Gray literature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Grey literature (or gray literature) is a term used variably by the intelligence community, librarians, and medical and research professionals to refer to a body of materials that cannot be found easily through conventional channels such as publishers, "but which is frequently original and usually recent" in the words of M.C. Debachere[1].

The U.S. Interagency Gray Literature Working Group (IGLWG) "Gray Information Functional Plan," 18 January 1995, defines grey literature as "foreign or domestic open source material that usually is available through specialized channels and may not enter normal channels or systems of publication, distribution, bibliographic control, or acquisition by booksellers or subscription agents." In early 2000, the IGLWG was discontinued.

The Grey Literature Network Service defines grey literature as "information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." (Luxembourg, 1997 - Expanded in New York, 2004).

Examples of grey literature include technical reports from government agencies or scientific research groups, working papers from research groups or committees, white papers, or preprints. The term grey literature is often, but not exclusively, used for scientific research.

The identification and acquisition of grey literature poses difficulties for librarians and other information professionals for several reasons. Generally, grey literature lacks strict bibliographic control, meaning that basic information such as author, publication date or publishing body may not be easily discerned. Similarly, non-professional layouts and formats and low print runs of grey literature make the organized collection of such publications challenging compared to more traditional published media such as journals and books.[2]

Information and research professionals generally draw a distinction between ephemera and grey literature, however, there are certain overlaps between the two media and they certainly share common frustrations such as bibliographic control issues.

To look for grey literature is important in meta-analysis, because often only significance studies are printed.

Contents

[edit] Resources on Gray Literature

From 1993 to 2009, GreyNet, the Grey Literature Network Service, organized 10 International Conferences on Grey Literature, producing a substantial body of scientific and professional papers on gray literature:

  • 1993 GL1 Amsterdam, “GL’93, Weinberg Report 2000”
  • 1995 GL2 Washington D.C. ”GL’95, Grey Exploitations in the 21st Century”
  • 1997 GL3 Luxembourg, “GL’97, Perspectives on the Design and Transfer of STI”
  • 1999 GL4 Washington D.C., “GL’99, New Frontiers in Grey Literature”
  • 2003 GL5 Amsterdam, “Grey Matters in the World of Networked Information” [1]
  • 2004 GL6 New York, “Work on Grey in Progress” [2]
  • 2005 GL7 Nancy, France “Open Access to Grey Resources”[3]
  • 2006 GL8 New Orleans, “Harnessing the Power of Grey”[4]
  • 2007 GL9 Antwerp, “Grey Foundations in Information Landscape”[5]
  • 2008 GL10 Amsterdam, “Designing the Grey Grid for Information Society”[6]
  • 2009 GL11 Washington D.C., “The Grey Mosaic: Piecing It All Together”[7]

One part of these papers are freely available in the OpenSIGLE database.

GreyNet also publishes the only international scientific journal on gray literature, The Grey Journal (ISSN print 1574-1796, ISSN e-print 1574-180X). The Grey Journal appears three times a year - in spring, summer, and autumn. Each issue in a volume is thematic and deals with one or more related topics in the field of grey literature. The Grey Journal appears both in print and electronic formats. The electronic version on article level is available via EBSCO’s LISTA-FT Database (EBSCO Publishing).

[edit] Grey Literature International Steering Committee (GLISC)

The Grey Literature International Steering Committee GLISC was established in 2006 after the 7th International Conference on Grey Literature (GL7) held in Nancy (France) on 5-6 December 2005.

During this conference, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) (Rome, Italy) presented guidelines for the production of scientific and technical reports included in the wider category of grey literature. The Italian initiative for the adoption of uniform requirements for the production of reports was discussed during a Round Table on Quality Assessment by a small group of GL producers, librarians and information professionals who agreed to collaborate in the revision of the guidelines proposed by ISS. The group approving these guidelines – informally known as the “Nancy Group” – has been formally defined as the Grey Literature International Steering Committee (GLISC).

The Guidelines include ethical principles related to the process of evaluating, improving, and making reports available and the relationships between GL producers and authors. The latter sections address the more technical aspects of preparing and submitting reports. GLISC believes the entire document is relevant to the concerns of both authors and GL producers.

[edit] Malin-Grey Literature

By contrast, 'malin-grey literature' refers to publications whose self-referencing and dissemination are actively construed to avoid the attention of information professionals. Examples include classified or confidential scientific documents. Malin-grey literature should not be confused with samizdat or underground literature per se, as these publications often are only concerned with disguising the author and distributor's identities, not preventing dissemination.

Some commentators have suggested the name derives from the French for 'deceptive ingenuity', others - less convincingly - that it is a reference to the Malin shipping area which contains the HMNB Clyde base, home of Britain's nuclear arsenal and place of authorship of many such confidential documents.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Braun, Janice and Lola Raykovic Hopkins. “Collection-Level Cataloging, Indexing, and Preservation of the Hoover Institution Pamphlet Collection on Revolutionary Change in Twentieth Century Europe”. Technical Services Quarterly 12:4 (1995): 1-8.
  • Childress, Eric and Erik Jul. "Going Gray: Gray Literature and Metadata". Journal of Internet Cataloging 6:3 (2003): 3-6.
  • Denda, Kayo. “Fugitive Literature in the Cross Hairs: An Examination of Bibliographic Control and Access”. Collection Management 27:2 (2002): 75-86.
  • Harrison, John. 2005.Grey Literature or Fugitive Report Project . MLA Forum, 4(1).
  • Hirtle, Peter. 1991. Broadsides vs. Gray Literature. Available: http://www-cpa.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/1991/1 I/msgOO02O.htm (June 15, 1997).
  • Information World. 1996. What is gray literature? Available: http://info.learned.co.uk/li/newswire/I196/wiII96.htm, (June 18, 1997).
  • Seeman, Corey. "Collecting and Managing Popular Culture Material: Minor League Team Publications as "Fringe" Material at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library". Collection Management 27:2 (2002): 3-20.
  • Sulouff, P., et al. Learning about gray literature by interviewing subject librarians: A study at the University of Rochester. College & Research Libraries News, 66(7) 2005, p. 510-515.
  • White, Herbert. 1984. Managing the Special Library. White Plains, N. Y.: Knowledge Industries Publications, Inc.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Debachere, M. C. (1995). "Problems in obtaining grey literature". IFL4 Journal 21 (2): 94–98. 
  2. ^ Auger, Charles P. (1989). Information Sources in Grey Literature.. London: Bowker-Saur. pp. 3. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_literature"