AARP American Association of Retired Persons
AASL American Association of School Librarians
ABA American Bar Association
ABI Association for Biodiversity Information
ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme
ADME Adsorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion
ACS American Chemical Society 
ADR adverse drug reaction
ACRL Association of College and Research Libraries
ACURIL Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries
ADP Automated Data Processing 

CE capillary electrophoresis
CENR Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

CENDI Commerce, Energy, EPA, NASA, National Libraries of Agriculture, Education, and Medicine, Defense, and Interior


CF cystic fibrosis
CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CERES California Environmental Resources Evaluation System

CEQ Council on Environmental Quality

CICC Committee on Information, Computing, and Communications (OSTP/NSTC)

CIESIN Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network

CIO Chief Information Officer

CIRC Central Information Reference & Control

CISTI Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information

CIRCLA Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance

CLENERT Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange Round Table

CLR Council of Library Resources

CNI Coalition for Networked Information

CNIE Committee for the National Institute for the Environment – NOTE: Changed name; see NCSE

CNRI Corporation for National Research Initiatives


CNV copy number variation
CT computerized tomography
CRADA Cooperative Research & Development Agreement
CYP cytochrome P
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DHPLC denaturing high performance liquid chromatography
DNA deoxyribonucleic acid
DR dopamine receptor
dsDNA double-stranded DNA
EPOE apolipoprotein E
FDA Food and Drug Administration (USA)
FISH fluorescent in situ hybridization
GFP green fluorescent protein
HCV hepatitis C virus
HER-2 human epidermal growth factor receptor-2
HIV human immunodeficiency virus
IL interleukin
IP intellectual property
MAb monoclonal antibody
MALDI-TOF Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight
MDR multidrug resistance protein
MHC major histocompatibility complex
MRI magnetic resonance imaging
mRNA messenger RNA
MS mass spectrometry
MTHFR methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase
NCI National Cancer Institute
NIGMS National Institute of General Medical Sciences
NIH National Institutes of Health (USA)
PCR polymerase chain reaction
PET positron emission tomography
PNA peptide nucleic acid
POC point-of-care
RCAT rolling circle amplification technology
RFLP Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism
RNA ribonucleic acid
SBIR Small Business Innovation Research
SELDI surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization
SNP single nucleotide polymorphism
TDM therapeutic drug monitoring
TNF tumor necrosis factor
TPMT Thiopurine methyltransferase
ZFP zinc finger proteins

CODATA Committee on Data

COI Communities of Interest

COSATI Committee on Scientific and Technical Information

COSMIC Computer Software Management and Information Center

COSWL Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship

COTR Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative

CRDA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement

CRM Customer Relationships Management

CRS Congressional Research Service

CSA Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

CSAL Corporate Source Authority List

CUNet Caribbean Academic, Scientific, and Technological Network

DAA Document Availability Authorization

DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

DCAA Defense Contract Audit Agency

DFAS Defense Finance and Accounting Service

DIA Defense Intelligence Agency

DIS Defense Information Service (Australia)

DISA Defense Information Systems Agency

DoD Department of Defense

DROLS Defense Research Development, Test, and Evaluation Online System

DOE Department of Energy

DSS Decision Support System

DTIC Defense Technical Information Center

EDB Energy Science & Technology Database

EDMS Electronic Document Management System

ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle

EMIERT Ethnic Materials Information Exchange Round Table

EOS Earth Observing System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ESA European Space Agency

ESRO European Space Research Organization (now ESA)

ESRO European Space Research Organization

ETDB Energy Technology Database

ETDE Energy Technology Data Exchange

EUSIDIC European Association of Information Services

FBIS Foreign Broadcast Information Services

FCCSET Federal Coordinating Committee on Science, Engineering and Technology

FDLP Federal Depository Library Program

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee

FGIC Federal Government Information Clearinghouse

FIDUL Federal Intelligent Document Understanding Lab

FIRMPOC Federal Information Resource Management Policy Council

FLICC Federal Library and Information Center Committee

FLRT Federal Librarians Round Table

FOCI Foreign Ownership Control and Influence Act

FOLUSA Friends of Libraries USA

FSLAP Foreign Science Library Applications Program

GAO Government Accounting Office

GBF Global Biodiversity Forum

GEF Global Environmental Facility

GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility

GCRP Global Change Research Program

GIDEP Government Industry Data Exchange Program

GFE Government furnished equipment

GIS Geographical Information Systems

GLOBE Global Observation and Learning to Benefit the Environment

GODORT Government Documents Round Table

GPEA Government Paperwork Elimination Act

GPO Government Printing Office

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

HARV High Alpha Research Vehicle

HCFA Health Care Financing Administration

IAA International Aerospace Abstracts

IAC Industrial Application Center

IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency

ICSTI International Council for Scientific and Technical Information

ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions

ICTAF Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting, at Tel-Aviv University

IDLSE Interagency Digital Library of Science and Engineering

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IFC Intellectual Freedom Committee

IFLA International Federation of Library Associations

IFRT Intellectual Freedom Round Table

IIa Information International Associates, Inc.

IIA Information Industry Association

NOTE: Name changed; see SIAA

IIITG Interagency IRM Infrastructure Task Group

ILAS Integrated Library Automated System

ILERT Independent Librarians Exchange Round Table

INIS International Nuclear Information System

INIST Institut de L'Information Scientifique et Technique

IP Information Policy or Intellectual Property

IPCC Information Policy and Copyright Committee

IRC International Relations Committee (IIa: Internet Resource Center)

IRM Information Resources Management

IRRT International Relations Round Table

ISA Israeli Space Agency

ISEC Integrated Science for Ecosystems Challenges

ISO International Standards Organization

ISSN International Standard Serial Number

ISTP International Solar-Terrestrial Physics

ISY International Space Year

ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System

ITU International Telecommunications Union

IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature

JCP Joint Committee on Printing

JIVA Joint Intelligence Virtual Architecture

KM Knowledge Management

LAMA Library Administration and Management Association

LAN Local Area Network

LC Library of Congress

LHRT Library History Round Table

LINCS Literacy Information and Communication System

LIRT Library Instruction Round Table

LITA Library and Information Technology Association

LoC Library of Congress

LRRT Library Research Round Table

LTER Long Term Ecological Research

MAI Machine-Aided Indexing

MARC Machine Readable Cataloging

MT Machine Translation

MTPE Mission to Planet Earth

NABIN North American Biodiversity Information Network

NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement

NAIC National Air Intelligence Center

NAL National Agricultural Library

NAM NASA Access Mechanism

NARA National Archives & Records Administration

NAS National Academy of Sciences

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASDA National Space Development Agency of Japan

NASP National Aero-Space Plan

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NBII National Biological Informatics Infrastructure

NCBI National Center for Biotechnology Information

NCSE National Council for Science and the Environment (Formerly CNIE)

NCL Non-Conventional Literature

NCLIS National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

NCMA National Contract Management Association

NCSA National Center for Super Computing Applications

NCSTI National Center for Scientific and Technical Information

NCSTRL Networked Computer Science Technical Reports Library

NFAIS National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services

NGO Non-Government Organization

NIFL National Institute for Literacy

NIMA National Imagery and Mapping Agency

NISC National Information Services Corporation

NISO National Information Standards Organization

NIST National Institute of Standards & Technology

NLE National Library of Education

NLM National Library of Medicine

NMI NASA Management Instruction

NMRT New Members Round Table

NNSA National Nuclear Security Administration

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPR National Performance Review

NRCS National Resources Conservation Service

NREN National Research and Education Network

NSDI National Spatial Data Infrastructure

NSSDC National Space Science Data Center

NSTC National Science and Technology Council

NTIS National Technical Information Service

NTRC National Transportation Research Centers

OAST Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology

OBIS Ocean Biogeographical Information System

OCLC Online Computer Library Center

OCR Optical Character Recognition

ODI Optical Data Imaging

OECS Organization of Eastern Caribbean States

OIRA Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

OLOS Office for Library Outreach Services

OLPR Office for Library Personnel Resources

OMB Office of Management & Budget

OPAC Online public access catalog

OSCP Office of State and Community Programs

OSIS Open Source Information System

OSTI Office of Scientific and Technical Information

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

OTA Office of Technology Assessment

PAHO Pan American Health Organization

PDF Portable Document Format

PIO Public Information Office

PCAST President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology

PITAC President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee

PLA Public Library Association

PTO Patent and Trademark Office

QC Quality Control

R&D Research and Development

RAPIC Remedial Action Program Information Center

RASD Reference and Adult Services Division

RECON Research Connection

REFORMA National Association to Promote Library Services to the Spanish Speaking

RTOP Research and Technology Objectives and Plans

RTTC Regional Technology Transfer Center

SAIN Southern Appalachian Information Node

SBIR Small Business Innovation Research

SBSTTA Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice

SCAN Selected Current Aerospace Notices

SCI Systematics, Cybernetics, and Information

SCIP Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals

SCOLE Standing Committee on Library Education

SDI Selective Dissemination Information

SES Subcommittee on Ecological Systems (CENR)

SGML Standard Generalized Markup Language

SIG Special Interest Group

SIIA Software Information Industry Association

(Formerly, IIA)

SIMC or B Science Information Management Coordination Board (EPA)

SLA Special Libraries Association

SORT Staff Organization Round Table

SP Special Publication

SRRT Social Responsibilities Round Table

SSIRT Support Staff Interest Round Table

STAR Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports

STC Society for Technical Communications

STELAR Study of Electronic Literature for Astronomical Research

STI Scientific and Technical Information

STIC Scientific and Technical Intelligence Committee

STILAS Scientific and Technical Information Library Automated System

STLE Society of Tribiologists and Lubrication Engineers

TIP Technical Information Panel

TIS Technical Information Service

TM Technical Memorandum

TPS Thermal Protection Systems

TQM Total Quality Management

TsAGI Central Aerohydrodynamics

TU Technology Utilization

UCGIS University Consortium for

UCITA Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act

UMLI Unified Medical Language System

UMLS Unified Medical Language System

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UNESCO United Nations Economic, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

URL Uniform Resource Locator

USGS United States Geological Survey

UWI University of West Indies

VRT Video Round Table

WAIS Wide Area Information Server

WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization

WRI World Resources Institute

WWF World Wildlife Fund

WWW World Wide Web

YALSA Young Adult Library Services Association