GreyGuide, GreyNet's web access portal and lobby for change in grey literature

Farace D., Frantzen J., Biagioni S., Carlesi C., Ponti R., Stock C.

Grey Literature  Web portal  Repositories  H.3.7 Digital Libraries 

In December 2013, the GreyGuide was formerly launched as an online forum and repository of good practice in grey literature. The project partners then turned to the acquisition of both proposed and published good practices. During this same timeframe, GreyNet - one of the project partners - welcomed far reaching developments in its infrastructure. Three new committees were established alongside its Program Committee in line with GreyNet's fourfold mission dedicated to research, publication, open access, and education in the field of grey literature. In the process of coordinating and facilitating the work of these new committees, it became clear that a multitude of web-based content that is currently maintained on GreyNet's website and conference site - accessible on diverse webpages in PDF format - could better be made accessible via a web portal. This would allow for browse, search, and retrieval across resources and collections. The GreyGuide was tested for this purpose and it was then decided to select from GreyNet's range of content and commence with migration to the GreyGuide. While the web origins of three such collections were soon identified - namely, the GreySource Index1, Who's Who in Grey Literature2, and Conference Proposals issuing from the GL-Series - still other collections, resources, and in-house publications would also deserve future consideration. The work of defining the metadata for these collections, their subsequent data entry, and additional cross-linking indicated the work that was to be undertaken during the months leading up to GL16. It was anticipated that just as GL15 provided the occasion for the launch of the GreyGuide Repository, GL16 would demonstrate its enhanced function as a web access portal. From the perspective of the GreyGuide, this paper renders an ongoing log, while from the perspective of GreyNet it renders a case study in innovative change in the management of information resources.

Source: GL16 - Sixteenth International Conference on Grey Literature Grey Literature, pp. 147–153, Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA, 8-9 December 2014

Publisher: TransAtlantic, Amsterdam , Paesi Bassi