For serious researchers, the grey literature of a discipline is a treasure trove of information. Often hidden, these gems comprise a wide array of reports, theses, conference proceedings, bibliographies, pathfinders and working papers. Original research not easily located or found elsewhere, frequently scientific or scholarly in nature, these materials are, in general, neither commercially published nor distributed. Produced by and for governmental and non‐profit agencies, university research departments, advocacy and public policy think tanks, and international organizations, the artifacts of grey literature range from pamphlets and newsletters to completed dissertations and also include pre‐prints, market research reports, statistics and raw data, and increasingly webcasts or other media presentations. Although the activity may not be a primary function, publication by these bodies continues to expand while at the same time web technologies have made distribution of these freely available documents fast and easy.
Despite the widely acknowledged content value of these unpublished or semi‐published works, grey literature does not easily fit into conventional channels of production and diffusion. The result is a multitude of documents scattered across the web that require skill and determination to locate and obtain. One method for finding these elusive materials is to regularly search agency‐producing websites. Another is to use a subject‐specific portal. The Grey Literature Report, published by the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) Library is such a gateway, providing online access to the grey literature of public health, health services and policy and related disciplines. Originally created in 1999 as a finding aid for internal staff, the report has expanded in audience and scope. Published bi‐monthly, each report is alphabetically arranged by organization‐producing name, with hyperlinks to recent documents issued by these entities. The variety and range of listing is extensive. A recent report (January, 2008) contained more than 300 individual items, including the results of a survey conducted by the American association for Retired Persons, working papers from the National Poverty Center and a 144‐page statement by the World Health Organization on air pollution health risks. In addition to the most current report, archived issues of the newsletter are also available.
To locate information in this collection, users have several options. Both the home page and each report contain a keyword search box. Documents added to the collection have also been indexed and are searchable through the NYAM online catalogue. Other features of the site include an A‐Z listing of agencies that produce grey literature on a regular basis and an online form to sign up for email notices when new issues are published. Some brief explanatory text on grey literature in general and the library's collection development policy, along with a link to a monthly listing of resources available in the area of health care policy, round out the site.
The Grey Literature Report is a well‐designed and easy to use site. Containing a significant number of timely and relevant resources, the greatest frustration visitors face has more to do with the elusive aspect of grey literature than the site's design. Documents appear, reappear and disappear at random. The lack of stable or persistent uniform resource locators for older documents results in a number of dead or broken links, especially in issues that are more than four‐five years old. The authors of the site, which is not a repository, openly acknowledge this issue. For researchers, students, public health practitioners and the interested public, the greater value of discovery and open access to recent but scattered works far outweighs the drawbacks of impermanence of retrieval.
