Defining and Understanding Grey Literature

Abstract

The Internet has dramatically altered how grey literature is defined. The importance, the availability, the access, and the types of grey literature have significantly increased since the days of keeping pamphlets and newspaper clippings in a vertical file. Deciding if a resource is commercially published or grey literature has become more complex and requires judgment. Knowledge of a field of study is helpful in knowing where to find or to gain insight about grey literature. For the author of this column and its readers, the resources cited by authors writing articles and columns for volumes 42 and 43 of Serials Review, published in 2016 and 2017, could be called a convenience sample. The references include data that are easily accessed and includes many resources that are developed by people, governmental agencies, and associations familiar to those working in this area of librarianship.