Technical Reports and Standards

About Technical Reports and Standards

   Technical Reports:

Technical reports first gained importance during World War II and emerged in the postwar and modern eras as a major tool for reporting progress in science and technology, as well as in education, business, and social sciences research.

Apparatus for shooting large arrows, 1599.

The names given to these publications series vary and include such generic categories as "technical reports," "working papers," "preprints," "research memoranda," "internal notes," "occasional papers," "discussion papers," and "gray (or grey) literature." In the physical and natural sciences, "technical report" seems to be the preferred designation. For reports dealing with business, education, and the social sciences, the terms "working paper," "occasional paper," and "memorandum" seem to be the designations of choice. A third category are the various preprint and reprint series of conference papers that appear from time to time. "Preprints” generally are printed by universities and research institutes before the final conference proceedings volumes are published by commercial publishers, to provide early access to the matters to be discussed. “Reprints” are printed by universities and research institutes to give an indication of the kinds and the depth of research being conducted at the particular institution. The term "technical report" is used in TRS to include all of these designations.

Technical reports have distinctive research characteristics:

• They permit rapid dissemination of new research results
• Are disseminated to a small targeted audience
• Reproduce detailed methodology and data in order to facilitate review of research results by others
• Are typically not peer reviewed, but generally are the result of another selection process (grant, contract, or institutional affiliation).

For the purpose of easy identification, technical reports are assigned a series of codes which permit the identification of the sponsoring agency and/or the organization performing the research, as well as date and report number. To learn about the Library of Congress holdings, visit the Technical Reports Collections page.

More recently, digital versions of academic papers, known as Eprints (including preprints of journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, working papers, reports, and so on) have become available online from numerous digital repositories. To locate Eprint online archives, consult the Library of Congress Databases and Electronic Resources for technical reports.

   Standards:

Portable siege ladder, 1475.

Standards are known to have existed as early as 7000 B.C., when cylindrical stones were used as units of weight in Egypt. Standards are specifications which define products, methods, processes or practices. According to OMB Circular A-119, the term "standard" or "technical standard" includes:

* Common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices.

* The definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength.

Standards then set the basis for determining consistent and acceptable minimum levels of reliability and safety, and are adhered to either voluntary or as mandated by law. For example, U.S. government standards such as those mandated by the Fair Packaging & Labeling Act have standardized the quantities in which consumer commodities are sold. Standards are typically generated by governments or the hundreds of U.S. and international professional associations and organizations interested in or affected by the subject matter. For a more complete overview, see NIST's The ABC's of Standards-Related Activities in the United States.

The Library of Congress collection includes defense standards, other Federal standards, industry standards, and a few older international standards (Russia, China, South Africa).

Some of the materials in these collections are housed, in hardcopy or microform, in the Technical Reports and Standards Unit (TRS) of the Science, Technology, and Business Division. Others can either be found in the Library's general collections by searching the online catalog, or in the custody of appropriate specialized divisions, including the Asian Division.

United States Copyright restrictions prevent copying entire copyrighted documents. However, the fair use provision does permit reproduction of relevant portions (small parts) of these documents. Photocopiers, microform reader/printers and computer terminals are available for patron use in the Science Reading Room. TRS materials are non-circulating and are not to leave the Science Reading Room area.