TextRelease

     As the internet becomes increasingly grey and every cloud now has a grey lining, there arises the need to address a new and challenging wave of textual and non-textual grey literature. GL17 will examine a number of new types of textual grey literature both web-based and submerged in the sea of social networks. No less attention will be drawn to the expanding quantity of non-textual grey literature accessible in visual, audio, and diverse data formats and frequencies.

Actually, in order to grasp this new wave of grey literature it may be even more advantageous to look at the convergence of these new types of textual and non-textual content rather than focus separately on each. The problems textual grey literature faced and addressed over the past quarter century are to a certain extent very similar to what non-textual grey literature faces today. The wide range of graphics, photographs, and other data-intensive grey literature is obscure, hard to find, and often short lived because it lacks proper indexing and sustained access. Such non-textual grey literature requires interpretation and documentation, which can in part be achieved by linking and crosslinking to their related textual counterparts. In this way, grey literature becomes leveraged and its value and return on investment made transparent.
 
While bridging textual and non-textual content is technically possible, it also requires an information policy in place that supports these new digital assets. Likewise, information professionals and practitioners must be able to (re)appropriate human resources and streamline their workflow in innovative ways. These should allow for content and feedback generated in social networks and in particular the information communities served.

The Seventeenth International Conference on Grey Literature welcomes authors and researchers to share their experience and vision on how to channel this new wave of grey literature by responding  to the GL17 Call for Papers.