Overview[]
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) was established by statute in 1950 to collect scientific and technical research reports, maintain a bibliographic record and repository of these reports, and disseminate them to the public. In addition, it provides various information-based services to other federal agencies.
It has historically served as the federal government's archive and clearinghouse for scientific and technical reports prepared by federal agencies or contractors, along with related indices and bibliographies. Traditionally, the bulk of NTIS documents were provided in paper or microfiche format, although, in recent years, NTIS has moved to providing documents online. Also, NTIS performs other related services such as patent licensing, Japanese literature exchange, and FOIA request and/or information sales processing for a few agencies.
Technology transfer[]
The NTIS contains an Office of Federal Patent Licensing. This office encourages federal agencies to evaluate their technical reports and identify those projects with commercial applications. Consequently, a variety of products and services has been developed by NTIS to improve industrial access to practical government technology.