Grey Literature: A Valuable Untapped Stockpile of Information (original) (raw)
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Is grey literature really grey or a hidden glory to showcase the sleeping beauty
Collection and curation, 2020
Purpose-The study aims to showcase the developmental perspective of "grey literature" and its importance to different sectors of the society. Furthermore, issues, challenges and possibilities concerned with the existence of "grey literature" have also been discoursed. Design/methodology/approach-The study is based on the existing literature published in the field of "grey literature" which was identified with the aid of three leading indexing and abstracting services, Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus, and Google Scholar. Keywords like grey literature, black literature, The Grey Journal, The International Journal on Grey Literature, International Conference on Grey Literature, non-conventional literature, semi-published literature, System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE), European Association for the Exploitation of Grey Literature (EAGLE), white literature, white papers, theses and dissertations, GreyNet, grey literature-electronic media, Grey market, open access, OpenNet, open access repositories, institutional repositories, open archives, electronic theses and dissertations, institutional libraries, scholarly communication, access to knowledge, metadata standards for grey literature, metadata heterogeneity, disciplinary grey literature, etc. were searched in the select databases. Simple as well as advanced search feature of the databases were made use of. Moreover, for more recent and updated information on the topic, the "citing articles" feature of the databases was also used. The "citing articles" were consulted on the basis of their relevance with the subject content. Findings-The study helps to understand the definitive framework and developmental perspective of "grey literature". "Grey Literature" has emerged as a promising content for enhancing the visibility of the ideas that were earlier unexplored and least made use of "Grey literature" has also overcome the problems and issues with its existence and adoption. Technology has played a catalytic role in eradicating the issues and problems pertinent to the "grey literature" to a greater extent. Research limitations/implications-The study is based on the published literature that is indexed by only three databases, i.e. Web of Science, SciVerse Scopus and Google Scholar. Furthermore, some limited aspects of "grey literature" have been covered. Practical implications-The study will be of great help to various stakeholders and policymakers to showcase the value and importance of "grey literature" for better access and exploitation. It will also be of importance to those interested to know how the literature tagged as grey changed with the passing time and how it through its unseen characteristics has evolved as an important source of information at par with the "white literature". Originality/value-The study tries to provide a demarcated and segregated outlook of the "grey literature". It also focuses on various issues, problems and possibilities pertinent to the adoption and existence of "grey literature".
A new generation of grey literature: The impact of advanced information technologies
Publishing Research Quarterly, 1997
A basic challenge of the Weinberg Report addressed the question of information overload. The Weinberg Panel was extremely concerned with the proliferation of scientific literature and the specific issue of how to sift through reams of data to find the “gems” of wisdom, or that which is truly new and useful. In the early 1960s when the report was being written, computers were not part of the information access and retrieval infrastructure. Writing twenty-five years later, in 1988, Dr. Weinberg recognized that the panel had not adequately taken into account the impact of the computer and the growth of the information industry. Today we have a new world of microcomputers and networked information which is fundamentally shifting the paradigm of scientific communication. We have new capabilities, including electronic publishing, visualization techniques, even virtual reality. Without getting into a great debate about the definition of “grey literature,” the main characteristics have traditionally been described as: rapid publication, wariable formats, no public peer review, and no commercial source of general availability. With networked information and multi-media technology, the new world of grey literature is emerging with an interesting set of new and revived challenges. This article looks at the most interesting characteristics, and based on them, presents the thesis that in the 1990s we are facing a new generation of “grey literature”.
An Academic Perspective on Grey Literature
Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress, 2010
This article presents an academic's perspective on grey literature, providing the viewpoint from someone who has experience publishing in both academic and grey literature venues. I explore the strengths and weaknesses of grey literature and argue that more rigorous quality control, increased access to this literature, and more scholarly cooperation are necessary in order for grey literature to become accepted as a legitimate published form.
Proceedings of the XXXIV Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering, 2020
Background: The use of Grey Literature (GL) has been investigated in diverse research areas. In Software Engineering (SE), this topic has an increasing interest over the last years. Problem: Even with the increase of GL published in diverse sources, the understanding of their use on the SE research community is still controversial. Objective: To understand how Brazilian SE researchers use GL, we aimed to become aware of the criteria to assess the credibility of their use, as well as the benefits and challenges. Method: We surveyed 76 active SE researchers participants of a flagship SE conference in Brazil, using a questionnaire with 11 questions to share their views on the use of GL in the context of SE research. We followed a qualitative approach to analyze open questions. Results: We found that most surveyed researchers use GL mainly to understand new topics. Our work identified new findings, including: 1) GL sources used by SE researchers (e.g., blogs, community website); 2) motivations to use (e.g., to understand problems and to complement research findings) or reasons to avoid GL (e.g., lack of reliability, lack of scientific value); 3) the benefit that is easy to access and read GL and the challenge of GL to have its scientific value recognized; and 4) criteria to assess GL credibility, showing the importance of the content owner to be renowned (e.g., renowned author and institutions). Conclusions: Our findings contribute to form a body of knowledge on the use of GL by SE researchers, by discussing novel (some contradictory) results and providing a set of lessons learned to both SE researchers and practitioners.
Grey literature: a growing need for good practice
2013
Before the internet, grey literature addressed specific audiences and had limited circulation; it was produced mainly in-house with varying editorial standards. Today grey literature is increasingly available online and new responsibilities arise for its authors and issuing organizations. The challenges of a wider dissemination of grey literature are outlined; in particular, grey literature authors and issuing organizations should become aware of basic editorial standards and guidelines, including both technical and ethical issues.
Grey literature and resources are crucial to research and knowledge development due to their unique information value. Many grey information resources are generated daily by academics, researchers, and administrators in universities and other academic institutions. The majority of these resources are yet to be acquired and organized for use due to some issues associated with them such as no strict bibliographic control, nonprofessional lay-out or formats, and low print runs. This paper shares the experience of the Nimbe Adedipe Library of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria regarding the acquisition and management of grey literature generated within the university. Specifically, it focused on the nature and academic benefits of grey literature, grey literature generated in FUNAAB, acquisition and management of grey literature by the library. It is concluded that considering their research and historical values, grey literature should be acquired and managed by academic libraries.
Gray Literature and Academic Libraries How Do They Access Use Manage and Cope with Gray Literature
SERIALS REVIEW, 2021
Gray literature is considered an important source of factual and up-to-date information however it is often neglected doing empirical research. It is first study in context of Pakistan that explores gray literature, its access, usage, management and issues faced by academic libraries. A self-developed questionnaire was employed to collect data from a total of 74 respondents (one respondent from each university preferably serial librarian or in charge) working in university libraries of Punjab Province and Islamabad (the capital city) Pakistan. Only one and concerned library and information science (LIS) professional involved in collection development process/department was approached. The findings of the study revealed that three major types of gray literature accessed by academic libraries were theses/dissertations, annual reports and catalogues. The theses/dissertations are accessed by libraries as a follow-up of parent organizational policy. The gray literature is shelved separately and prominently in the libraries; however, non-availability of proper collection development policy for gray literature emerged as major issue in academic libraries followed by budgetary constraints and lack of awareness. The t-test result revealed the need of various types of gray literature in libraries and also highlights creating awareness of various types of gray literature among the library community. The finding of the study is the helpful for university authorities, academic libraries and working library professionals to manage gray literature in a better way and increase the usage of gray literature in academic writing.