Purpose

The aim of this study is to identify the status of managing gray literature (GL) in medical science libraries in terms of three dimensions, collection development, organization and dissemination.

Design/methodology/approach

In this survey study, a structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions and consisted of six sections (demographic characteristics, the use of the term GL, types of GL, collection development, organization and dissemination). In total, 50 librarians from 15 medical science libraries participated in this study. The questionnaires were distributed manually to librarians by visiting libraries. All the librarians filled in the questionnaires. It should be noted that descriptive statistics and Excel and SPSS software were used for data analysis.

Findings

The results of using the term GL showed that 68 per cent of librarians use the source name itself. Most GL in libraries were theses (94 per cent). Moreover, a review of the status of GL collection showed that 60 per cent of libraries had written instructions for providing these resources. A total of 62 per cent of librarians stated that there is a GL selection committee in their library and the librarian is the most important member of the collection department. A total of 40 per cent of libraries were weeding GL. The most common way of obtaining GL was through deposition. The analysis of the status of GL organization indicated that 80 per cent of libraries had GL organization. A total of 90 per cent of libraries had digitized GL, and that librarians played a large role in organizing such resources. Evaluation of the dissemination of GL showed that all libraries have enabled users to access GL. In most libraries, users were only allowed to use GL in the library, and it was not possible to copy GL. Students and faculty members were the most important users of GL. Informing through the library website and the parent organization was the most important way of informing about these resources.

Originality/value

GL is one of the most important resources in medical and non-medical academic libraries. In this study, for the first time, the status of GL management in Iranian libraries of medical sciences was investigated. The results of this study can be useful for policymakers and managers of medical and non-medical libraries.

中文翻译：

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伊朗医学图书馆的灰色文献管理

目的

本研究的目的是从三个方面，馆藏发展，组织和传播方面确定医学图书馆中灰色文献（GL）的管理状况。

设计/方法/方法

在这项调查研究中，使用了结构化的问卷。问卷包括30个问题，包括六个部分（人口统计学特征，总称术语的使用，总称类型，馆藏发展，组织和传播）。总共有15个医学图书馆的50位馆员参加了这项研究。通过访问图书馆将问卷手工分发给图书馆员。所有的图书馆员都填写了问卷。应该注意的是，描述性统计以及Excel和SPSS软件用于数据分析。

发现

使用GL一词的结果表明，有68％的馆员使用了来源名称本身。图书馆中的大多数总账都是论文（94％）。此外，对总帐收藏状况的审查表明，有60％的图书馆有提供这些资源的书面说明。共有62％的馆员表示，他们的图书馆中设有GL选择委员会，而馆员是馆藏部门中最重要的成员。共有40％的图书馆在除草GL。获得GL的最常见方法是通过沉积。对GL组织状态的分析表明，80％的图书馆都有GL组织。总计90％的图书馆已将GL数字化，而图书馆员在组织此类资源方面发挥了重要作用。对GL传播的评估表明，所有图书馆都使用户能够访问GL。在大多数库中，只允许用户在库中使用GL，并且无法复制GL。学生和教职员工是GL最重要的用户。通过图书馆网站和上级组织进行通知是告知这些资源的最重要方法。

创意/价值

GL是医学和非医学学术图书馆中最重要的资源之一。在本研究中，首次调查了伊朗医学图书馆中GL管理的状况。这项研究的结果对于医学和非医学图书馆的政策制定者和管理者可能是有用的。