Access and document supply: a comparative study of grey literature

Overview & Synopsis

The report addresses the different aspects of the accessibility and dissemination of grey literature in the digital age where the de-materialization of documents has led to a new paradigm that has superseded the intrinsic characteristics of printed material. Based on the added value of grey literature for academic institutions, the report attempts to provide an analysis of the ongoing transformations, especially concerning the way in which research and development in the area of grey literature have become part of the open access movement. In this context, we will analyse some of the major public supply services for the dissemination of grey literature: their typology, their strategic approach, and the special conditions and characteristics of their service. What are their projects with regard to grey literature and the open access movement? What is the impact of these projects on document supply, acquisition policy and the information system? For the study, we selected five public institutions: the British Library (UK), the CISTI (Canada), INIST (France), KISTI (Korea) and the TIB Hannover (Germany). We excluded networks and corporate profit-based suppliers.