Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO commented on the cost of certain government publications. GAO noted that: (1) one publication was only available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS); (2) NTIS provides a means for public dissemination when the sponsoring agency intends only a limited distribution of the document; (3) the Government Printing Office (GPO) selects for its sales program only reports with a significant sales potential; and (4) NTIS may charge more because it does not have the same economies of scale as a major book publisher.