The U.S. Department of Commerce plans to shut down the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), a major source for government documents for almost 50 years, and make its holdings widely available over the Internet, The New York Times reports.

Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley says he will ask Congress next month to pass legislation that would close NTIS and transfer its documents to the Library of Congress. Under the proposed legislation, the information would be available free on the Internet.

NTIS sells government reports and documents, sometimes for thousands of dollars, the Times reports. Many agencies, however, were making those same documents available free through their Web sites.

The service was made self-sustaining during the Reagan Administration, which meant it had to support itself through sales. It has not shown a profit since 1993 and has almost gone bankrupt, the Times reports.

A partnership with Northern Light Technology designed to make the NTIS holdings available over the Web for a fee fell through during the past three months as the Clinton Administration canceled the plan. Northern Light has launched the service without NTIS.

The agency's 250 employees will be placed on a priority re-employment list if Congress shuts down NTIS, Daley told the Times.

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