Role of the U.S. Government Technical Report in Aeronautics: An Exploratory Study

摘要

The purpose of this study is to explore the production, transfer, and use of scientific and technical information (STI) by aeronautical engineers and scientists for the purpose of determining the role of the U.S. government technical report in aeronautics. A secondary purpose is the creation of a knowledge base regarding the handling and use of STI by the same community. Elements of this study are: to determine the extent to which the purpose for which information is used and the information source selection is influenced; to determine the extent to which the selection of an information source is influenced by the factors of accessibility, expense, relevance, timeliness, and comprehensiveness; to identify the attitudes of aeronautical engineers and scientists toward information technology; to identify the attitudes toward scientific and technical libraries; to determine the extent to which there may be discontinuity between the Federal systems that handle STI and the aeronautical community to whom the STI is directed. Keywords: Aeronautical STI, Technical reports, Information management, Accessibility, Information sources, Bibliometrics, Sociometrics. (sdw)