[PADG:1132] grey literature discussion at PADG

[Jeanne Drewes <drewes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

November 1997, the term grey literature was redefined at the Third
International Conference on Grey Literature, GL'97
                                                    Definition of Grey
Literature
                 "That which is produced on all levels of government,
academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, not
controlled by commercial publishers."

The so-called "grey literature" is increasingly important as a source of
information for public health and health policy.  Broadly speaking,  grey
literature includes items produced in a wide variety of places and in a wide
variety of formats, which do not fall under the commercial control of a
publisher.  Therefore, access to them is limited.  This definition includes
links to sites which provide access to this sometimes ephemeral literature.
Grey Literature supports the research process and encompasses a vast range
of information types such as policy documents, corporate reports, data sets
from academic and corporate research, university theses and dissertations,
technical reports and conference proceedings. Despite being of great
importance to researchers, such information has often been hard to identify
and access, and thus undervalued.     

Grey Literature differs from commercial publications in that it is not based
solely or even principally on an economic model, but rather on a
communication
     model. Otherwise stated, all aspects of commercial publishing apply to
grey literature, but its existence is not determined merely by dollars and
cents.

More and more grey literature lives only in electronic format and is
accessed via the web.  This poses preservation issues more complex than
preserving the grey literature that was committed to paper and ink.  Whose
responsibility is it to preserve this, the creators, the users?  Are
institutions taking the lead in preserving this form of information?  

Jeanne Drewes
Assistant Director for Access & Preservation
Michigan State University Libraries
100 Libraries
East Lansing, MI  48823
517 432 7486
517 432 1010 FAX
drewes@xxxxxxx
http://www.lib.msu.edu/drewes/