Until this assessment is completed, it is premature to talk about what entity or entities should take over the NTIS functions. Those that have been mentioned as possible successors include the Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the General Services Administration. Finding another way to provide those services, however, must involve much more than simply shifting the costs from one agency to another or from one branch to another. Indeed, it would be ideal if the proposed Department of Commerce plan could be the jumping-off point for a broader discussion of how the federal government can best make information resources of all kinds readily available to the general public, to researchers and to businesses. To that end, we must first understand how NTIS and its services fit into the broader federal information framework.
Government information can be difficult to identify and locate.
If a user cannot locate the information, its inherent value is lost. Users often do not know which agency or subagency produced a given publication, and even with this knowledge, finding copies of a publication on an agency's Internet site can be a difficult and frustrating experience as users encounter a multitude of databases, software, and search engines that offer access to government information. NTIS collects and makes available much of the scientific and technical research from hundreds of separate federal departments, agencies and offices. Without this service, which allows researchers to be aware of and have access to previous research efforts, our country would waste millions of dollars on repetitive research and development. As a clearinghouse for a large variety of publications and reports, NTIS also has provided the bibliographic control of this material that helps the public find what they need, whether those reports are in electronic or paper format.