Sabina Cisek An Outline of Grey Literature as a Source of Business Information
	Department of Librarianship and Information Science, Jagiellonian University
	This article was translated thanks to the grant received from the Open Society Institute

This article consists of three parts. The first is devoted to the term grey literature, the second to business information, the third and last to certain aspects of their relationship.

The idea of grey literature.

The term "grey literature" appeared in foreign literature in the 1920s, while in Poland it was rather unknown until the 1990s.^[1] In 1999 in Warsaw, there was organised the 8th International Seminar, "Scientific and Technical Information in Central and Eastern Europe," where were presented proceedings on grey literature, and in 2000 there was published an article on this theme in "Zagadnienia Informacji Naukowej."^[2] Currently, work on grey literature is carried out by The Information Processing Centre (OPI), which amongst other things organises the Polish System of Information on Grey Literature POLSIGLE, co-operating with the international System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe SIGLE, which is managed by the European Association of the Users of Grey Literature EAGLE.^[3]

There are many descriptions of grey literature (also called non-conventional literature, or grey information^[4]), which differ a little from each other, but we can assume that the basic meaning of the term has been established. The Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature in October 1999 in Washington, DC defined grey literature as follows: "That which is produced on all levels of government, academic, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."^[5]In other words - grey literature is material which may include government, university, business or industrial reports not published commercially. On the webpage of The Information Processing Centre (OPI) we can read about various kinds of non-conventional and difficult-to-obtain documents, including:

• Technical, economic and social reports prepared by private or public institutions;
• Conference proceedings not published and not available through normal book-selling channels;
• Standards, and technical contracts;
• Unpublished translations;
• Articles printed in journals, published in small numbers, available only locally;
• Certain institutional reports;
• Advertising, and promotional technical reports;
• Electronic documents.^[6]

Grey literature offers a number of advantages:

• Greater speed of dissemination compared to other publications, e.g. conference proceedings disseminated during a conference;
• Completeness of information - items included in grey literature are often more detailed than those published later in official journals, e.g. detailed descriptions of research, with each stage described in the technical notes but not necessarily in the final report;
• Uniqueness of information - a large part of material included in grey literature will never be published commercially.

Business information

Business information has existed in world-wide librarianship, but especially in America, for about a hundred years. For instance, the first centre for business information in a public library was opened in 1904 in Newark, New Jersey.^[7] In Poland, on the other hand, the interest in business information (in the form it is now, as a sphere of library and professional information) dates from the early 1990s. Those years triggered radical economic, political and technological changes that influenced new information needs, like the situation in the market, amongst other things. These days business information has its own special place in the work of librarians. The effect is that there is special business information available in public libraries, such as in the Wojewodzka Biblioteka Publiczna in Cracow. Similarly, in some places like the Department of Librarianship and Information Science, there are lectures devoted to business information, which has been on the curriculum since 1993.

The necessary detailed description of "business information," its terms, users, type of sources, etc., can be found in previous publications of the present author.^[8] Here there will be introduced only an outline, but in such a way as to help understand the usefulness of grey literature.

What does the term "business information" mean? First of all, similarly to "scientific information" or "technical information," it points to:

1. Certain informational activity;
2. News, contents associated with business.

This article concentrates on the latter descriptive phrase. Note that the term "business information" is used here in preference to "trade information," since the latter could be confused with exchanging information.

In the sphere of business information there are organisations that differ from one another according to their different functions in fulfilling the needs of various users, their range of activities, etc. Among them are special branches of public libraries, trade information centres in big firms, or rival intelligence professionals. In addition, in the professional literature we can find different ways of understanding business information. Yet, the present author thinks that, simply speaking, there are two discernible approaches: we can talk about information about business, and information for business. Thus, business information is, firstly, information about the economy in broad terms, in other words "business" subjectively and generally speaking. Secondly, it is information directed at firms; the news needed to achieve the aims of firms' profit-making activities, in other words for business in a functional and practical sense.

In library practice, particularly with reference to public libraries, information on business is understood as information on economic and related themes. This data and news is useful for everybody. These who apply for a job can get to know about self-presentation, writing curriculum vitae, and their future employers. The currency rate, stock and shares, and analysis of the financial situation of listed companies are a matter of interest to investors whether big or small. The usefulness of information about various products and services (especially expensive ones) is obvious. Information about taxes and tax reductions, legal advice, security issues, etc., are further examples of the direction of information needs.

Information for business. From the point of view of firms (and some non-commercial organisations), this means news whose scope and content is in effect free, but helping and serving the firm to fulfil its objectives. Business information in this form touches all that is going on "beyond" the given concern - and this has or may have an influence on its functioning. It may be data on competitors, the structure of a market, administrative law - but also on customs, people, or the political situation, etc. We can distinguish two basic spheres of applying business information in a concern: current problem-solving, and long-term strategic planning. In the first case information assists in taking everyday decisions. For example, it allows observation and solution of potential problems, taking advantage of others' achievements, estimating results, and avoidance of expensive errors and mistakes. Strategic planning, on the other hand, is the area of an office's activity where business information is crucial. Gathered information may be used, among other things, to estimate the situation in the market, track competitors' action, follow trends in domestic and foreign trade, and foresee legal and political changes that could influence the firm's activities.

Business information has three features. Firstly, the sources of business information (printed, electronic, and others) have a derivative character. Business information differs from commercial inquiry (such as market analysis) in that it is in fact available to all potential users (though that does not necessarily mean that it is easily accessible). Secondly, economic news is very quickly outdated, so information that is current (in real time, accessible to users as it occurs) is preferable to what is retrospective. Thirdly, there are very high requirements with respect to reliability, and truthfulness.

In practice we can distinguish some general divisions in business information:

1. Business meta-information: information about business information. Here are included, for instance, monographs and guides on a librarian's job in a trading company, directories about business information centres, bibliographies, encyclopaedias and dictionaries, general and special Internet portals;
2. Information about firms (institutions, organisations) and trade. This covers, amongst other things, address data, firms' ranking, catalogues and trade services, information for small and mid-size factories, information about commercial companies;
3. Information about the market. Including information about people, and social groups (demographic data, customers' activity etc.); information about market participation - company trademarks; information about advertising - advertisement agencies, organisations connected with advertisements, law, promotion, advertisement costs, etc.;
4. Financial information (information for investors). This means information about stocks, credits, money, bank products, insurance, etc.;
5. Information about products and services. For example, commodity exchanges, fairs, exhibitions, trade classifications, products, services, goods, and product rankings. This kind of information helps patent, trademark, and pattern protection, and in chasing new technical solutions. And, not least, in choosing a firm's most suitable purchases, taking into account features, prices, and suppliers.
6. General information. This is in regard to the economic situation in a specific country. The level of inflation, national income, economic growth, tax system, political changes, etc., and reports about its culture, customs, and traditions;
7. Other kinds of information. Those that can be helpful in a firm's activity. (Sometimes it is news completely unconnected with economic problems; unlikely things like the rules of a sport, or recipes.)

Grey literature as a source of business information

Sources of business information, both Polish and foreign, create a huge and varied information collection. They can be organised, for example, by financial barrier (cost), source status, and information content. On the basis of the previously mentioned criteria and descriptions of grey literature and trade information, the present author has categorised sources of business information. This suggestion is not a strict classification, rather it is inspired by practical considerations. In the table are groups of sources of business information and examples of documents included in grey literature.

Criterion	Groups of sources	Examples of grey literature documents
Financial barrier	Free of charge	Advertisement materials of insurance companies Free of charge Internet resources
	To be paid	Analysis prepared by the specialists, e.g. financial or marketing
Form	Printed	Leaflets informing about bank loans
	Electronic	Free of charge Internet resources
	People and institutions	---
	Others	Business handouts, or on video cassettes
The status of a supplier	Official	Some official documents, e.g. council documents, local reports, protocols, website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange
	Not official, including commercial	Reports prepared by brokers at clients' request
Information scope and content	Business meta-information: information about business information	Internet portals regarding business information Materials (leaflets, subject specifications) prepared in business information departments, or in public libraries
	Information about firms and branches	Telephone directories Technical specifications, annual reports of listed companies, some in-house reports
	Information about markets	Market research reports Demographic data
	Financial information	Internet currency converters Information about share issues
	Information about products and services	Webpages of stock exchanges Exhibition and fair catalogues
	General exchange	Webpages regarding different countries' economies
	Other kinds of information	Restaurant menus, concert programmes

Publications belonging to grey literature, as shown in the table above, occur mostly among sources of economic information. But they add more because of special features (completeness, topicality, and uniqueness) - in accordance with our valid expectations towards business information in specific situations.

This article is intended as a preface to research into the subject of the role of grey literature in business information, and as an invitation to further discussion.

Footnotes

[1] W. Pindlowa, S. Cisek: Grey Literature as an Information Source for Small and Medium-sized Business. [In:] 8th International Scientific and Technical Information in Central and Eastern Europe. Proceedings of the Seminar. Warsaw 1999. pp. 47-53.

[2] A. Strojek: Znaczenie terminu szara literatura. Zagadnienia Informacji Naukowej 2000 no 1, pp. 64-76.

[3] Krajowy System Informacji o Szarej Literaturze POLSIGLE. Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji [on-line]. 2002 [Warsaw]: Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji [accessible from 10th November 2002]. http://www.opi.org.pl The European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation. In EAGLE [on-line]. 2002 [EU]: The European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation [accessible from 10th November 2002]. http://www.kb.nl/infolev/eagle/frames.htm

[4] W. Pindlowa, S. Cisek: Grey Literature, pp. 47-53

[5] What is Grey Literature? In The New York Academy of Medicine - Library [on-line]. 2002 [New York]: The New York Academy of Medicine - Library [available from 10th November 2002]. http://www.nyam.org/library/index.shtml

[6] Krajowy System Informacji o Szarej Literaturze POLSIGLE. In Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji [on-line]. 2002 [Warszawa]: Ośrodek Przetwarzania Informacji [accessible from 10th November 2002]. http://www.opi.org.pl The European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation. In EAGLE [on-line]. 2002 [EU]: The European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation [accessible from 10 November 2002]. http://www.kb.nl/infolev/eagle/frames.htm

[7] M. C. Manley (ed.): Business and the public library. Steps in successful cooperation. New York 1940, p. 9.

[8] S. Arcisz: Potrzeby informacyjne w gospodarce rynkowej. [In:] III Krajowe Forum Informacji Naukowej i Techniczne, Jastrzębie-Zdrój 29.05. - 2.06. 1995. Materiały konferencyjne. Warsaw 1995. pp. 54-58.; S. Arcisz: Informacja biznesowa i jej użytkownicy w bibliotekach publicznych na Zachodzie. Biuletyn Informacyjno-Instrukcyjny WBP in Cracow 1996 no 1 (185), pp. 17-26.; S. Arcisz, Internet jako źródło informacji biznesowej. [In:] IV Krajowe Forum Informacji Naukowej i Technicznej, Zakopane 2 - 5 September 1997. Materiały Konferencyjne. Warsaw 1998. pp. 303-308.; S. Cisek: Informacja biznesowa dla społeczności lokalnych. [In:] Społeczeństwo informacyjne w perspektywie nowego tysiąclecia. Materiały z V Krajowego Forum Informacji Naukowej i Technicznej. Zakopane 18-21 October 1999. Warsaw 2000. pp. 82-86.; S. Cisek: Polskie publikacje elektroniczne w informacji o firmach. Projekt portalu bibliotecznego. [In:] Elektroniczne publikacje w bibliotekach. Cracow 2002. pp. 152-158.

Translated by Jolanta Wróbel