Gray Literature: what it is and how to find it Technical Reports Nancy Doran Northwest Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Portland, OR September 16, 2005

2 Three questions What is meant by “gray literature” or “technical reports” ? Why are technical reports important? How are they made available?

3 What is gray literature? "foreign or domestic open source material that usually is available through specialized channels and may not enter normal channels or systems of publication, distribution, bibliographic control, or acquisition by booksellers or subscription agents."

4 Technical reports “Scientific and technical reports…convey the results of basic or applied research and support decisions based on those results.” ANSI/NISO Z

5 Why is gray lit important?

6 Columbia River AND salmon AND dams Web of Science - 51 GrayLit Network: Department of Energy - >250 Department of Defense - 12 Environmental Protection Agency - 143

7 How do I find a technical report? Does my library own it? Is it online ? How can I get it?

8 Sample citation Perkins, RW, UP Jenquin (1994) Identification of radionuclides of concern in Hanford site environmental cleanup. Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA No entry at: OCLC’s WorldCat Oregon State University University of Oregon University of Washington Washington State Library

9 Reports have aliases aka PNL aka DE aka E1.99:DE

10 National Technical Information Service searchable ????- to present 1964-present available through: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Dialog Ovid

11 NTIS record Identification of radionuclides of concern in Hanford Site environmental cleanup Perkins, RWIdentification of radionuclides of concern in Hanford Site environmental cleanup Perkins, RW; Jenquin, UP, Performer: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA. Sponsor: Department of Energy, Washington, DC. Aug p. Report: PNL The purpose of this document is to consider which radionuclides should be included in conducting environmental surveys relative to site remediation at Hanford. During the operation of the Hanford site, the fission product radionuclides and a large... Report Number: PNL10060; DE Accession Number: DE Jenquin, UP

12 Is it online? GrayLIT Network - Department of Energy – Information Bridge - Department of Defense DTIC Reports Collection - Environmental Protection Agency NEPIS NASA JPL - Langley - Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Electronic Reading Room

It’s not at my library, not online…  Other libraries  Source  Client

14 Decoding report numbers PNNL = Pacific Northwest National Laboratory PNL = Pacific Northwest Laboratory BNWL = Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratory PNWD = Pacific Northwest Division Same place - different times, different names, different clients.

15 Decoding report numbers (cont’d) Accession Numbers DE = Department of Energy AD = Department of Defense N = NASA PB = Almost anyone else in NTIS’s database

16 Decoding report numbers (cont’d) US. Department of Energy (1985),Report Number Codes. Office of Scientific & Technical Information, Oak Ridge, TN, DOE/TIC-85(Rev 14)(DE ) (E1.99:DE ) How to get it: A Guide to Defense-Related Information (2002) Defense Technical Information Center. Ft Belvoir VA. f f Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary. Thomson Gale, New York

17 Decoding report numbers (cont’d) Directory of special libraries and information centers, Gale Research Co, Detroit, MI. Government Research Directory, Gale Research Co. Detroit, MI International Research Centers Directory, Gale Research Co. Detroit, MI Research Centers Directory, Gale Research Co. Detroit, MI World Guide to Special Libraries, KG Sauer. Munich

18 Reports may require different paths RecordsReading Rooms Clients Library-to-Library Resource Sharing

19 When all else fails… Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Each agency has a FOIA point of contact Requester, not library, should file

20 Finding Grey Lit is often a matter of putting together the puzzle pieces.

21 ResourcesResources Scientific and Bibliographic Access to Science Materials Committee (2005) “Collecting Grey Literature: An annotated Bibliography, with Examples from the Sciences and Technology” in Science and Technology Libraries Vol 25(3) GreyNet: Grey Literature Network Service