Technical Reports: Home

This guide offers information about technical reports available in microfiche format at the UC San Diego Library, resources for locating UC-produced technical reports, and links to major collections of online technical reports.

Technical reports are scientific and technical publications, written by and for experts in a specific discipline. Such reports are usually the result of federally-sponsored research, but they are also produced by governments at all levels, academic institutions, and other organizations. Some of the major federal agencies include the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC/NUREG).

Citations to technical reports will generally include a report number, which is very helpful for locating a copy of the report. Report numbers may include several pieces of information, such as:

• abbreviations for the issuing agency
• indicators of the type of report, such as TN for "technical note"
• indicators of the subject of the report
• indicators of the place of the report within a series
• date of the report

There are several sources that can help identify technical report numbers, including:

Corporate Author Authority List - online via HathiTrust

• includes all government or corporate entities that have submitted a technical report to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

Corporate Source Authority System - online via DTIC

• lists all organizations that have contributed information to any of DTIC's three major databases (Technical Reports, Research Summaries and IR&D)

Criss-cross directory of NASA "N" numbers and DOD "AD" numbers

• book location: Geisel Floor 1 East, Indexes - TL 790.C757 1984

How to get it: a guide to defense-related information sources (1988 ed.)

• book location: Annex, Books - UA 23.H68 1988
• also available online (1988, 1992, 1998 editions) via HathiTrust

Report codes used by the USAEC [U.S. Atomic Energy Commission] in cataloging reports - online via HathiTrust

• editions for 1957, 1963-65, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1985

Report series code dictionary

• book location: Geisel Floor 1 East, Indexes - T10.7 R45 1986
• 1962 edition available online via HathiTrust

See also...

The Library of Congress' Technical Reports & Standards Collection Guide offers background information about technical reports in general and the Library's collections more specifically.

It also includes links to several online collections; note that some are identified as "on-site access only", meaning they are available only within the Library of Congress. However, the UCSD Library also subscribes to some of these resources.