What are Technical Reports?
Technical Reports are one of the most common and important types of information for the engineering field. They are documents that publish the results or findings from recent scientific and technical research; include the conclusions and recommendations from the research; and contain very detailed information that is intended for a specific reader/audience. Technical Reports are generally produced by one of these groups:
- a government agency
- a corporate body or society
- an academic department
Technical Reports also fall in the category of “Grey Literature”, a term to describe documents that are outside the traditional/mainstream publication areas such as books and journals. It can therefore be challenging to locate Technical Reports.
Characteristics & Challenges
- limited printing/publishing
- cheap & quick to produce
- highly technical & detailed information
- current, up-to-date knowledge
- non-peer reviewed
- embargoes (re: intellectual property)
- incomplete collections & inconsistent cataloguing in libraries