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Technical Reports Research Guide

This guide provides links to a wide variety of databases/websites containing technical reports.

Introduction

The Iowa State University Library has a large number of documents from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) most of which are available in microfilm and housed in the Media Center of the library.

These titles are cataloged individually and can be searched in Quick Search by author, title, report number, etc.

Many of the documents are freely available in full text (PDF) from NASA and accessible via the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) at http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp.

This additional access point has a number of benefits in that the documents can be downloaded, printed, or read at any time from anywhere. About NTRS provides information on the coverage and scope of the database.

Searching Tips for NTRS

  • If you know the document number you can search this within the keyword search.
  • If you search by author or title it is best to change the “Select Search Field” to the proper field using the pull down menu.
  • It should be noted that the series title is not needed and in fact should not be used in the search.

For example, NASA Technical Memorandum (NAS 1.15: #’s or NAS 1.15-TM-#’s) and NASA Contractors Reports (NAS 1.26:#’s) should be searched by the numbers, 1.15:# or 1.26:# or just the numbers. You should not include the terms, technical memorandum, or contractors’ reports.

Types of NASA Documents

Technical Memorandum (TM) - Scientific and technical findings that are preliminary or of specialized interest, e.g., quick release reports, working papers, and bibliographies that contain minimal annotation. Does not contain extensive analysis.

Contractor Report (CR) - Scientific and technical findings by NASA-sponsored contractors and grantees.

Conference Publications (CP) - Collected papers from scientific and technical conferences, symposia, seminars, or other meetings sponsored or co-sponsored by NASA.

Special Publication (SP) - Scientific, technical, or historical information from NASA programs, projects, and missions, often concerned with subjects having substantial public interest.

Technical Translation (TT) - English-language translations of foreign scientific and technical material pertinent to NASA’s mission.

NASA Technical Reports

The general government documents call number for NASA Technical Reports are as follows. Reports that areavailable in the Parks Library are located in the Media Center:

  • NAS 1.10: Memorandum
  • NAS 1.12: Technical Reports
  • NAS 1.14: Technical Note
  • NAS 1.15: Technical Memorandums
  • NAS 1.26: Contractors' Reports
  • NAS 1.29: Tech Briefs
  • NAS 1.60: Technical Paper