Research Guides: BUSN/ECON 380: Research Methods in Business/Economics: Grey Literature

What is Grey Literature?

Documents that may be produced by academics, governments, business, industry, and independent researchers, but is not controlled by commercial publishers.
Non-conventional, fugitive, and sometimes ephemeral publications. Often produced with NGOs, non profits, UN agencies, think tanks, etc.

Examples include:

pre-print reports, preliminary progress and advanced reports
conference proceedings and papers
market research reports
annual reports of business and industry
technical and statistical reports, specifications, standards
white papers
technical and commercial documentation
official documents not published commercially (government reports & documents)

from http://www.greylit.org/about

Finding Grey Literature	Evaluating Grey Literature
Use Google keyword(s) + site:.org	Read their mission
Bibliographies	Examine funding Sources
Organizations suggested below	Explore author credentials and date published

Brookings Institute
Nonprofit public policy organization whose "mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level."
Think Tank Guide
Created by MSU librarians this guide has exhaustive lists of think tanks, public policy institutes, and advocacy organizations.
Think Tank Search
Search over 700 think tanks plus useful information on finding and using information from think tanks

American Fact Finder
Generate census fact sheets to find demographics by city, state, county, or zip code. Potential info includes: educational attainment, income level, gender, race, and ethnicity.
USA.gov
Search engine for government websites

Statistical Abstract of the US
Summary of statistics on the social, political and economic conditions of the United States. 1878-present.

Detailed Guide to this resource.

Occupational Outlook Handbook
This is a handbook with detailed information about hundreds of occupations. Find:
- Descriptions of specific jobs
- Projected job growth rate for specific jobs
- Salary expectations for specific jobs
- Educational requirements of specific jobs
Small Business Administration
Resources to start a business.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
U.S. Department of Commerce

City of Kalamazoo
Official government site.
Code of Ordinances: City of Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo Community Planning and Development
Kalamazoo Local Information Database
Maintained by Kalamazoo Public Library
Kalamazoo Local History
Maintained by the Kalamazoo Public Library
Kalamazoo County Government
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Data Tools
Independent research organization that studies policy-related issues of employment and unemployment. Private, not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization.

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Institute research focuses on labor markets, addressing several core areas: the causes of unemployment and the effectiveness of social safety net programs in mitigating its effects; education and training systems to improve workers’ employability and earnings; and the influence of state and local economic development policies on local labor markets. The Institute also assesses emerging trends affecting workers and labor markets in its core research areas.