The International Directory of Organizations in Grey Literature is, quite simply, a nine-page PDF document updated regularly by GreyNet International with over 200 listings of organizations with significant holdings of grey literature from around the globe. GreyNet International is an organization claiming authority in “research, publication, open access and education” of grey literature. GreyNet International also composed and updates the internationally accepted definition of grey literature as those digital and print documents not controlled by commercial publishers (Farace, 2013). In the archives, grey literature has come to be expressed as documents of limited distribution (Society of American Archivists, 2012), such as conference programmes, organizational newsletters, academic white papers, lecture transcripts, bibliographies, research proposals and technical reports. A comprehensive list of document types associated with the grey literature genre can be found on the GreyNet website. Grey literature documents are generally scholarly, academic or otherwise professional in nature matching criteria of limited circulation not managed by commercial publishing companies.
As such, the Directory that at first appears as just a list, in fact, points librarians to rich collections representing grey literature to support research and scholarship, often bursting with untapped, primary source materials. The Directory lists organizations with holdings of grey literature alphabetically by country and each listed organization is hyperlinked to the organization's homepage, and not necessarily to repositories and catalogues of digital assets and holdings. Once the viewer has landed at the linked site, the onus is on him or her to locate the catalogue of records. For example, the Center for the History of Psychology (CHP) at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA, is home to an opulent collection of grey literature connected to research, events, organizations and meetings through roughly 100 years of psychology's history. The named organization in the directory is linked to the CHP's homepage (www.uakron.edu/chp), where the researcher must then use the website navigation panel to find the archives and links to the online repository, rather than having the Directory list item link directly to the repository/catalogue of grey literature (http://cdm15960.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15960coll1), where interested librarians and patrons can effortlessly search grey literature holdings with fewer steps. Perhaps a useful compromise could be including two links: one to the institution and one to the catalogue. In a relatively short directory in digital form, this does not seem like an unreasonable suggestion. Further, the directory lacks topical or subject headings that could be used to redirect patrons and librarians to the listed holdings when the name of the institution does not immediately and obviously describe content of the held documents, for example a librarian would likely accurately assume a few things about content and document types in grey literature holdings of the European Food Safety Authority, but the topical associations are not quite as obvious in, for example, the University of Iceland.
I am comfortable confirming that the Directory is, indeed, of international scope, with institutions from six continents included. Receiving treatment in the Directory, to select samples, are Research Center on Scientific and Technical Information in Algeria and Federal University of Agriculture in Nigeria (Africa); Mysore University Library in India and Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Japan (Asia); Australian Council for Educational Research and Swinburne University of Technology (Australia); Oxford Business Intelligence in the United Kingdom and Koninklijke Bibliotheek in Netherlands (Europe); Center for International Governance Innovation in Canada and Battelle Memorial Institute in the United States (North America); and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil (South America).
The simplicity of this directory understates its utility as a portal to global grey literature collections. Often overlooked or cast aside, grey literature as a genre holds tremendous research value for scholarly support and for yet-undiscovered gems in virtually every field of study. This directory is the gateway to discovering the wealth these collections hold. Librarians and archivists should not hesitate to use the directory to direct researching patrons to topical grey literature.
The editorial team welcomes suggestions for new entries or revisions received by a provided contact email. Save a copy of the GreyNet International Directory PDF to your hard drive or right click to select the option to open links in a new tab because hyperlinks are set to open in the same window.
