on 3/22/07 11:03 PM, Gaye Nayton at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> The British are ahead of both America and Australia with the issue of grey
> literature on-line. See the e-mail below: I tried to interest Western
> Australian heritage but just got bureaucratic stonewalling.
> 
> Gaye
> 
> We're pleased to announce the release of 16 new reports within the Library
> of Unpublished fieldwork - the 'Grey Literature Library'.  This brings the
> current number of reports up to 360.
> 
> http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/greylit/index.cfm
> 
> These new reports are typically diverse in nature and size, ranging from a
> short note about fieldwork at a 2nd World War gun emplacement in Lewes,
> Sussex( http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/greylit/details.cfm?ID=1379)
> to field walking that recovered Roman artefacts in the area of Settrington
> in Ryedale
> (http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/greylit/details.cfm?ID=1376
> 
> The reports in this latest batch include material from  a number from units
> the OASIS data supply form, such as AOC Archaeology, Foundations Archaeology
> and Wessex Archaeology together with first-time submission reports from East
> Sussex County Council, The Heritage Network and Sutton Archaeological
> Services.  All can be consulted online
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tim Thompson" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 7:27 AM
> Subject: Julie's query
> 
> 
>> Mike Stewart suggested a web-based database for grey literature, and one
>> is badly needed. Perhaps ACRA could support this. If every contractor set
>> aside a small amount from the background research section of their
>> contract to support this, this could generate some funds. Don't know how
>> an audit would look at this, but it seems to me to be a legitimate use for
>> background research funds and a legitimate function for ACRA or possibly
>> even ROPA? It could be set up as a subscription service if there were a
>> question about this -- i.e. you contribute on a per-contract basis,
>> including your report if it's not already on file, via a standard
>> subscription for research.
>> 
>> Educational and Government institutions might have some fiscal
>> difficulties contribution to this on a 'per-contract' basis, but it could
>> be structured as scholarship or internship program, which might, or might
>> not, satisfy institutional bean-counters.
>> 
>> Does anybody remember NADB? I didn't think so -- the agencies doing the
>> work are not supporting it. We need something that works.
>> 
>> Tim T.
>> Like Mike, I've got boxes of grey stuff from T-Bird
>> 


    List -  I think we could more accurately refer to this so-called gray
literature as "Fugitive Literature."  And yes it is truly amazing how
reluctant those in power in traditional paper-based institutions are to at
the very least scanning the text and  putting it on CD's, much less a
searchable data base.

Joe Dent
American University