Note: The majority of microfiche have been moved to the Annex library with some exceptions, notably SAE papers on Microfiche 13. To locate microfiche, do a title search in the library catalog (for example, AD-microfom, PB-microform, NACA-microform, N-microform, USGS-OFR-microform. (Some will link to URLs with full-text.) For papers less than 50 pages, request a scanned copy from our document delivery service (there will be no fee).  For papers longer than 50 pages, scroll to the top, click on requests, and place a library delivery request. Be sure to specify exactly which report you need in the comments field. If you have trouble with the system, use the Annex delivery request form. You can also contact the Engineering Library with questions - engranswers@cornell.edu, 255-5935.

Table Guide to Technical Report Holdings

Background Information on Technical Reports

Technical reports describe current research by universities, agencies, and government labs. Grants usually provide the funding mechanism for such work and are offered on a competitive basis from government agencies, foundations, universities or private industry. The research results are submitted as progress or final reports of the work done by the authors. As a rule, such reports are much more detailed than articles in the peer reviewed journal literature and may be hundreds of pages long. Some are actually part of, or are identical, to Ph.D. theses.  Most items are found in our microfiche collection of over two million reports at the Annex Library, but in recent years an increasing number are available full text on the Internet.

Don't hesitate to ask at the Service Desk for help in locating technical reports! Our email is engranswers@cornell.edu; phone is (607) 255-5935.

Major Producers of Reports *See Table for Holdings

Over 200 government agencies contribute reports, including: NASA, EPA, Departments of Energy, Defense, Commerce, Education, and Agriculture Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, Treasury, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and many more. Universities, government laboratories, and other federally-sponsored research. International contributors include Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, Western European and other countries

Major Subject Categories of Reports

Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Science Energy Environment (EPA, wildlife, fisheries) Transportation Research Patent literature: Often lengthy "state of the art" descriptions of inventions with useful bibliographies - full text and images online.

Other than engineering: Human Ecology (Education, Social Research, Medical Research including Nutrition, Politics, Government) Consumer Information, congressional and administrative publications (GPO Monthly Catalog (1976+)

Locating Technical Reports at the Engineering Library

NTIS: Since 1946 the National Technical Information Service has provided access to government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related reports. Reports are filed under their report number, such as PB- (from NTIS), N, NASA (from NASA), AD- (from Department of Defence), and USGS (from U.S. Geological Survey). See the chart below for a more detailed list.

For declassified documents, check 'Declassified Documents Reference System', U.S. [electronic resource]: DDRS - US,

Some of our reports back as far as 1942. More complete holdings start in 1978, when Cornell began subscribing as a depository library for NTIS reports. The Reference Desk staff can order items not held from NTIS. Personal copies of reports can be ordered from NTIS directly.

Sample Report from NTIS:

TI: Energy and National Security in the 21st Century.
AN: ADA3110335XSP
AU: Clawson-P.L..
CS: Performer: National Defense Univ., Washington, DC. Inst. for National Strategic Studies.
RD: Oct 95. 191p.
PY: 1995
CI: UNITED-STATES
LA: ENGLISH
PR: PC A10/MF A02
AB: Energy security was a major national issue during the 1970s and 198Os. In recent years, it received less attention as the price of oil declined and as U.S. oil supplies seemed more secure. But as we plan for the next decade, we have no reason to be smug. Many experts predict that the nation is likely to become more dependent on oil imports, and that the world will increasingly rely on oil produced from the politically volatile Persian Gulf. Given current trends, some contend that the United States and the world may be headed back toward oil price shocks like those in 1973 and 1979...

The reports are located in the Annex Library and filed in accession number order (see ADA3110335XSP number above). The NTIS number, such as ADA... or N... or PB..., is needed to locate the reports in alphabetical order in our filing cabinets. The last 3 digits are not used when filing, but they are needed when searching the NTIS database. For those not found under the NTIS number, look for an alternate report numbers listed within the citation, such as Conf.... (conference papers or complete conferences) or specific numbers from US National Laboratories, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Geological Survey and others. In general, whenever the M/F price code A01 is listed, the item can be found at Cornell. Higher price codes indicate higher priced reports, which are not usually received. In the above case, we do have this A02 report. These and foreign reports may be ordered, please check at the Information Desk. We do not purchase price code N01 reports; these are bibliographic listings of reports which cost over $100 and can be replicated by searching for keywords in the NTIS database.

Internet: Increasingly, technical reports are available full text over the Internet. The Dept. of Energy has discontinued sending us microfiche and now provides all new reports from its website called DOE Information Bridge Other departments are following that trend, but not all. See below for specific URLs.

Interlibrary Loan: We will try to order technical reports not available from NTIS or other sources when possible. Ask at the Reference Desk. Sometimes we will have to borrow from libraries or departments at other universities. These items need to be identified first by searching the respective library listings over the Internet and then ordered by means of Interlibrary Loan. Worldcat, a database of may library catalogs, is also a good place to check.

Technical Report Servers at Universities

• Cornell University Library Technical Report Server is a service that makes available Cornell papers and technical reports from Computer Science, 1968-, Computing and Information Science, 2003-, Theory Center, 1986- , Theory of machines and mechanisms, 2002- , and Library papers and preprints, 2003- . These materials are available for non-commercial use.
• Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library (NCSTRL) is a collection of CS technical reports on distributed servers from 157 institutions. Most of the institutions are Ph.D.-granting universities in the field of computer science. Cornell computer science reports dating back more than 30 years are included.
• Unified Computer Science TR Index. This is an automatically created index of technical reports available by anonymous FTP all over the Internet. Coverage is much broader than the CS-TR collection above.
• Virtual Technical Reports Center(at the University of Maryland). Since many institutions do not distinguish between technical reports and other types of research publications, this very large site also contains links to preprints, reprints, dissertations, theses, and research reports of all kinds.

Technical Reports from Government Sources

While only some of these sites have the full-text documents, all are excellent for purposes of verification.

• Department of Agriculture - Electronic access to information about water and agriculture.
• Army Corps of Engineers, civil engineering.
• Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI): Full-text reports (DOE Information Bridge 1996 - ).
• Department of Defense index of standards and specifications: Unclassified limited full-text documents Science and Technology Information Network (Stinet technical reports).
• Energy Citations Database (1948+)
• EPA: National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS): This site simplifies finding EPA publications. Users can search by document number, title, or keyword. Search returns include a brief abstract, URL, and reference to document format (HTML or pdf) when available. The site also offers a Guide to EPA Publication Numbers and general information about EPA publications.

Finding EPA Reports held at Cornell

While some EPA reports are available on the EPA site above, some are in microfiche in the Engineering Library, and some are in paper. To find a paper copy, identify the EPA number and perform a title search in the online catalog on EPA followed by the 1st three digits, for example EPA 910. This will return a list of print holdings for all EPA reports for that 910 series.Many of the EPA reports are clustered under these two call numbers: TD 171 E6537 for 1976 - 1981. and TD 171 E621 for EPA 5- to EPA 910. These reports are not individually cataloged by title or author. If we do not have the report you need in paper, look for its microfiche number. This usually requires a search in the NTIS database, since we file the fiche under the NTIS number (PB-, etc) instead of the EPA number. The basement houses a large collection of EPA reports on microfiche. It is also a good idea to search the Library Catalog by the title of the document - some of the EPA documents are cataloged in our collection.

EPA Information Sources

EPA Publications Source

Gray Literature

The GrayLIT Server makes the gray literature of U.S. Federal Agencies easily accessible over the Internet. It taps into the search engines of distributed gray literature collections, enabling the user to find information without first having to know the sponsoring agency.

Miscellaneous Washington Information Servers

• Code of Federal Regulations
• FedWorld
• United States Patent and Trademark Office
  Patents Often lengthy "state of the art" descriptions of inventions with useful bibliographies - full text and images online.
• Legislative Information on the Internet, Congressional Record (full text, searchable).
• National Research Academies Publications