1 1999-10-10 Dr hab. Wanda Pindlowa, Ph.D. Mgr Sabina Cisek, M. LIS, M. Phil. Institute of Librarianship and Information Science Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
GREY LITERATURE AS AN INFORMATION SOURCE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESS
The aim of that presentation is: - to name different types of grey literature, - to describe them shortly and – to indicate their usefulness in the context of business information needs. Our paper consists of three parts. In the first one we discuss the meaning of the term “grey literature”, the second one presents a few general issues regarding grey literature in Poland. In the third part - grey literature as used for business information for small and medium size enterprises (SME) is considered.
WHAT IS GREY LITERATURE? To start with, it is worth noting that the definition of “grey literature” has been around at least since the 1920’s, though in Poland the expression “grey literature” is not widespread and remains rather unknown. Of course, grey literature itself appears as a source of information and - depending on its type - is utilized to a greater or lesser degree. There are many descriptions and practical definitions of “grey literature”, “non-conventional literature” or “grey information” in the world literature. Recently launched “International Journal on Grey Literature” [http://www.mcb.co.uk.ijgl.htm ; 99-10-02] says:
2 “Grey Literature is that which is produced at all levels by government, academia, business and industry, both in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishing interests, and where publishing is not the primary business activity of the organization. Grey Literature (...) encompasses a vast range of information types such as policy documents, corporate reports, data sets from academic and corporate research, university theses and dissertations, technical reports and conference proceedings. Despite being of great importance to researchers, such information has often been hard to identify and access, and thus undervalued”.
Library Link and GreyNet (Grey Literature Network Services) [http://www.mcb.co.uk/services/conferen/webforum/greynet-liblinkforum/ ; 99-10-02] give the following examples of grey literature: dissertations, theses, reports, preprints, proceedings, websites, virtual discussions, datasets, newsletters, working papers, speeches, technical documentation, etc. Other definitions state that “grey literature” is: “... material not issued through normal commercial publishing channels and therefore difficult to access. It includes scientific and technical reports, translations, theses, conference papers, house journals, trade literature and official documents. The degree of ‘greyness’ varies.”
“... non-commercial, limited edition publication not available through the book trade, nor registered in the national bibliography, and having poor bibliographic details”. 1
GREY LITERATURE IN POLAND Among the types of grey literature most frequently appearing in Poland are: patents, standards, regulations, research findings, doctoral works, theses and dissertations, conference papers, experts’ reports, government bulletins, bulletins published by various institutions, business 1
B. C. Carroll, G. A. Cotter, A new generation of grey literature: the impact of advanced
information technologies, “Publishing Research Quarterly” 1997, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 7.
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publications, minutes of various committees and organizations, travel information, translations, leaflets, etc. ... and – what was specific for Poland during the communist period – so called “underground literature”. Generally speaking, grey literature in Poland can be grouped according to: a) field, b) organization of information, c) format – in relation to a given source. a) There are five types: business (trade literature, company reports, in-house publications, promotion materials, press releases, etc.) government and authorities (central and local) (policy statements, regulations, plans of future developments, projects, location schemes, etc.) “hard sciences”, technology, industry (patents, standards) mixed (scholarly educational material, research reports, habilitation works, doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, licentiate projects, experts’ reports, etc.) social life (“underground literature”, leaflets – theatre programs, posters, death notices, railway or bus time-tables, etc.) b) Centralized systems – patents, standards, published conference proceedings, habilitation works, dissertations, etc. Decentralized systems – “underground literature”, master’s theses, licentiate projects, etc. c)Grey literature may occur in printed, audiovisual, etc. and electronic formats. With the rapid development of Internet - grey literature has witnessed a rebirth. “Government organizations, business and industry, as well as academic institutions have come to view themselves a s publishers of grey literature. Their reports, working papers, and policy statements are
4 no longer available only to a limited few in printed form, but are published electronically and are available in networked environments for unlimited retrieval.” 2
The main problems in collecting, accessing and utilization of grey literature in Poland are: Grey literature – (with the exception of the Internet-based information) - is difficult to search, identify and acquire There is no one method for processing different kinds of grey literature Potential users possess little knowledge as to what types of grey literature exist and where (libraries, information centers) those can be found.
Grey literature - with the exception of patents, standards, published conference reports and habilitation and doctoral works – does not have an accepted national standard bibliographic description - nor a single dedicated information center. In addition, there are no patent centers in the countryside, i.e. the northeast part of Poland, a few new patent centers lack professional personnel, there are problems with adequate computer equipment available to network with the Patent Office for proper data distribution. Furthermore, it is rather difficult to find trade literature and unpublished conference papers because only a fraction of these products is registered in databases and information as to where these are lacks. And – the last but not least - the language barrier stands in the way of international dissemination of information on grey literature.
2
D. J. Farace, Rise of the Phoenix: a review of new forms and exploitations of grey literature ,
“Publishing Research Quarterly” 1997, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 69.
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GREY LITERATURE FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION One can imagine that in certain circumstances all mentioned types of grey literature may be of use for SME (small and medium size enterprises). Even, say, theater program could become useful for a business person, for example one wanting to meet their important clients or strategic partners outside the office. In the following section we describe chosen examples of grey literature in the context of their value as business information sources. Of course, usefulness of a particular source depends also on a given industry sector. For instance, a pub manager is not likely to need scholarly conference proceedings, but she or he may well be interested in, say, local government regulations or competitors advertising kits. On the contrary, a high-tech company employees may be concerned mainly with conference reports, patents, etc.
Business publications (corporate literature) A lot of useful information come from firms themselves. Such sources are especially important when looking for so-called company information, that is – information about other companies (i.e. potential clients, partners, suppliers or competitors). Among these sources are: annual reports, documents connected with a share issue, in-house publications, product / service catalogs, promotion material (advertisements, leaflets, press release kits, etc.), and, of course, the Internet-based information (company and industry websites, discussion lists, etc.). Annual reports are particularly informative, because they give data that must be disclosed by law – and – usually much more. These
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encompass director’s report, accounts, sales, description of products, names of executives, plans for the future, etc. “The larger companies issue many statements for publication in the media (...). Such press releases may contain unique information, but are fugitive documents. They can be picked up if they are reported in the media. To access them the news sources should be used.” 3 (For example – NewsTrawler www.newstrawler.com
on the Web as well as commercial information services like DIALOG). Another valuable information sources are trade literature and product / service catalogs. These range from one-page leaflets to thick publications. “In addition to details of the company’s products or services, it may well reveal other useful data, such as prices, research and development in progress, location of production units, laboratories or sales offices, names of sales st aff, and so on. (...) Trade literature is usually free.” 4
Business publications of the mentioned kind are not always easy to locate, especially for SME employees. Product catalogs tend to be collected by technical libraries, professional libraries, corpor ate information centers or research and development institution connected to a given industry. In effect, access to them is often limited, partly because of the lack of tertiary, directing information. As for annual reports, share issue documents, etc. access seems to be easier. These can be obtain from stockbrokers offices and inquired companies themselves. Trade associations and chambers of commerce may also be of use here. In addition, some of such material is collected and made accessible in the Business Information Department of the County Public Library in Cracow.
3
M. E. Burke, H. Hall, Navigating business information sources. A practical guide for information
managers, London 1998, p. 129. 4
M. E. Burke, H. Hall, op. cit., p. 129, 130.
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Of course, the Internet becomes - more and more – the main carrier of corporate literature. Company websites frequently offer contact information, names, lists of products, prices, business policy statements, job adverts, etc. When searching for company information one can start using universal search engines or “portal sites” (international - AltaVista, AskJeeves, HotBot, Lycos, etc., and Polish – Virtual Poland www.wp.pl or OptimusNet www.onet.pl and others), but taking advantage of specialized, business-oriented metasites seems more efficient (for example Annual Report Gallery www.reportgallery.com , Business Information Sources on the Internet www.dis.strath.ac.uk/business/ , CEO Express www.ceoexpress.com , Krislyn’s Strictly Business Sites www.krislyn.com/sites.html , and in Poland – Wirtualny Serwis Ekonomiczny www.prorexim.com , Ekonomia i gospodarka w Internecie firmy.ic.net.pl/gospodarka ).
Conference reports There is a considerable demand for that type of sources because conference papers frequently tend to offer the quality of something really new (i.e. point to newly undertaken research). In the meantime, that information is difficult to come by. Conference participants keep the information in their private collections or own laboratories and offices, not turning it over to libraries, even though a conference fee is often paid by the university or other institution. Conference proceedings – if published – are not likely to be easily accessible through the usual bookstore route, but they may be sometimes accessible via Internet. The beginning of a system of gathering information on conference proceedings in Poland – called SYMPO – dates from 1984 (the initiative of the Warsaw Polytechnic). The database contains mainly information about materials of conferences that took place after 1980. Retrospective data has not been included. At the beginning the database SYMPO
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registered only conference reports on technology, mathematics, and natural sciences, but later it has been broadened to include social sciences (sociology, psychology, library and information science). However, there are conference materials outside of that system (that are copied only – not published – and access to them is very difficult).
Local authorities (government) publications That is easy to imagine that local government documents may be of use for small business. Information included in location schemes, projects, regulations, reports can be vital for business development. Problems of information for local societies (including local bussiness communities) are not well recognized in Poland. That subject will be a matter of debate at the coming “V Forum for Scientific and Technical Information” in Zakopane.
Patents, utility models, trade marks (brands), etc. Patents, utility models, trade marks (brands, trade names), etc. as sources of information in Poland are “grey” only to some extent, because they are published and information about them is usually available. Patents and related objects are universally understood - by information professionals - not only as technical information sources but also as sources of business information. “As form of monopoly a patent is a restraint on trade; moreover, patents themselves are commercial property, which can be bought and sold (...). Patent protection over a longish period is vital, for example, in a pharmaceutical industry (...). Industrial application [of patents] refers to the fact that an invention must relate to some useful objects or process (...).” “Brands are of tremendous commercial significance and value. Advertisers spend enormous sums of money to promote a brand image and to create brand loyalty among their customers. A good brand is a valuable piece of commercial property,
9 and companies may take over other businesses partly in order to gain possession of a brand. The fact that unscrupulous firms will copy or imitate a well -known brand on their own (...) goods is itself a tribute to the power of that brand” 5
The Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (Urząd Patentowy RP) grants patents for inventions, protective rights for utility models and ornamental design, and also registers the topographies of integrated circuits, as well as trademarks. In addition, the Patent Office publishes various information sources on patents, utility models, trademarks, etc. both Polish and foreign. Their homepages [http://up.ci.uw.edu.pl/] [http://www.arsinfo.pl/arspatent/] offer information both in Polish [http://up.ci.uw.edu.pl/pl/01.html] and English [http://up.ci.uw.edu.pl/eng/00.html] languages.
Let us quote their website: „In order to meet the needs of national users, the Office has, using computer IBM 3090, owned by the Informatic Center of the University of Warsaw, installed patent data bases with the possibility of their remote use. These are the bases: INFPOL, INFPAT, MARPOL, MARMAD.
Information on inventions and utility models is accessible in the following data bases: INFPOL - the base contains information on patents for inventions and protective rights for utility models granted in Poland, as well as on published applications that have not yet been granted protection. Bibliographic data processed in the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland are the source of information for the INFPOL data base. INFPAT - the base contains information on patent documents from 15 countries and from international organizations (BG,CH,CS,CU,DD,DE,EP,FR,GB,HU,MN,RO,SU,US,VN,WO, and from new patent offices on the territories of the former SU and CS), as well as patent documents wit h
5
M. E. Burke, H. Hall, op. cit., p. 211, 213, 234.
10 priority in one of the above mentioned countries. Information on international patents is delivered to the INFPAT data base through the European Patent Office from its branch in Vienna (EPIDOS - former INPADOC).
Information on trademarks is available in the following data bases: MARPOL - the base contains information on verbal and figurative trademarks protected in Poland, filed under national law; MARMAD - the base contains information on verbal and figurative trademarks protected in Poland, filed under the Madrid Agreement. (...) Production of ESPACE PRECES and ACCESS-PRECES optical discs has been started in cooperation with the European Patent Office and patent offices of Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria. The discs contain, among others , publications of Polish patent specifications... . (...) The Polish Patent Office in co-operation with the patent offices of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia offers, updated quarterly, complete (textual and graphic) information on all trademarks registered in Bulgaria (from 1952), Czech Republic (from 1859), Hungary (from 1970), Poland (from 1924), Romania (from 1908) and Slovakia (from 1900) [database TRACES].
Collections of Polish and foreign patents are available in several centers in Poland. The University of Mining and Metallurgy Library in Krakow is one of these institutions. It has been handling information on patents for a long time, having both foreign ones as well as a full description of Polish patents.
Standards Standards and regulations affect private and public safety, social control and business economy. They are used by trade associations, government departments and companies. Benefits offered by standards
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are: safety, economy and simplification of procedure. Many fi rms invest in quality control systems to the quality standards ISO 9000 and further. Technical standards specify quality of materials, performance requirements, method of production, etc. of a given product. “[Codes of practice] specify (...) a standarized way of doing something, for example approved methods of installing domestic electric wiring. Codes of practice are common in building and construction and in service industries.” 6
The Polish Committee for Standarization (Polski Komitet Normalizacyjny – PKN) sets industry standards in Poland - and disseminates information on national, international and foreign standards [http://www.pkn.pl]. Publications (printed and electronic) on standards are available in some information centers (for example - The Polish Committee for Standarization - Information and Documentation Center in Warsaw, its branches in Katowice and Łódź, information “points” in Gdańsk, Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław) - and - in designated and authorized by PKN bookstores (Gliwice, Szczecin). The main information source - “Catalog of Polish Standards” (Katalog Norm Polskich) – is published in Polish and English. Small and medium size enterprises may order customized, tailored to their needs extracts from the “Catalog” (chosen industries, etc.). “Poradnik ISO 9000 dla małych firm” (a guide on ISO 9000 for small business) – giving advice how to develop quality management systems in SME - is another publication of great value. In searching for standards one can use the databases of the POLINORM system, containing description of Polish standards, and also foreign databases – PERINORM, INFODISC and CELEX – in which
6 6
M. E. Burke, H. Hall, op. cit., p. 243-245.
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bibliographic data as well as national and international standards can be found.
Internet Internet is an enornous – and relatively – unexpensive - source of business information. Not everything that is on the Net can be called “grey literature”. Well organized megasites, electronic journals, fee -based services etc. offered by commercial publishers on the Web do not always fulfil the definition of grey literature. That subjects might be a matter of further discussion. At the moment, let us point out only one, not mentioned yet, type of - useful for SME - Internet-based grey literature, that is discussion lists, news groups, etc. In some circumstances those can be the fastest and most reliable information sources. The best list for international business information is called BUSLIB-L [
[email protected]].
TO SUM UP , our presentation indicated possibilities of using grey literature for small business information purposes. That question calls for further research and consideration, because of two reasons. First of all, there is no doubt that various types of grey literature are of importance for small and medium size enterprises. Secondly, it is expected - that grey literature will dominate over the “white” one - in the nearest future – both as far as its amount and variety are concerned.
