Policy Development for Grey Literature Resources: An Assessment of the Pisa Declaration

In the spring of 2014, a workshop took place at the Italian National Council of Research in Pisa . The topic of this event dealt with policy development for grey literature resources. Some seventy participants from nine countries took an active part in the workshop – the outcome of which produced what is today known as the Pisa Declaration . This fifteen point document arising from the input of those who attended the workshop sought to provide a roadmap that would help to serve diverse communities involved in research, publication and the management of grey literature both in electronic and print formats.The Pisa Declaration has been translated and published in some twenty languages. They are all accessible online via the GreyGuide Repository and Portal . Currently, 140 information professionals from renowned organizations worldwide have endorsed this document .In an effort to assess the impact that the Pisa Declaration has had during the last two years on the policy development for grey literature resources, an online survey among those who endorsed the document was carried out and their responses were analysed. Descriptive statistics and short summaries are used to describe the basic features of the data collected. They are combined with simple graphics that offer easier visual representation of the results achieved.Specific results of the survey analysis indicate those points in the Pisa Declaration that in varying degrees are of relevance and importance to grey literature, as well as points that need further attention and work. Although integral part of library and information management practice grey literature has its own peculiarities and needs that require special attention in order to reach its deserved level of importance in today’s research and other activities.

2014年春季，意大利国家研究委员会（Italian National Council of Research）举办了一场研讨会，本次研讨会的主题聚焦灰色文献（grey literature）资源的政策制定工作。来自9个国家的约70名参会者积极参与了此次研讨，最终产出了如今广为人知的《比萨宣言（Pisa Declaration）》。这份包含15项条款的文件，基于参会者的研讨成果，旨在为涉及电子与印刷版灰色文献的研究、出版及管理的多元群体提供行动指南。《比萨宣言》已被翻译成约20种语言并正式出版，所有语言版本均可通过灰色指南仓储与门户（GreyGuide Repository and Portal）在线获取。目前，来自全球知名机构的140名信息专业人士已签署认可该宣言。为评估《比萨宣言》近两年来对灰色文献资源政策制定产生的影响，研究团队面向该宣言的签署者开展了一项在线调查，并对回收的问卷结果进行了分析。研究采用描述性统计方法与简要摘要，对所采集数据的基本特征进行阐释，并结合简洁的可视化图表以更直观地呈现调研所得成果。本次调查分析的具体结果，明确了《比萨宣言》中不同程度对灰色文献具有相关性与重要性的条款，以及仍需进一步关注与完善的内容。尽管灰色文献是图书馆与信息管理实践中不可或缺的组成部分，但其自身具有独特属性与专属需求，需获得针对性关注，方能在当今研究及其他相关活动中获得应有的重视地位。