Commerce Department Proposes Shutting Down NTIS.(National Technical Information Service)(Brief Article)

The Commerce Department has proposed shutting down the National Technical Information Service because its function of reselling government documents "is no longer needed in this day of advanced electronic technology."

A statement announcing the decision noted that the agency's core business - the sale of government documents in microfiche and on paper - "is rapidly becoming less of the necessity it was as agencies and groups have begun to post their reports on the Internet for free," pointing out that a recent report can be downloaded from the department's Web site at no cost rather than ordered for a $27 fee through NTIS.

In 1987 Congress ordered NTIS to become self-sustaining, but the agency's sales have dramatically declined over the last six years. Commerce Secretary William Daley's August 12 announcement followed …