System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe
Encyclopedia
The “System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe” (SIGLE) was established in 1980, two years after a seminar on grey literature organised by the European Commission
in York (UK). Operated by a network of national information or document supply centres active in collecting and promoting grey literature, SIGLE was an on line, pan-European electronic bibliographic database
and document delivery system.
The objective was to provide access to European grey literature and to improve bibliographic coverage.
From 1980 to 1985, SIGLE was funded by the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). When CEC financial support ended in 1985, the national centres formed a network for the acquisition, identification and dissemination of grey literature called “European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation
” or EAGLE, who became the producer of the SIGLE database.
Input to the database ended in 2005 when the EAGLE General Assembly decided the liquidation of the network.
In 2007, together with the last EAGLE operating agent, FIZ Karlsruhe, the French STI centre INIST
-CNRS integrated the SIGLE records into a new open access database called OpenSIGLE
hosted by INIST-CNRS.
.
Cataloguing rules and classification scheme were adopted from the International Nuclear Information System
(INIS) database produced by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency
). The SIGLE classification was derived from the American COSATI scheme. One important difference to INIS was that SIGLE never included serials (only collections of monographs) and never provided records on an analytical level (book or report chapters, communications from conference proceedings etc.).
Each SIGLE record contained informative titles in English and/or in the original language, the author’s name, academic degree, and the research organization or educational institution, the document’s date of publication and type, number of pages, report numbers, and language, as well as subject classifications. Many records include keywords and abstracts.
Each national structure sent records in its own language. A search through the entire database was made possible through providing an English translation of the title or English keywords. One of these fields was mandatory. This constraint may seem irrelevant but for some countries it was a considerable barrier to increased input.
One of the goals of SIGLE from the beginning was to facilitate access to grey documents in Europe. Therefore:
Pure and applied sciences were the first subjects to be covered, with economics, social sciences and humanities added in 1984. Although SIGLE was a multidisciplinary database, about one third of the records were found in the humanities and social sciences (>35%), followed by medical and life sciences (12%) and physics (9 %). These figures were related to different practices of research communities to publish white only or grey, but also to the willingness of organizations to cooperate. Some of the documents existed only in three copies and it was not always easy for the SIGLE centre to obtain one of them.
Among the document types one finds a majority of reports, followed by doctoral theses or dissertations. In several countries monthly files were obtained by conversion from other catalogues, without a clear identification of the document type, so that the "miscellaneous" category is a "hold all" for these cases.
Over the years the content of the database improved. For instance, since 1997 English abstracts were added, in particular to Russian records. Members provided English keywords with increasing frequency. Even so, another important project was never realized: the integration of electronic documents, if possible with a link to the full text. Instead members started to build institutional repositories or to provide access to electronic grey literature by other means.
In October 1993 the SIGLE database contained 336,650 records, with around 40,000 new records being added each year. In September 1999, SIGLE contained more than 630,000 records with a current annual input of 60,000 records. The database was updated monthly.
In February 2005, SIGLE contained 855,260 records from 16 countries and the European Commission. UK, German, French and Dutch records represented 90% of the overall input. 63% of the records were reports, 32% were theses and dissertations, and the other records were conference proceedings, data files and translations.
The 2005 coverage broken down
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in York (UK). Operated by a network of national information or document supply centres active in collecting and promoting grey literature, SIGLE was an on line, pan-European electronic bibliographic database
Bibliographic database
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc...
and document delivery system.
The objective was to provide access to European grey literature and to improve bibliographic coverage.
From 1980 to 1985, SIGLE was funded by the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). When CEC financial support ended in 1985, the national centres formed a network for the acquisition, identification and dissemination of grey literature called “European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation
European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation
The “European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation” was created in 1985 by European scientific and technical information centres and libraries in order to produce the bibliographic database “System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe” .The objective was to improve information...
” or EAGLE, who became the producer of the SIGLE database.
Input to the database ended in 2005 when the EAGLE General Assembly decided the liquidation of the network.
In 2007, together with the last EAGLE operating agent, FIZ Karlsruhe, the French STI centre INIST
INIST
The INIST is the CNRS centre of documentation. It has as mission to collect, treat and diffuse results of scientific and technical research. The INIST produces three bibliographic multilingual and multidisciplinary databases: PASCAL, FRANCIS, and DOGE. It is based at Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, in a...
-CNRS integrated the SIGLE records into a new open access database called OpenSIGLE
OpenSIGLE
The OpenSIGLE repository provides open access to the bibliographic records of the former SIGLE database. The creation of the OpenSIGLE archive was decided by some major European STI centres, members of the former European network EAGLE for the collection and dissemination of grey literature...
hosted by INIST-CNRS.
SIGLE characteristics
For each SIGLE member country, one or two national structures assumed the acquisition, referencing and document delivery of grey literature, mostly national libraries (UK, Luxembourg) or documentation centres of national research organizations (Italy, France, Germany). Merging of the national files was done by an independent operating agent under contract and the database was hosted on up to three different servers. A CD-ROM was produced from 1992 on by Silverplatter/Ovid TechnologiesOvid Technologies
Ovid Technologies, Inc. , part of the Wolters Kluwer group of companies, provides access to online bibliographic databases, journals and other products, chiefly in the area of health sciences...
.
Cataloguing rules and classification scheme were adopted from the International Nuclear Information System
International Nuclear Information System
The International Nuclear Information System hosts one of the world's largest collections of published information on the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. It offers online access to a unique collection of non-conventional literature...
(INIS) database produced by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
). The SIGLE classification was derived from the American COSATI scheme. One important difference to INIS was that SIGLE never included serials (only collections of monographs) and never provided records on an analytical level (book or report chapters, communications from conference proceedings etc.).
Each SIGLE record contained informative titles in English and/or in the original language, the author’s name, academic degree, and the research organization or educational institution, the document’s date of publication and type, number of pages, report numbers, and language, as well as subject classifications. Many records include keywords and abstracts.
Each national structure sent records in its own language. A search through the entire database was made possible through providing an English translation of the title or English keywords. One of these fields was mandatory. This constraint may seem irrelevant but for some countries it was a considerable barrier to increased input.
One of the goals of SIGLE from the beginning was to facilitate access to grey documents in Europe. Therefore:
- Each record contained a clear mention of availability (with or without shelf number).
- Each member country committed to supply the referenced document on demand, whether from its own collections or through interlending service by back-up libraries.
- Useful information on document supply (addresses, conditions) was given on specific help pages or in user-guides.
SIGLE content
SIGLE was started in 1980, but since some members put in older documents, the earliest publications go back to the sixties.Pure and applied sciences were the first subjects to be covered, with economics, social sciences and humanities added in 1984. Although SIGLE was a multidisciplinary database, about one third of the records were found in the humanities and social sciences (>35%), followed by medical and life sciences (12%) and physics (9 %). These figures were related to different practices of research communities to publish white only or grey, but also to the willingness of organizations to cooperate. Some of the documents existed only in three copies and it was not always easy for the SIGLE centre to obtain one of them.
Among the document types one finds a majority of reports, followed by doctoral theses or dissertations. In several countries monthly files were obtained by conversion from other catalogues, without a clear identification of the document type, so that the "miscellaneous" category is a "hold all" for these cases.
Over the years the content of the database improved. For instance, since 1997 English abstracts were added, in particular to Russian records. Members provided English keywords with increasing frequency. Even so, another important project was never realized: the integration of electronic documents, if possible with a link to the full text. Instead members started to build institutional repositories or to provide access to electronic grey literature by other means.
In October 1993 the SIGLE database contained 336,650 records, with around 40,000 new records being added each year. In September 1999, SIGLE contained more than 630,000 records with a current annual input of 60,000 records. The database was updated monthly.
| The coverage in 1999 | country was |
|---|---|
| 49% | United Kingdom |
| 24% | Germany |
| 10% | France |
| 17% | other countries |
| Records in 1999 | document type |
|---|---|
| 55% | reports |
| 34% | theses and dissertations |
| 11% | other documents |
The coverage by subject areas in 1999
| Subject area | coverage in % |
|---|---|
| Humanities and Social Sciences | 35% |
| Biology and medicine | 12% |
| Physics | 9% |
| Engineering | 7% |
| Electronics | 7% |
| Earth Sciences | 5% |
| Mathematics | 4% |
| Chemistry | 4% |
| Energy | 4% |
| Environment | 3% |
| Materials | 3% |
| Agriculture | 3% |
| Other (aeronautics, space technology…) | 4% |
In February 2005, SIGLE contained 855,260 records from 16 countries and the European Commission. UK, German, French and Dutch records represented 90% of the overall input. 63% of the records were reports, 32% were theses and dissertations, and the other records were conference proceedings, data files and translations.
The 2005 coverage broken down
| Country | total number of records (with %) |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 5,236 (0,6%) |
| Czech Republic | 5,683 (0,7%) |
| France | 72,752 (8,5%) |
| Germany | 198,588 (23,2%) |
| Hungary | 728 (0,08%) |
| Ireland | 97 (0,01%) |
| Italy | 30,758 (3,6%) |
| Latvia | 3,916 (0,45%) |
| Luxemburg | 33 (0,0%) |
| Netherlands | 61,471 (7,2%) |
| Poland | 87 (0,01%) |
| Portugal | 1,780 (0,2%) |
| Russian Federation | 19,524 (2,3%) |
| Slovakia | 800 (0,09%) |
| Spain | 11,256 (1,3%) |
| Sweden | 14 (0,0%) |
| United Kingdom | 434,007 (50,7%) |
| Commission of the EC | 8,530 (1,0%) |
SIGLE Technical Committee members
- Czech Republic Jan Bayer, State Technical Library
- France Christiane Stock, INIST-CNRS
- Hungary Marta Leces, Kármán Tódor Számítástechnika Szakkollégium
- Latvia Dr. Aigars Krauze, Latvijas Akadēmiskā bibliotēka
- Portugal Gabriela Lopes da Silva, Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia
- Slovakia Daniela Dranackova, Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information of Slovak Republic
- Spain Marisol Hernando, Centro de Información y Documentación Científica
See also
- Scientific literatureScientific literatureScientific literature comprises scientific publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences, and within a scientific field is often abbreviated as the literature. Academic publishing is the process of placing the results of one's research into the...
- Grey Literature Network ServiceGrey Literature Network ServiceThe Grey Literature Network Service is a service to facilitate the production, distribution and access to grey literature. Grey literature is "information produced and distributed on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by...
- GLISC Grey Literature International Steering CommitteeGrey Literature International Steering CommitteeThe Grey Literature International Steering Committee was established in 2006 after the 7th International Conference on Grey Literature held in Nancy on 5–6 December 2005....
- EAGLE European Association for Grey Literature ExploitationEuropean Association for Grey Literature ExploitationThe “European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation” was created in 1985 by European scientific and technical information centres and libraries in order to produce the bibliographic database “System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe” .The objective was to improve information...
- OpenSIGLEOpenSIGLEThe OpenSIGLE repository provides open access to the bibliographic records of the former SIGLE database. The creation of the OpenSIGLE archive was decided by some major European STI centres, members of the former European network EAGLE for the collection and dissemination of grey literature...