GREY LITERATURE IN A DIGITAL AGE: WHAT AND WHERE IS IT?

Over the years the essential nature of grey literature has changed very little. While the Internet provides multiple access points, it also provides more places for grey literature to be lost. The importance of grey literature in the geological sciences cannot be denied and yet grey literature still lives its shadowy existence. It is not indexed systematically or comprehensively, may not be digitized, and consequently receives minimal exposure to researchers. Grey literature continues to proliferate locally, nationally and internationally by governments, researchers, and commercial entities. In spite of understanding the importance of grey literature, collection and preservation of these print and digital documents remains a sketchy process. The value of grey literature needs exposure because its information is unique, contemporaneous, and therefore vital to researchers and interested laypersons.