The possibility is examined of diffusing and adapting bibliometric methods to technical literature for the measurement of technological output. The first part deals with existing methods in the treatment of such literature for the generation of technology indicators, which consists mainly in the extraction of new products information from technical and trade journals. Other indicators are examined, since the question must be approached from the standpoint of the global science and technology statistics system to determine the complementarity of each indicator. The second part describes the construction of a new-products database for the mechanical industry. Its originality stems from its integration in an awareness service offered to private firms by a technical center. Since technical information services are a fast-growing industry, the possibility of exploiting such information to build technology indicators is at stake. The quality of information remains the main stumbling-block. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.
