1st Edition

Technology Transfer The Role of the Sci-Tech Librarian

Edited By Cynthia Steinke Copyright 1991
    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    184 Pages
    by Routledge

    As automation and competitiveness between companies and countries grows, the need for the speedy research and delivery of information is becoming greater than ever before. Defining technology transfer as ‘the process of getting technical knowledge, ideas, services, inventions, and products from their origin to wherever they can be put to practical use’, this book, first published in 1991, explores the role of the information specialist in the technology transfer process. It brings together discussions from information mediaries associated with federal information centres, academic research institutions, and a large metropolitan public library.

    Agencies and organizations at the federal, state, and local level that are involved in and responsible for technology transfer programs are described in a who's who section of the volume, and the system for the distribution of information at NASA is covered in detail, this being considered by some to be the birthplace of the technology transfer concept. The various regional NASA Industrial Application Centers are also identified, and the numerous print and online services available are noted as well. Other topics covered include the use of technology transfer in agricultural programs to improve U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace and how the large public library can promote technology transfer by acting as important centres for information transfer and research.

    1. Developing Information Systems for Technology Transfer: An Example from Tribology Ann P. Bishop and Marshall B. Peterson  2. Emerging Roles for Academic Librarians in the Technology Transfer Process Mary Pensyl  3. American Libraries and Domestic Technology Transfer David L. Woods  4. Technology Transfer at NASA: A Librarian's View Ronald L. Buchan  5. The Role of the Information Intermediary in the Diffusion of Aerospace Knowledge Thomas E. Pinelli, John M. Kennedy and Rebecca O. Barclay  6. The Role of Libraries in Technology Transfer for Agriculture Kathleen C. Hayes  7. The Public Library: A Key to Technology Transfer Cheryl Engel  8. Supernova 1987A: A Case Study of the Flow of Information in the Literature of Astronomy and Physics Virgil Diodato