Digital Accessibility: Overcoming the Challenges of Managing Grey Literature in Jamaica: The Case of the University of the West Indies Mona Library

摘要

Grey literature is of inestimable value, with the potential for significant contributionsto further inquiry and practice especially in academia and national development.Researchers, students, lecturers and scientists, depend on theseresources which are often the main sources of indigenous and firsthand information.The challenge is retrieval, since they lack meaningful bibliographiccontrol. They are usually not peer-reviewed and sometimes are of poor qualitybecause they often originate from technocrats, scholars and scientists in variousfields. A 2019 survey done in Jamaica with librarians from the Scientific andTechnical Information Network (STIN) reveals the low status accorded to greyliterature. Participants indicated that there is no active thrust towards advocacyand promotion. However, they recognize their importance and would willinglyassist in organizing them. Digitization and archiving in repositories allow forgreater accessibility to grey literature in academia. This paper examined thevalue of grey literature and presented digital accessibility as an infrastructure inovercoming associated challenges. Digitization’s value is seen in the regenerationof archiving, the increase in the use of non-circulating resources in specialcollections such as theses and dissertations, and in the preservation of collections.Digitization offers an online presence which raises awareness of existingcollections and builds the image of academic institutions. This paper presentssome best practices used in digitization, and key steps in the digitization process.The paper is qualitative and utilizes archival study to showcase the efforts of TheUniversity of the West Indies (The UWI) Mona Library in using digital technologyto manage grey literature and promote their special collections. The authorsconcluded that through digitization this Library can act as a driver to galvanizeother information units to effect greater bibliographic control. Once thesevaluable collections become accessible, they can be positioned to contributeto national and international development.