International Cooperation in Dissemination of Grey Literature using the INTERNET: A Protocol

The demand for the grey literature issued in Japan is strong and has been growing. However, the most problematic aspect for the unpublished information in Japan has been, as the description "difficult-to-obtain information" indicates, its timely acquisition. The Japan Documentation Center, established in the Library of Congress as a part of the solution to this problem, collects and disseminates Japanese grey literature in the areas of policy research, draft legislation, business and economics, environment, and national defense. The Center's Tokyo facility staff actually goes to collect those documents on foot. We prepare the bibliographic data sheet with English abstract for each of those documents. Those documents are then scanned and stored in optical disks. The bibliographic information contained on the datasheets is available on the INTERNET. All the communications between users and the Center are made electronically and finally the printed documents are delivered to the users. Obstacles of distance and time are thus minimized. The Center was established in the Library of Congress, with a large grant of the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. It should also be noted that the Japan National Diet Library, which is the largest collector of Japan's grey literature, cooperates and makes special efforts in supplying available documents to the Center. The Japan Documentation Center's scale is small and its focus is narrow. However, this is one of the ideal ways for effective acquisition and timely dissemination of the specific types of information which would otherwise be difficult to manage. It is accomplished only through the combination of experts' knowledge and experience, funding, international cooperation, and most importantly the capability to utilize electronic transmission of data.Includes : Conference preprint, Pratt student commentaryXAInternationa