Gray

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Gray Proprietary Literature

• ISchool
• 2004

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Definition Gray Lit

• Frankly, gray literature is an abstract concept
  because for every generalization there are
  exceptions.
• Most reference people just know it when they see
  it!
• After this lecture, I hope you will be in the
  "know" too!

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Gray literature consists of

• Publications that are
• Non-conventional,
• Fugitive,
• Ephemeral.

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Or another way

• White
• Gray
• Blacksecure, secret

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Or another way to look at

• Open lit vs closed lit
• a.Getablemight not be easy but
• b.Hard to getephemeral
• c.Very hard to getproprietary
• d.Cant get for love of money--secret

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Gray Literature for Sure

• Product literature and manuals
• Brochures and event programs
• Local government reports
• White papersthink tanks, universities
• Proprietary analysisreports and market research
• Transportation schedules
• Personnel information

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Gray ish

• Preprints
• Reports
• progress, technical, statistical, memoranda,
  contractor, etc.
• Conference proceedings
• Theses, masters reports
• Standards/specifications
• Non commercial translations
• National Government reports
• Workshops and Power point slides
• Public web!

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So what is a Preprint

• Paper that has gone through a peer-review process
  and awaits publication in a traditional journal.
• A preprint accessible over the Web may be
  referred to as an e-print.
• Papers submitted for publication, but no
  publication decision has been reached.
• Papers electronically posted for peer
  consideration and comment before submission for
  publication.

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Preprint Servers

• Grayish on preprint servers
• Ephemeral on open web
• Hard to get when old..
• Writer dies or retires
• Web page disappears
• Research center loses interest

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Technical Research Reports

• Nearly every organization produces some kind of
  'open source' technical or research report.
• The ones we will be talking about in this section
  are truly open-source.
• This means they are getable isn't quick or easy
  but it can be done. 

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Reports AKA Technical Reports

• Technical
• Memoranda
• Contractor reports
• Progress
• Statistical

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Reports are

• Most not yet available full text on the Internet
• Not in cataloging utilities such as RLIN or
  WorldCat
• Not cataloged by owning library or agency
• If treated, treated serially
• Even if all reports aren't available on the
  Internet a whole bunch are.

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Technical Report Numbers

• EPA 500-F-97-105
• NASA CR 111879
• NMWRRI TR330
• UMICH CITI 03-1

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Example 1

• The effects of atomic oxygen on the thermal
  remittance of high temperature radiator surfaces.
  
• Rutledge, Sharon K. (NASA Lewis Research Center,
  Cleveland, OH., United States) Hotes, Deborah L.
  (Cleveland State Univ., OH., United States)
  Paulsen, Phillip E. (Cleveland State Univ., OH.,
  United States)
• NASA Center for AeroSpace Information
  (CASI)NASA-TM-103224 , 1989
• No digital

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Example 2

• Comparison of On-Orbit and Ground Based Hollow
  Cathode Operation. Burke, Tom Carpenter,
  ChristianNASA Center for AeroSpace Information
  (CASI)
• NASA/CR-2003-212585 E-14140 NAS 1.26212585
  AIAA Paper 2003-5145 39th Joint Propulsion
  Conference and Exhibit, Huntsville, AL, United
  States, 20-23 Jul. 2003
• No digital

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Places to Look

• NTIS http//ntrs.nasa.gov/
• DTIC
• Firstgov.gov
• Web
• http//www.cis.upenn.edu/ircs/reports/
• http//wrri.nmsu.edu/publish/techrpt/techrpt.html
• http//www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/research/pubs/trs/search.p
  hp

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Conference Proceedings

• No written record
• Written Record

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Theses and masters reports

• U.S.
• Non-US
• Dissertation Abstracts

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Standards and Specs

• Another lecture
• Vendor accumulations
• No vendor accumulations

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Some Likely

• http//graylit.osti.gov
• www.ntis.gov/search
• http//citeseer.nj.nec.com/cs
• http//Trisline.bts.gov
• http//Stinet.dtic.mil
• www.osti.gov/energycitations
• www.osti.gov/eprints

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Product Information

• Catalogs
• Product inserts non pharmacy
• Product manuals
• Product spec sheets
• Bid info, pricing info
• Web pages

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Getable and ephemeral
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Proprietary Information

• describes the level of confidentiality given to
  documents or information by the owner.
• Generally, a document classified by the owner as
  proprietary limits who can view it or know about
  its contents.
• Another name for proprietary information is
  "trade secrets". 

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Caveat

• Publication and dissemination of gray/open
  information is not centrally coordinated by
  anybody, therefore, it can be particularly
  difficult to identify and locate. 

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Mantra

• Who created it often tells you where to look.
• EPA
• Spring Manufacturers
• Stone Durometers
• USGS