Grey Literature

What is "Grey literature" and why might it be difficult to obtain?

Grey literature - so-called because of its semi-published status - can be difficult to locate. These are typically works produced by government, industries, universities, associations, etc., that are not contracted to be published through a mainstream publisher. Distribution may be informal or restricted, and is, therefore, limited in scope. A further complicating factor is that distribution channels commonly bypass national libraries that serve as a source of ready-made standardized cataloguing records, so that materials may lie "hidden" in uncatalogued library collections.

While some material of this nature may be obtained with little trouble, other items require extensive research and may, ultimately, prove to be unavailable through ILL channels. If you require materials that fall into one of these categories, read the brief description below for a better understanding of this issue. If your need for the material is pressing, please speak with the ILL staff for a quick assessment of your specific request.

Theses and Dissertations

Many institutions in the United States require that their graduates donate two copies of their theses to the university library, but this practice is not universal. At schools where this tradition exists, the "second" copy may be available for loan to other libraries. Some libraries will only loan a microfilm or microfiche copy of a dissertation (if owned in that format).

Many libraries will not loan their own institutions' dissertations if the theses are available for purchase through Proquest Information and Learning (formerly, UMI - University Microfilms International). When the home institution library will not loan a dissertation, we occasionally succeed in locating another library that has purchased the dissertation and is willing to loan their copy. We have a 60% success rate obtaining loans of US dissertations.

Few foreign libraries are willing to loan their theses abroad. We have had good success borrowing microfilm or microfiche copies of dissertations from countries where it is common practice to deposit a copy of a dissertation in the national library, e.g., Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. We have had limited success with foreign dissertations from other countries. We own several guides that detail the ILL policies of many US academic libraries around the country. Please consult one of these guides (available at the Mugar Reference Desk) before placing an ILL request for a thesis, or ask a Reference librarian to help you determine if any US theses you need are only in libraries that, by policy, will not loan their theses.

If you need a foreign thesis, speak with the ILL staff before submitting your ILL request. In order to comply with foreign copyright law, some foreign libraries require that a statement signed by the user declaring his/her readiness to honor copyright restrictions be submitted with the ILL loan request.

If you wish to purchase a copy of a dissertation from Proquest Information and Learning, you can find information about their dissertation services by visiting the Proquest Information and Learning, Online Disseration Services website http://www.umi.com/hp/Products/Dissertations.html or telephone Proquest at 1-800-521-3042.

Proquest Information and Learning sells dissertations in a variety of formats: hardcover, softcover, unbound paper, microfilm, and microfiche. Unbound paper copies ordered via the internet using Proquest's Dissertation Express service cost $31.00 and arrive in 4-5 days. Titles published since 1997 are also available in PDF/TIFF digital format . For dissertations published in the last two years, select the link to ProQuest Digital Dissertations which features free 24 page previews and offers direct web ordering and download (cost $23.00). Proquest does not presently offer web ordering of the PDF/TIFF format for dissertations published between 1997-1999.

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Proceedings of Conferences, Symposia, Workshops, Congresses, Annual Meetings, etc.

Conference proceedings often fall into the category of "grey literature." Simply put, not all conference proceedings are "published."

Conference sponsors do not uniformly require that speakers at their conferences provide them with a written version of their presentation, a transcript, or speakers' notes. Even when this practice is encouraged, the organization(s) sponsoring the conference may not have sufficient funds, or may anticipate such limited demand, that they may not elect to print and distribute copies of conference papers. Practices vary widely:

• The organization(s) sponsoring the conference may collect submitted papers, and produce a limited print run of the "proceedings" based on the number of pre-registered attendees, with distribution limited to conference participants. In some instances, conference attendees may only be given copies of speakers' notes/handouts of selected sessions that they attend (if printed materials are produced at all).

 
• When conference organizers collect conference papers for distribution to attendees, some, but not all, retain copies in their archives so that the papers can be reproduced upon demand. If the sponsor does not choose to arrange for publication of the proceedings, little can be done once excess stock from a print-run produced for conference participants is sold out.

 
• Fortunately, many organizations routinely publish proceedings though a mainstream publisher, or cooperate with a journal publisher to publish a "special issue" devoted to papers from their conferences. Some large organizations have their own press to handle the publication and distribution of conference papers and sponsored books. However, the final compilation often does not represent a comprehensive collection of all the papers presented at the conference.

 
• While conference organizers may not choose to collect, store, or publish conference papers, an individual conference speaker may take the initiative to submit his/her paper, or a revised version of it, for publication in a journal or book. When conference proceedings are not available, a search of journal literature may lead you to other published research works by the author that may equally serve your needs. A reference librarian would be happy to help you with this.

If you found your citation in a standard index, there is a better chance that the cited paper may be readily available, as a number of database vendors contract with a commercial document supplier to house and sell cited materials. This practice, however, is not uniform, nor does it apply to all database citations.

Commercial document suppliers, as well as some large research institutions, will by policy only supply photocopies of selected papers (subject to copyright law restrictions). If we cannot identify another library that owns the work, a loan of the full proceedings will not be possible.

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Faculty discussion papers, working papers, etc.

Faculty discussion and working papers typically represent preliminary research on a topic targeted for eventual publication in a journal or book. The papers are informally distributed to colleagues for review and discussion, which helps the researcher refine and develop his ideas before final publication.

Because these papers represent preliminary investigations on a topic, many departments and/or authors may fail to appreciate the value of depositing a copy in their institution's library (or they may not wish to submit their "incomplete" work to a library collection). University departments often do not think in "archival" terms; copies of the papers may be distributed or sold upon demand until the initial print run is exhausted.

Our ability to obtain discussion papers and working papers depends upon our ability either to identify a library that subscribes to the series (or a library that has purchased a copy of the individual paper), and the policy of the originating department regarding retention of old working papers. Any time the distribution of an item is limited, so are our options.

If we cannot locate a library or department that owns the paper, you may be able to obtain a copy of the paper by contacting the author. Alternatively, a search of journal literature may lead you to a citation for the final published version of the paper. If the focus of the research has not shifted significantly before publication, the published paper may equally serve your research needs. (Note: an author may abandon the research for work on another topic, or the paper may be published in a book which is not covered in standard bibliographic indexes or abstracts).

A recent positive trend gathering momentum is a practice of making working papers available at university department Internet web sites. In some instances, subject-oriented Internet archive sites have been established that store working papers or pointers to web sites that contain an online version of working papers. If you come across a cite for a working paper composed since 1992, we suggest you search the Internet for a web site for the institution or academic department that produced the papers. You may find that you can freely download a copy of the paper you need.

If you need help conducting a literature search, or tracking down an author's address, ask a Reference librarian for assistance.

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Research & Technical reports

Technical papers and research reports are frequently produced under a government or corporate-funded contract. Distribution of the report may be restricted under the terms of the contract, e.g., a report produced under government contract may be classified, or a corporate client may sponsor research solely for its own private use.

While many technical reports are not classified or restricted, distribution is relatively limited. The scope of individual "technical report" series are so broad that few academic libraries comprehensively collect all reports sponsored by an individual organization. Those that do collect large numbers of individual series frequently do not bother to list the individual titles in their catalogs, which can make identifying a library that owns a specific report particularly time-consuming.

NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is a source for thousands of reports produced under US government research grants. We can generally obtain NTIS reports with little difficulty. DTIC (The Defense Technical Information Center) can provide copies of some classified or restricted government research reports to registered US researchers also conducting similar research under government contract.

If the report author(s)/title you need is listed in the NTIS Index, or catalogued on OCLC/WorldCat (a union catalog listing holdings of thousands of US libraries, as well of the holdings of some foreign libraries), there is a good chance that we can readily obtain a copy of the report. In addition, citations found in some bibliographic indexes, abstracts, or databases may be readily available, as a number of database vendors contract with a commercial document supplier to house and sell cited materials, but this practice is not uniform, nor does it apply to all database citations.

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