NTRL Submission Request

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: National Technical Reports Library (NTRL) V3.0 Survey

PURPOSE: To assess the level of service currently offered to subscribers of the NTRL, and to define and coordinate future improvements and enhancements.

The NTRL is a subscription-based online database that allows entities to search the large bibliographic content collection acquired and archived by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). This content collection consists of scientific and technical reports created by the Federal Government during the past 70 years. Subscribers to the NTRL are typically comprised of the academic, business, federal government, and library communities. The importance of the NTRL to NTIS is significant, as the NTRL is positioned as the optimal, most cost-effective means of searching the bibliographic collection. As such it is imperative that NTIS understands the needs of our subscriber-base to ensure we are providing the database features and functionalities required today, and into the future.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will consist of NTRL subscribers; academics, librarians, researchers, Federal Government employees, and business.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [x ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Bill McGahey____________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [ x] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ x ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Individuals or Households	50	3 minutes	2.5
Private Sector	2350	3 minutes	117.50
State, local, or tribal governments	250	3 minutes	12.50
Federal Government	2350	3 minutes	117.50
Totals	5000		250 Hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $500

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [ X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Survey respondents will consist of current NTRL subscribers (see Description of Respondents above). There are 65 current subscribers with end-users that total approximately 500,000 potential respondents. Of that, we estimate less than 1% will respond to the survey. The plan is for the survey link to be provided to all users who log onto the NTRL for a one month period.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Please submit all instruments, instructions, correspondences (emails, letters, etc.) to respondents, and scripts as separate documents along with this request document.

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