Transcript Tackling the Grey Literature: Tips and Tricks for Uncovering Elusive Material Session Presenters:

Tackling the Grey Literature:
Tips and Tricks for
Uncovering Elusive Material
Session Presenters:
Yongtao Lin & Marcus Vaska
May 29, 2008
Session Outline
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Grey Literature: Definition, Features, History
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Importance and Impact of Grey Literature
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Types of Grey Literature
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Searching for Grey Literature
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Grey Literature in Action!
http://library.ucalgary.ca/branches/hsl-greyliterature/index.php
Grey Literature: Definition
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”the information and resources that do not
categorically fall into what is available via
standard traditional or commercial publishing
channels.”
International Journal on Grey Literature
Grey Literature: Definition
“publications with little
or no distribution”
Auger CP, Auger CP, Use of reports literature.
Information sources in grey literature. 3rd
ed. Projected Date: 9412 ed. London ;
New Providence, NJ: Bowker-Saur; 1994.
Grey Literature: Metaphor
“the unsung hero, the
foot soldier, the
foundation of the
building”
Mason MK. Grey Literature: Its History,
Definition, Acquisition, and Cataloguing.
2008; Available at:
http://www.moyak.com/researcher/resum
e/papers/var7mkmkw.html.
Accessed April 15, 2008.
Grey Literature: Features
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Rapid publication
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Variable formats (flexible)
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Detailed
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No peer review
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No commercial source
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Limited distribution (in most cases)
Grey Literature: History
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Evolved as a genre in the 1920s
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Recognized in the 1970s
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Accepted as a necessary component of
effective literature searching in the 1990s
Importance and Impact
of Grey Literature
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“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. Accessed May 16,
2008.
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Over the past 15 years, conferences on grey literature (GL) have
been held around the world, discussing the impact of grey
literature on the Information Society
Importance and Impact
of Grey Literature
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Although not considered to be a scholarly form of
publication, grey literature is produced by experts in
the field, and “serves scholars and lay readers alike
with research summaries, facts, statistics, and other
data that offer a more comprehensive view of the
topic of interest.”
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Outten, C. Gray Literature. 2008. Available at:
http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/gray_literature/. Accessed
May 16, 2008
Interest in grey literature has grown, impacting a
number of areas, including:
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Distance education
Accessing information instantaneously
Grey Literature:
Library Catalogue
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Fundamental resources on grey literature retrieved by
searching the library catalogue (a type of grey literature in
itself!)
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T10.7 .A93 1994 Information sources in Grey literature 3rd ed.
Auger, Charles P. (Charles Peter)
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Available at MacKimmie Library, University of Calgary
The grey journal (Online)
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Available through University of Calgary Library catalogue
ZA4230 .S73 2004 Effective Information Retrieval from the Internet: an
Advanced User’s Guide
Stacey, Alison; Stacey, Adrian
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Available at University of British Columbia Library (interlibrary loan)
Grey Literature in Print
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Theses and Dissertations
Conference Proceedings
Newsletters
Reports
Government Documents
Informal Communication (telephone calls,
meetings)
Translations
Grey Literature in the 21st
Century
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Informal Communication (e-mail, chat, blogs,
listservs)
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Digital Libraries
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Search Engines
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The World Wide Web!
Why Grey Literature in Health?
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“Published trials tend to be larger and show an
overall greater treatment effect than grey trials.
This has important implication for reviewers
who need to ensure they identify grey trials, in
order to minimize the risk of introducing bias to
their review.”
From: Hopewell S, McDonald S, Clarke M, & Egger M. (2007) Grey
literature in meta-analyses of randomized trials of health care
interventions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2.
Searching for Grey Literature
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Challenging to locate and obtain
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Original cataloguing required
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Access: search engines typically index only
16% of the available web contents
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Invisible deep Web
How to Find Grey Literature in
Health
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2.
3.
4.
Conducting exhaustive literature reviews
Knowledge of publishing trends
Knowledge of sources of information
Knowledge of major U.S. and Canadian
agencies
Source: “Top Skills Needed to Find Grey
Literature in Health”, May 13, 2006:
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/googleschola
r/archives/2006_05.html
Finding Grey Literature:
Where Else to Look
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Bibliographies and reference lists
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Search by hand
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Contact the author/organization of a particular
publication
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Browse and search an organization’s website
(keep a list)
Searching for Grey Literature
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Theses and Dissertations
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ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
• Research DatabasesProQuest Dissertations and
Theses
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Theses Canada Portal
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Index to Theses
• Research DatabasesTheses Canada Portal
• Research DatabasesIndex to Theses (ASLIB)
Searching for Grey Literature in
the Medical Field
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Government Resources
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Calgary Health Region
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Public Health Agency of Canada
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National Institutes of Health
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World Health Organization
• [http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/]
• [www.publichealth.gc.ca]
• [http://www.nih.gov/]
• [http://www.who.int/en/]
Searching for Grey Literature in
the Medical Field
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Reports/Registries/Associations
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Alberta Cancer Registry
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[http://www.cancerboard.ab.ca/CancerAlberta/AlbertaCancerR
egistry/]
American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR): Diet & Cancer
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[http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dc_home]
World Cancer Research Fund
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[http://www.wcrf.org/]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• [http://www.cdc.gov/]
Union of International Associations
• [http://www.diversitas.org/db/x.php?dbcode=pr&go=s]
Searching for Grey Literature in
the Medical Field
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Clinical Trials/Clinical Guidelines
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The Community Guide
• [http://www.thecommunityguide.org/]
ClinicalTrials.gov
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[http://clinicaltrials.gov/]
CMA Infobase (Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines)
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[http://mdm.ca/CPGSNEW/CPGS/index.asp]
Searching for Grey Literature in
the Medical Field
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Databases/Evidence-Based Recommendations
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Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• Research DatabasesCochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
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Research DatabasesCochrane Central Register of
Controlled Trials
Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field
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http://www.ph.cochrane.org/en/index.html
Grey Literature in Action!
Colorectal Cancer
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role of calcium and Vitamin D in preventing
colorectal cancer
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Proquest
Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada
National Cancer Institute
World Health Organization
ClinicalTrials.org
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
Grey Literature in Action!
Colorectal Cancer:
Reports/Registries/Associations
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Alberta Cancer Registry
American Institute for Cancer Research
(AICR): Diet & Cancer
World Cancer Research Fund
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
Union of International Associations
Grey Literature in Action!
Search Exercise: Breast Cancer
• Mammography Utilization in
Canadian Women Aged 50 to 69.
Sources of Information
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Proquest Dissertations & Theses
Canadian Cancer Registry
Canadian Cancer Society
Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews and Cochrane Central Register
of Controlled Trials
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6VqCgNGvmn7TTY4oYS1Qvw_3d_3d
The End
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This concludes today’s session. If you
have any further questions, please do
not hesitate to contact us. Thank you!
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Yongtao Lin
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E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 521-3285
Marcus Vaska
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E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 220-5319