Federal Scientific and Technical Information in an Electronic Age: Opportunities and Challenges

摘要

The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology asked the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to examine the opportunities and challenges facing the Federal Government with respect to the dissemination of scientific and technical information (STI). The paper presents the results of OTA's inquiry. OTA found that the government does not have an overall strategy on dissemination of STI. An overall strategy would help maximize the return on the substantial Federal research and development investment, and meet other national goals to which STI can contribute, such as improving the education of U.S. scientists and engineers, the international competitiveness of U.S. industry, and the strength of the U.S. civilian technology base.