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ITM755 - ICT & Sustainability

Grey Literature

"Grey literature (or gray literature) is materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Common grey literature publication types include reports (annual, research, technical, project, etc.), working papers, government documents, white papers and evaluations. Organizations that produce grey literature include government departments and agencies, civil society or non-governmental organizations, academic centres and departments, and private companies and consultants". 

Wikipedia - Grey Literature

Though the Library acquires books related to ICT and sustainability, many of the publications on this topic fall into the category of grey literature, particularly government documents and reports published by associations and NGO's generally.  The following guides highlight approaches to searching for grey literature:

Finding Grey Literature
Grey literature: What it is & how to find it
Grey Matters: a practical tool for searching health-related grey literature
Quick Summary: What is Grey Literature?
What Is Grey Literature?
 

Grey Literature & Advanced Google Searching

Advanced Google searches can be used to identify grey literature from the variety of sources.  Limiting search results by filtype:pdf (to ensure that full-text documents are retrieved) and by site (e.g. site:.gc.ca) are two basic approaches to searching that can be very effective.

Advanced Google searches can be conducted using the Google's Advanced Search interface or by inserting commands and operators into a standard Google search.

The following guides and videos illustrate approaches to conducting advanced Google searches using commands and operators:

Advanced Google Search
Advanced Google Search Tips
Google Search Education - Live Trainings (videos)
Expert Googling: Best Practices and Advanced Strategies for Using Google in Health Sciences Libraries (article)
How to Google with Advanced Search Operators (video)
Using Google advanced search to find (Canadian) government publications (video)