Sciences Librarian
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Description
Technical reports are an integral part of the scientific communication process, and are a very important means of communication in the scientific and technical fields. A search of the technical literature is an essential part of a quality literature review, yet they can be somewhat of a challenge to locate. Technical reports are produced by a large number of organizations, and are used to report research progress to sponsors. These sponsors are generally government agencies, but also corporations or academic institutions. Reports tend to be timely, succinct and detailed, making them very valuable resource in the sciences.
Helpful Websites
- NOAA Library CatalogAn online catalog containing the holdings of NOAA libraries around the country. Collections consist of reports, special data files and datasets, documents, articles, and audiovisual resources related to ocean science and atmospheric sciences.
- Bibliographies of Technical Reports of Computer Science DepartmentsA searchable index to technical report literature sources, obtained mostly from the Computer Science Technical Report Archive. Allows site visitors to contribute.
- Defense Technical Information CenterResource for information related to the preservation and dissemination of research that forms basis of warfare technology used today.
- NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)The NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) provides access to NASA metadata records, full-text online documents, images, and videos. The types of information included are conference papers, journal articles, meeting papers, patents, research reports, images, movies, and technical videos – scientific and technical information (STI) created or funded by NASA.
- Virtual Technical Reports CenterThe Institutions listed here provide either full-text reports, or searchable extended abstracts of their technical reports on the World Wide Web. Because many institutions do not distinguish between technical reports and other types of research publications, this site also contains links to preprints, reprints, dissertations, theses, and research reports of all kinds.