An architecture for grey literature in a R&D context

The importance of grey literature is becoming increasingly recognised. For many organisations it encapsulates the knowledge and know‐how and thus is a vital business asset. It has similar importance in quality of life aspects – healthcare, environment and culture. Grey literature in a R&D (research and development) environment represents the cutting edge of this knowledge and so its management is of utmost importance. Partly based on involvement in defining the datamodels for R&D information interchange across Europe, the author defines a content metadata datamodel for grey literature which is more expressive and has more flexibility than any previous proposal and which integrates seamlessly with the CERIF2000 definition which will soon replace the CERIF1991 European Union Recommendation to Member States on Exchange of R&D Information. The content metadata datamodel offers significant advantages over Dublin Core yet can generate Dublin Core if required.