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Finding the hard-to-finds: searching for the grey literature

Finding the hard-to-finds: searching for the grey literature. Diane Thompson & Dean Giustini CHLA/ABSC Conference, Vancouver, B.C. Continuing Education Course 13 May 2006. Orientation. Provide introduction to GL Goals Foundation & overview Discuss methods of finding GL

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Finding the hard-to-finds: searching for the grey literature

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  1. Finding the hard-to-finds: searching for the grey literature Diane Thompson & Dean Giustini CHLA/ABSC Conference, Vancouver, B.C. Continuing Education Course 13 May 2006

  2. Orientation • Provide introduction to GL • Goals • Foundation & overview • Discuss methods of finding GL • Repositories, self-archiving, open access (OA) • GL Search exercises • Case study • Wrap up / brainstorm Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  3. What is grey lit? definitions Grey literature … aka. gray lit, fugitive Defined as ... "information produced on all levels of government, academia, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" ie:. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997. Expanded in New York, 2004 "Grey Area" – or “Zone” ‘An ill-defined area that does not readily conform to an existing category or set of rules’. Oxford English Dictionary Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  4. Introduction to grey lit : some facts • Grey lit is not formally a part of ‘traditional publishing cycle’ • Can you name some producers of grey lit? • Not widely disseminated; distribution methods limited • Increasing, at exponential rate due to Internet • Provides current perspectives • Librarians must adopt pro-active approaches to finding grey lit • Search strategizing yields better results • Self-archiving, open access, repositories • Facilitate identification and retrieval Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  5. Traditional types of grey lit Some examples of grey literature? • Theses and dissertations • Census, economic and other data sources • Informal communications (phone conversations, meetings, etc.) • Conference proceedings and abstracts • Newsletters • Research reports (completed and uncompleted) • Technical reports • Government documents • Translations • Videos Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  6. Newer types of grey lit - technology-based - • e-prints, preprints • emails • blogs • listserv archives • digital libraries • spatial data (ie. Google Earth) • meta-searching, federated searching, portals • wikis, blikis • databases of ongoing research • electronic networks • images, maps Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  7. Library & information research • LIS experts, small community • Gelfand, Auger • Health library field, includes HTA librarians • Helmer, Banks, CADTH, NYAM • Google and grey lit • “invisible, deep web” • Conferences – GL8 in New Orleans • Grey Journal: an international journal of grey literature http://www.greynet.org/pages/5 Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  8. Grey lit in medicine • Recall and precision • Grey lit and the systematic review • Medical studies, RCTs, Cochrane • Diane’s experience @ BCOHTA • Dean’s experience @ VGH Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  9. Major trends in grey lit • Changes in academic & scholarly publishing • Search engines • Open access • Repositories • Self-archiving Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  10. Methods • Database searching • Small library catalogues • Hand searching • Personal communication • Scanning reference lists, bibliographies • Teaching portfolios, CVs • Googling and other search engines • Blogging Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  11. Search strategy / checklist • Be systematic when searching • Organization of key words & prescribed thesauri • Build / formulate a check list Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  12. Document & conduct a thorough search • Document steps taken throughout search • Reproducibility of searches completed • Consider using bibliographic management software Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  13. Case study “Acupuncture in the management of drug & alcohol dependence” • What is the effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of drug and alcohol dependence? • The goal of the study is to uncover as many RCTs (randomized controlled trials) as possible, and to perform a meta-analysis on the data. Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  14. Group search activity • Break into groups of 3 or 4 • 30 minutes, then report back to us • Select a topic of your own (or, ask us) • Brainstorm search strategy (a start on one) • Databases, sites, starting points for search • Use checklist on page 21 of manual Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

  15. Conclusions • Future of grey lit – structured approaches needed? • Highlights of GL7, Nancy France • Top Skills Needed for GL Information Retrieval • Brain storm, 2006 Thompson Diane – Giustini Dean

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