2000. 46.

enhancing access to ntis information through libraries: a proposal

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