New Federal Lab Directory Seen As Link Among Like-Minded Researchers

The compilers of the new Directory of Federal Laboratory & Technology Resources, due out early next year, say their publication should make it easier for researchers and others to locate like-minded federal investigators and their facilities. Cooperative research projects involving federal and private researchers might be one important outcome, they say. But some in the nonfederal research and development community say that, while the directory may help with its primary purpose of technology transfer, and might thus be helpful to scientists who have developed inventions or are starting companies, it will probably be of limited use to basic researchers. The volume will be the first product of the recently announced alliance between the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) in Wheeling, W.Va., and the National Technology Information Service (NTIS) in Springfield, Va. NTTC, administered by NASA, collects federally funded technological information to aid in its transfer to United States business and industry. NTIS, part of the Department of Commerce, disseminates scientific and technical information generated by the federal government and foreign sources. The directory will include detailed summaries of and contacts for more than 1,100 efforts in 31 technical areas, including medical and biological sciences as well as computer technology and physical sciences. A computer-searchable version is not currently planned, though the directory database will be available on tape. The alliance expects to sell more than 5,000 copies of the directory at an anticipated price of $59.95. Tom Clinton, associate director for technology access at NTTC, predicts that the book will be beneficial to two types of researchers. "One segment of the audience will be research directors in large companies who are looking to establish cooperative research projects with federal laboratories," he says. "They can use this to leverage their own research strengths. It will also be useful for people in smaller companies who don't have very extensive research and development efforts. They can use this directory to find people in the [federal] laboratory system with whom they can form research partnerships." Directory entries will often suggest how qualified researchers can best use a given federal laboratory as a resource. For example, a project at Children's Hospital-Boston to study inherited retinal degenerations in mouse mutants lists as one of its aims the distribution of mutant mice, or tissues from such mice, to qualified investigators. The Huntington's Disease Cell Repository at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., suggests that cultures from its collection, taken from patients with biochemical genetic disorders and chromosome aberrations, might also be useful as a resource pedigree for general gene mapping. But some people working in R&D say that, while the effort may be well-intentioned, most basic researchers find their contacts through literature searches, at professional conferences, and by picking up the telephone. "People are very aware of what other people are doing in their field," says Darien Wilson, senior associate in the department of public policy and communications at Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in Nutley, N.J. "If they don't have facilities to do a literature search, or [they're] not quite sure who's doing research in their field, I could see it as being a useful thing. "[But] even people doing graduate studies usually know the people in their field. By the time they're with a company or institution, they've built up a network of personal contacts. That's [also] the purpose for conferences and seminars." David Biscan, director of commercial development at Calgon Carbon Corp. of Pittsburgh, has taken advantage of an existing toll-free NTTC telephone information service to support technology transfer. He also sees the information in the directory as only partly useful to researchers. "It has helped on some things," he says, referring to research projects "where we're completely green and don't know anything." Technology transfer is his usual goal, and for this he finds the NTTC information helpful. "If I'm looking for a new activated carbon application in what the government is doing," he says, "I can usually find somebody, somewhere, who's doing some work in the area." Biscan notes the importance of good indexing for a resource like the directory, which will be based, at least in part, on existing NTTC data. He says he has received information in response to his telephone inquiries that was sometimes "directly on" and sometimes "iffy." According to Diane Hedinger, a spokeswoman for NTTC, the directory will have four indexes--by subject, state, federal laboratory name, and agency--to make it easy to locate a given resource. Overall, those involved with developing the directory have hopes that it will be broadly useful. "The goal is to focus on the researcher, the businessperson, the scientist, or the technically oriented person," says Ed Lehmann, director of product development at NTIS, "[to help them] tap into some of the federal laboratory resources." Lehmann adds that many unique government research facilities, including wind tunnels and bee labs, can be made available to businesses and scientists through contacts listed in the directory. He emphasizes, though, that the primary objective has nothing to do with physical facilities. "The big thing is [to get] the technical people talking to each other and sharing ideas," he says. Clinton and Lehmann both think the partnership between the two groups will work well. "The alliance is a natural," Clinton says. "We're charged with the collection and classification of [technical] information, whereas NTIS has the primary responsibility of publishing information." "It's a perfect arrangement," Lehmann says. "They're in data collection; we're in the information business, printed and electronic products. We're drawing on our strengths." The directory is available from NTIS by calling (703) 487-4650. The NTTC toll-free information number is (800) 678-NTTC. Directory of Federal Laboratory & Technology Resources $59.95, plus $3.00 handling fee per order (price subject to change). Directory available from: National Technical Information Service (NTIS) 5285 Port Royal Rd. Springfield, Va. 22161 (703) 487-4650 Toll-free number for federal laboratory information: National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) (800) 678-NTTC

New Federal Lab Directory Seen As Link Among Like-Minded Researchers

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