Special Libraries AssociationAnnual Conference, Nashville9 June 2004

U.S. Government InformationShades of GrayShades of Gray

Mixing Black & White

Bonnie KleinTechnical Reports Team Lead

Defense Technical Information CenterFt. Belvoir, VA 22060-6218

bklein@dtic.mil/ 703.767.8037

Approved for Public ReleaseU.S.Government Work (17 USC §105) Not copyrighted in the U.S.

Information for the Defense Community

What is gray literature?

• Gray is in betweenGray is in between

– WhiteWhite or published and indexed works such as books & journals

• and– Ephemeral or short-lived materials such as

flyers, timetables & schedules

Gray/Grey Literature Definitions

• Publicly available, foreign or domestic, open source information that usually is available through specialized channels and may not enter normal channels or systems of publication, distribution, bibliographic control, or acquisition by book sellers or subscription agents.– US Interagency Gray Literature Working Group

• That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers.– Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature (GL '99), Washington,

DC, October 1999. See www.greynet.org

Gray literature characteristics

• Difficult to identify, acquire, process and access• Large body of information in an international scope• Limited quantities produced for a targeted audience• Nonstandard formats• Not formally published• Not easy to catalog• Quality

– unrefereed– questions of integrity & authenticity

Value of gray literature

• User perspective– varies by user groups– varies with time and place

• More timely than conventional literature• May be more concise, focused & detailed

• Can corroborate important assertions found in other sources

• Informal, more common information exchange

Producers of gray literature

• Research establishments– Laboratories– Institutes

• National governments• Corporations• Trade associations/Unions• Non-profits• Private publishers

– Pressure groups– Political parties

• Academia

Types of gray literature

• Academic papers• Committee reports• Conference papers• Corporate documents• Discussion papers• Dissertations• Government reports• House journals• Market surveys• Newsletters• PowerPoint presentations

• Preprints• Proceedings• Research reports• Standards• Technical reports• Theses• Trade Literature• Translations• Trip reports• Working papers

U.S. Department of Defense

DTIC Technical Reports CollectionAn organized repository of gray literature

DTIC Technical Reports Collection

DTIC Technical Reports CollectionTypes of documents selected

· Acquisition Life Cycle Documents

· DoD Lab Annual Reports

· Bibliographies

· Command Histories

· Conference Proceedings & Papers

· Dissertations & Theses

· DoD Functional Area Dictionaries/Glossaries

· Federally Funded Research & Development Center (FFRDC) Reports

· Journal Articles & Reprints (DoD-supported)

· Lessons Learned (DoD-related)

· Mission Area Plans

· NATO Research and Technology Organization (RTO) Documents

· Newsletters (DoD-related)

· DoD Patents & Patent Applications

· Defense Planning Guidance

· Technical Reports

· Test reports

· Technical memos

· Studies & analyses

DTIC Technical Reports Collection

Types of documents not selected • Administrative Papers

• Advertisements

• Blueprints

• Brochures, Catalogs & Posters

• Charts Circulars

• Conference Programs and Agendas

• Contracting Documents & Materials

• Correspondence

• Decision Papers

• Engineering Drawings

• Forms

• Memoranda (Inter-Office)

• Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs)

• Operating Instructions

• Procedures Promotional Materials

• Proposals

• Technical Manuals

• Telephone Directories

• Trip Reports

DTIC Technical Reports CollectionValue

Sources– Technical

memos– Letter reports– Directives– Proceedings – Dissertations

Importance– Records of non-success

– Historic data, new applications

– The arcane– The obscure

Primary vs. Secondary Distribution

• PRIMARY

– Produce– Publish– Initial distribution

to target audience

• SECONDARY

– Store– Announce– Distribute– Reference Service

Broader distribution• National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

Cataloged OPAC

Database access: Dialog, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Questel, and STN/Chem Abstracts

• Library of Congress (Science Library)Not cataloged; no database access

• Canada Institute of Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI)Cataloged OPACDatabase access: OCLC World Cat

• British Library (BLDSC)Not cataloged

• Libraries and collections world-wide

CENDIhttp://www.dtic.mil/cendi

GrayLit Network http://www.osti.gov/graylit/

Interagency gray literature collection

Gray literature and copyright• Copyright vests automatically to the author

– at the time a work is created and fixed in a discernable format.

– No notice or formalities are required.

• Public release does not equal public domain.• Information sponsored by or provided by the U.S.

Government may be copyrighted.– Works authored by U.S. Government employees as part of

their official duties are not copyrighted in the U.S. However, these works may include copyrighted material used with permission.

– Contractors and grantees are not considered government employees.

The gray needle in the haystack

• Searching is like finding a needle in a haystack, but not all searches are the same.

• "Finding a needle in a haystack" can mean…

• From Information Retrieval by Matthew Koll.ASIS Bulletin, Dec/Jan 2000American Society for Information Science and Technology. http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Jan-00/track_3.html

Shades of of gray gray

a known needle in a known haystack; (white if indexed & archived)

a known needle in an unknown haystack; (pale gray)

an unknown needle in an unknown haystack; (dark gray)

any needle in a haystack; (medium gray)

the sharpest needle in a haystack; (more white than gray)

most of the sharpest needles in a haystack; (same as above)

all the needles in a haystack; (is this possible?)

affirmation of no needles in the haystack; (same as above)

thinks like needles in any haystack;

let me know whenever a new needle shows up;

where are the haystacks?; and (the black hole)

needles, haystacks – whatever.

References• Defense Technical Information Center

http://www.dtic.mil

• CENDIhttp://www.dtic.mil/cendi

• GrayLit Network. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information..http://www.osti.gov/graylit/

• science.govhttp://www.science.gov

• DTIC® Guidelines for Determining Copy Rightshttp://www.dtic.mil/dtic/submitting/copyright.html

• CENDI Frequently Asked Questions About Copyrighthttp://www.dtic.mil/cendi/publications/00-3copyright.html

• GreyNethttp://www.greynet.org