A proposed framework for understanding corporate grey literature of the twentieth century

This article argues that descriptions of business grey literature are inadequate and do not take into account the vast scope of such materials, particularly those generated by large, long-established multinational corporations and government agencies. Using the IBM Corporation’s activities as a model, a broader definition is proposed with a framework that can be used by scholars, librarians, and archivists to understand this class of publications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Library & Information History
Published
2025-08-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3366/lih.2025.0197
Primary Topic
Optics and Image Analysis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

A proposed framework for understanding corporate grey literature of the twentieth century

James W. Cortada
Library & Information History
Optics and Image Analysis
article

A proposed framework for understanding corporate grey literature of the twentieth century

James W. Cortada
article en

Abstract

This article argues that descriptions of business grey literature are inadequate and do not take into account the vast scope of such materials, particularly those generated by large, long-established multinational corporations and government agencies. Using the IBM Corporation’s activities as a model, a broader definition is proposed with a framework that can be used by scholars, librarians, and archivists to understand this class of publications.

Library & Information HistoryVol. 41(2)
Biotechnology Institute (US), Twin Cities Orthopedics (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 65%
Optics and Image Analysis
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