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Grey Literature: Uncovering
     Elusive Material

      February 16, 2012
Which of the following is NOT
considered as “grey literature”?
Grey literature jackie2012
Grey literature jackie2012
Grey literature jackie2012
Questions?
• Thoughts to share at this moment?
Session Outline
• What is Grey Literature? definition &
  features
• Types of Grey Literature
• Impact of Grey Literature in Health
  Research
• Examples of Sources of Grey Literature
Uncovering Elusive Material:
              Grey Literature Defined
Grey literature has been defined as:

•   ”the information and resources that do not categorically fall into what is
    available via standard traditional or commercial publishing channels.” From:
    International Journal on Grey Literature

•   "that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business
    and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by
    commercial publishers." (New frontiers in grey literature: Fourth
    International Conference on Grey Literature: GL'99 proceedings;1999 Oct 4-
    5; Washington, D.C. Amsterdam: GreyNet; 1999.)

•   “virtually everything we read outside of journals and books can be
    considered grey literature.”
     (Coonin, B. Grey Literature: An annotated bibliography. 2003: Available at
        http://personal.ecu.edu/cooninb/Greyliterature.htm)
Grey Literature: Features

•   Rapid publication - current
•   Variable formats (flexible)
•   Detailed
•   Most not peer reviewed
•   No commercial source
•   Limited distribution in a geographic area
•   Free (in most cases)
•   Information on non main-stream
    topics/aspects
Open Access Repositories
Grey literature jackie2012
Types of Grey Literature

•   Theses and dissertations
•   Conference proceedings
•   Newsletters
•   Reports
•   Government documents
•   Informational communication (telephone
    calls, meetings, e-mail, blogs, interviews,
    social networking sites, etc.)
A Fact, not Just One

• In June 2001 a 24 year old female volunteer
  died in a research study at the US based
  Johns Hopkins University Asthma and Allergy
  Center in Baltimore, Maryland. No distinct
  cause for death was identified but weakness
  in the process of literature review for the risk
  of the non-FDA approved use of
  hexamethonium was noted.
Source: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2001/JULY/010716.htm
Grey Literature in the Health Sciences

• As a primary source of information, grey
  literature was cited in the medical journals
  that provided reliable data on research in
  progress. (Alberani, et. al., 1990)
• Technical reports prevailed over other types
  of grey literature. (Alberani, et. Al., 1990)
• Expert searching in public health requires the
  ability to identify and search for resources
  beyond the electronically available published
  literature. (Alpi, 2005)
Grey Literature in the Health Sciences
              (continued)
• “Unpublished trials contribute almost 20%
  of the weight in individual meta-analysis.”
  (Krishnan, 2004)
Grey literature jackie2012
Challenges of Grey Literature

•  Hard to find
•  Much content isn’t web-published
•  Rarely indexed, or minimally indexed
•  Basic bibliographic information may be
  unavailable
• Older reports may not be archived (long term
  archiving issues)
• Volume of material can be overwhelming and
  time-consuming
Grey Literature Searching Exercises
• Can you find the abstract of this conference
  presentation:
   Dunscombe P, Anderson R, Brown D, Gackle M, Lau H. A
     Course in Ethics and Errors for Radiation Medicine
     Professionals. ESTRO Meeting, Barcelona, Spain. Sep
     2010

• Is there any active clinical trial in North America on
  depression screening in patients undergoing radiation
  therapy for cancer?

• Can I access part of the document “International
  Travel and Health 2010” on the topic of Vaccine-
  preventable diseases and vaccines?
Grey Literature Toolkit
http://hinc.ucalgary.ca/greylit
What can we do as librarians?
• Lin, Y., and M. Vaska Raising Awareness of
  Grey Literature in an Academic Community
  Using the Cognitive Behavioral Theory. – In:
  GL11 Conference Proceedings. TextRelease,
  2010, 8 p., including PowerPoint
 Lin, Y., and M. Vaska Information Literacy
 and Librarians’ Experiences with Teaching
 Grey Literature to Medical Students and
 Healthcare Practitioners. In: GL10
 Conference Proceedings. TextRelease, 2009,
 7 p., including a PowerPoint
Grey literature jackie2012
Grey literature jackie2012
Questions? Comments?
Thank you!

Yongtao Lin, MLIS
Librarian, Tom Baker Cancer Knowledge
Centre
yolin@ucalgary.ca
Phone: 403-521-3285

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Grey literature jackie2012

  • 1. Grey Literature: Uncovering Elusive Material February 16, 2012
  • 2. Which of the following is NOT considered as “grey literature”?
  • 6. Questions? • Thoughts to share at this moment?
  • 7. Session Outline • What is Grey Literature? definition & features • Types of Grey Literature • Impact of Grey Literature in Health Research • Examples of Sources of Grey Literature
  • 8. Uncovering Elusive Material: Grey Literature Defined Grey literature has been defined as: • ”the information and resources that do not categorically fall into what is available via standard traditional or commercial publishing channels.” From: International Journal on Grey Literature • "that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers." (New frontiers in grey literature: Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature: GL'99 proceedings;1999 Oct 4- 5; Washington, D.C. Amsterdam: GreyNet; 1999.) • “virtually everything we read outside of journals and books can be considered grey literature.” (Coonin, B. Grey Literature: An annotated bibliography. 2003: Available at http://personal.ecu.edu/cooninb/Greyliterature.htm)
  • 9. Grey Literature: Features • Rapid publication - current • Variable formats (flexible) • Detailed • Most not peer reviewed • No commercial source • Limited distribution in a geographic area • Free (in most cases) • Information on non main-stream topics/aspects
  • 12. Types of Grey Literature • Theses and dissertations • Conference proceedings • Newsletters • Reports • Government documents • Informational communication (telephone calls, meetings, e-mail, blogs, interviews, social networking sites, etc.)
  • 13. A Fact, not Just One • In June 2001 a 24 year old female volunteer died in a research study at the US based Johns Hopkins University Asthma and Allergy Center in Baltimore, Maryland. No distinct cause for death was identified but weakness in the process of literature review for the risk of the non-FDA approved use of hexamethonium was noted. Source: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2001/JULY/010716.htm
  • 14. Grey Literature in the Health Sciences • As a primary source of information, grey literature was cited in the medical journals that provided reliable data on research in progress. (Alberani, et. al., 1990) • Technical reports prevailed over other types of grey literature. (Alberani, et. Al., 1990) • Expert searching in public health requires the ability to identify and search for resources beyond the electronically available published literature. (Alpi, 2005)
  • 15. Grey Literature in the Health Sciences (continued) • “Unpublished trials contribute almost 20% of the weight in individual meta-analysis.” (Krishnan, 2004)
  • 17. Challenges of Grey Literature • Hard to find • Much content isn’t web-published • Rarely indexed, or minimally indexed • Basic bibliographic information may be unavailable • Older reports may not be archived (long term archiving issues) • Volume of material can be overwhelming and time-consuming
  • 18. Grey Literature Searching Exercises • Can you find the abstract of this conference presentation: Dunscombe P, Anderson R, Brown D, Gackle M, Lau H. A Course in Ethics and Errors for Radiation Medicine Professionals. ESTRO Meeting, Barcelona, Spain. Sep 2010 • Is there any active clinical trial in North America on depression screening in patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer? • Can I access part of the document “International Travel and Health 2010” on the topic of Vaccine- preventable diseases and vaccines?
  • 20. What can we do as librarians? • Lin, Y., and M. Vaska Raising Awareness of Grey Literature in an Academic Community Using the Cognitive Behavioral Theory. – In: GL11 Conference Proceedings. TextRelease, 2010, 8 p., including PowerPoint Lin, Y., and M. Vaska Information Literacy and Librarians’ Experiences with Teaching Grey Literature to Medical Students and Healthcare Practitioners. In: GL10 Conference Proceedings. TextRelease, 2009, 7 p., including a PowerPoint
  • 23. Questions? Comments? Thank you! Yongtao Lin, MLIS Librarian, Tom Baker Cancer Knowledge Centre yolin@ucalgary.ca Phone: 403-521-3285

Editor's Notes

  1. Open Access RepositoriesOpen access publishing allows free access to and distribution of published articles where the author retains copyright of their work by employing a Creative Commons attribution licence, therefore removing any barriers to access.A new form of scholarly publishing
  2. What about this one, open access journal, peer-reviewedBiomed Central as of today has 220 open access, online, peer-reviewed journals –
  3. Awareness, awareness and awareness
  4. projects
  5. Include grey literature and published material whenever conducting literature searches (especially when performing systematic reviews) in order to limit bias.