July/August 1999

The NACA Technical Report Server

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the eventual predecessor to NASA, existed from 1915 until 1958. The main product of NACA's research was a multi-tiered series of reports, the number of which is estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000. These reports -- especially those addressing issues of general aviation and the fundamentals of flight -- remain in high demand. Although significant collections of NACA documents exist at a handful of NASA centers, universities, and government and industrial research laboratories, no single library contains a complete collection. Furthermore, because of their age, high circulation, and acid-based paper, many of these reports are in poor condition and will cease to be serviceable in the near future. Conversion to digital form is necessary for historical preservation and for wider dissemination.

The complete range of aeronautical topics are covered in the NACA reports; some examples include: observation of birds in flight (NACA TN-13, 1920), early helicopter design (NACA TN-4, 1920; NACA TN-1812, 1949), the canonical reference for compressible fluids (NACA Report-1135, 1953), aviation safety (NACA Report-1332, 1957) and the upcoming "space race" (NACA TN-4399, 1958).

Begun in 1995, the NACA Technical Report Server (NACATRS) is both a node in the NASA Technical Report Server and a stand-alone digital library. The NACATRS is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of the reports produced by NACA. Reports are converted from the original TIFF to a collection of GIF, GIF thumbnails and PDF files. There are currently over 2,300 reports in NACATRS, with approximately 30 reports added weekly. Activity has been high, with over 13,000 searches and 5,000 PDF report disseminations per month.

The NACATRS can be accessed at http://naca.larc.nasa.gov/

Contributed by Michael Nelson
NASA Langley Research Center

Photograph courtesy of NASA

Photograph courtesy of NASA