Skip to main content
Log in

The Impact of Grey Literature in Advancing Global Karst Research: An Information Needs Assessment for a Globally Distributed Interdisciplinary Community

  • Part One—Mapping Grey Resources for Coastal and Aquatic Environments
  • Published:
Publishing Research Quarterly Aims and scope

Abstract

A survey of the global karst community was conducted in 2006. The survey was distributed via the World Wide Web to known karst researchers. The instrument was designed to generate an initial inventory of core grey information types, to assess levels of usage of grey information by the respondents, and to gauge the karst community’s willingness to participate in building and expanding both this collection and the associated controlled vocabularies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aina LO. Grey literature and library and information studies: a global perspective. Int J Grey Lit 2000;1(4):179–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Alberani V, De Castro Pietrangeli P, Rossi Mazza AM. The use of grey literature in health sciences: a preliminary survey. Bull Med Libr Assoc 1990;78(4):358–63.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bichteler J. Information-seeking behavior of geoscientists. Special Libr 1989;80(3):169–79.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bichteler J. Geologists and gray literature: access, use, and problems. Sci & Technol Libr 1991;11(3):39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Brown ME. A general model of information-seeking behavior. In:José-Marie Griffiths, editor. ASIS ‘91: Proceedings of the 54th ASIS Annual Meeting, October 27–31, 1991, Washington, DC. Medford, NJ: American Society for Information Science; 1991. p. 9–14.

  6. Butkovich NJ, Musser LR. Analysis of references cited in US geological survey bulletins, circulars, and professional papers. In: Connie Wick, editor. Finding and communicating geoscience information: Proceedings of the 28th Meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, October 25–28, 1993, Boston, Massachusetts. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 1994. p. 167–71.

  7. Corbett RG. Field trip guidebooks need not be gray literature. In: Lerud JV, editor. Individual workstations: information supermarkets for geoscientists. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 1989. p. 113–22.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cordes R. Is grey literature ever used? Using citation analysis to measure the impact of GESAMP, an international marine scientific advisory body. Can J Inform Libr Sci 2004;28(1):49–67.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Derksen CRM, Sweetkind-Singer J. Accessing and preserving field maps and notebooks: The Stanford Geological Survey Map and Field Notebook Project. In: Dunn LG, editor. New heights in geoscience information: access and technology: Proceedings of the 37th meeting of the geoscience information society, October 27–31, 2002, Denver, Colorado, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 2003. p. 17–23.

  10. Drew D, Hotzl H. editors. Karst hydrogeology and human activities: impact, consequences, and implications. Rotterdam: International Association of Hydrogeologists; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Dunn K. Impact of the inclusion of grey literature on the scholarly communication patterns of an interdisciplinary specialty. In: Work on grey in progress: sixth international conference on grey literature, New York Academy of Medicine, NYAM Conference Center, December 6–7, 2004, New York, NY, USA. Amsterdam: TextRelease; 2004. p. 50–54.

  12. Farace DJ. Forward. In: Farace DJ, editor. Perspectives on the design and transfer of scientific and technical information: third international conference on grey literature, Jean Monnet Building, November 13–14, 1997. Luxembourg, Amsterdam: TransAtlantic GreyNet; 1998.

  13. Florea L, Fratesi B, Chavez T. The reflection of Karst in the online mirror: a survey within scientific databases, 1960–2005. J Cave Karst Stud 2007; (Forthcoming).

  14. Given LM. The academic and the everyday: investigating the overlap in mature undergraduates’ information-seeking behaviors. Libr Inform Sci Res 2002;24(1):17–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Grey Literature Network Service. Document types in grey literature. GreySource: a selection of web-base resources in grey literature. <http://www.greynet.org/greysourceindex.html> (16 July 2006).

  16. Haner BE. Guidebook citation patterns in the geologic journal literature: a comparison between 1985 and 1967. In: Ansari MB, editor. Frontiers in geoscience information: Proceedings of the twenty-fourth meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, November 6–9, 1989, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 1990. p. 159–69.

  17. Hertzum M, Andersen HHK, Andersen V, Hansen CB. Trust in information sources: seeking information from people, documents, and virtual agents. Interact Comput 2002;14:575–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kelling S, Allen P, Bonney R, Poole A. Building a user base around scientific publications: editing online content and annotating scientific materials. 2004. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 2003. <http://www.birds.cornell.edu/it/docs/report_sken.pdf> (8 January 2006).

  19. Lacanilao F. Continuing problems with gray literature. Environ Biol Fishes 1997;49:1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Madden M. “Internet penetration and impact, April 2006.” 2005. Pew Internet & American Life Project. 2006. <http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_Impact.pdf> (14 October 2006).

  21. Maples CG, Cutler P, Dickenson T. Geoscience data and collections preservation: What can the professional community do now? In: Dunn LG, editor. New heights in geoscience information: access and technology: Proceedings of the 37th meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, October 27–31, 2002, Denver, Colorado, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 2003. p. 11.

  22. Mili F. Trends in publishing academic grey literature: examples from economics. Int J Grey Lit 2000;1(4):157–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Musser LR. What geoscientists cite: a comparative study. In: Dunn LG, editor. New heights in geoscience information: access and technology: Proceedings of the 37th meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, October 27–31, 2002, Denver, Colorado, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 2003. p. 5–10.

  24. Natural Resources Canada. What is Karst? 2005. Geoscape Nanaimo: Geoscience for Central Vancouver Island Communities. 27 October 2005. <http://geoscape.nrcan.gc.ca/nanaimo/karst_e.php> (6 June 2006).

  25. Noga MM. Conference Proceedings in Geoscience Journals: What’s the Use? In: Joseph LE, editor. Geoscience Information Horizons: Challenges, Choices, and Decisions: Proceedings of the 38th Meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, November, 2–6, 2003, Seattle, WA, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 2004. p. 19–35.

  26. Osif BA. International transportation literature: an analysis of citation patterns, availability, and research implications to the transportation community. Int J Grey Lit 2000;1(4):149–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Osif BA. Transportation information: a review of grey literature by format, language, and availability. Int J Grey Lit 2000;1(1):12–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Savolainen R. Everyday life information seeking: approaching information seeking in the context of ‘Way of Life’. Libr Inform Sci Res 1995;17(3):259–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Scott MW. Status of bibliographic control of pre-1900 geoscience literature. In: Joseph LE, editor. Geoscience information horizons: challenges, choices, and decisions: Proceedings of the 38th meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, November, 2–6, 2003, Seattle, WA, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 2004. p. 105–08.

  30. Sulouff P, et al. Learning about grey literature by interviewing subject librarians. C&RL News 2005;66(7):510–5.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Walcott R. Guidebook problems from a librarian’s point of view. In: Ansari MB, editor. Frontiers in geoscience information: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the Geoscience Information Society, November 6–9, 1989, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Alexandria, VA: Geoscience Information Society; 1990. p. 185–92.

  32. Weintraub I. The role of grey literature in the sciences. 2000. Brooklyn College Library. <http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu/access/greyliter.htm> (15 July 2006).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd A. Chavez.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chavez, T.A., Perrault, A.H., Reehling, P. et al. The Impact of Grey Literature in Advancing Global Karst Research: An Information Needs Assessment for a Globally Distributed Interdisciplinary Community. Pub Res Q 23, 3–18 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-007-9007-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-007-9007-1

Keywords

Navigation