What Makes a Niche Library for Development Professionals and Operators

The Development Study Centre (DSC) has been engaged in research and training activities related to rural regional development for over 30 years. Through extensive contacts with development professionals it became exceedingly clear that apart from conventional literature, there was a need to learn from actual field experiences at the planning and implementation level.

Professionals need to study planning documents in order to identify objectives, concepts, methodologies, etc., and then to determine whether, in fact, these objectives were achieved, and if not - why not.

For example, in 1972 the World Bank produced an appraisal report on an integrated agricultural development project in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Subsequently, the completion report was made in 1990. Independent studies on sectoral components such as the impact of rural roads, monitoring and evaluation of agricultural services and a mid-term case study were made by AID - United States Agency for International Development, IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Justus-Liebig University, Germany, respectively.

But, where do you, the development professional in Costa Rica, Burundi or Nepal, start to look and what do you look for? International organizations such as the World Bank, FAO, ILO, etc., concentrate on their own documents, university libraries on academic text published by the major publishing houses. What happens to the multitude of semi-official reports, plans, projects, work papers, etc., that have been produced, often at considerable cost from the point of view of manpower and financial investment, distributed on a limited basis and then effectively buried from further use.

Such documents are now being defined as "grey" or "fugitive" literature, and are increasingly recognized as an important source for primary data in a variety of fields, and can act as an information tool for policy-makers, planners and academics alike engaged in development activities. Grey literature by virtue of its special characteristics rarely comes under bibliographic control, is not easily available through traditional library channels and necessitates a specialized framework to support it.

The DSC established the Projects Collection to accommodate the wealth of material which had accumulated through its development activities. This included reports produced by national and international agencies, universities and research stations, consultants and commercial institutions.

Information located in grey literature may be divided into three categories:

• Information on a location, i.e., a profile composed of the range of activities occurring in a selected location.
• Information based on a theme, i.e., women, credit, micro-enterprises, agricultural development, etc., from varied sources and locations.
• Methodologies and know-how, practical examples of both analyses, surveys, research findings, etc., directed to the professional actively working in this sphere as a planner or policy-maker as well as instruction manuals to guide the local operator to develop and run a local operation.

Lack of accessibility, even in its country of origin, is one of the most significant characteristics of grey literature. More traditional libraries find it difficult to absorb such reports into the collections and cataloguing systems, nor do they reach the commercial abstracting services. Due to the limited print run, grey literature is not easily available through conventional commercial channels, which also hinders wider dissemination.

The value of grey literature is of considerable importance to policy-makers, planners and operators alike. Policy-makers are able to study current trends through comparative long-term strategies, policy statements, etc., while planners on the other hand have access to a wide range of hitherto hidden reports related to plans and projects designed by governmental and commercial institutions. However, the market value of such material can be identified by an inverse relationship between value and level of use, often caused by the highly specialized nature of the subject. Thus, there can be a very high value for individual users. Each document often represents a considerable amount of investigatory investment, but the value of such a document is a function of its ability to help answer a subject inquiry.

There are also many misconceptions about the value or importance of grey literature by its very format or content. Quality is often misjudged when the criteria commonly applied to scientific research literature are used to judge grey literature whose formal publication is usually unnecessary. Furthermore, the importance and usefulness of such literature can be seen by the growing interest being expressed by professionals working in the field who recognize the importance of practical field documents.

Although the proportion of non-conventional literature to conventional literature is unknown, some attempts have been made to quantify non-conventional literature in special fields. In development, it is suggested that between 60-85% of the literature produced may be classified as non-conventional or grey literature.

To date, there are nearly 6,000 project documents in the DSC Projects Collection. In 1991, the library was designated the World Bank depository in Israel and in the same year established the Rural Tourism Resource Unit with the purpose of locate, acquire, assemble and disseminate information on tourism and recreation activities in the rural sector throughout the world.

The Resource Unit tries to acquire literature on the national, regional and local levels. The national level includes master plans, national policies, strategies as well as global trends, etc. Importance is given to sustainable or ecotourism policies and their application in developing economies.

The regional level includes more detailed programs for development and implementation. This level is specifically directed at planners who are actively involved and can benefit from exposure to experiences and examples of other professionals. At this level, particular use can be made of manuals and other "how-to-do" documents.

As rural tourism developed in Israel, more and more operators began to feel the need to develop attractions to complement the accommodations that had been established. Both the entrepreneurs and the local planning agencies seek ideas, and since in practice they will have to deal with details they want to look for examples to copy. This need gave rise to the creation of an "Ideas File for Entrepreneurs."

This file is composed of a multitude of brochures, publications, guides, etc., which are indexed according to their main topic including produce-related activities, i.e., fruit festivals, gourmet trails, cheese museums, as well as historic and heritage villages, restoration, ethnic restaurants, conservation, park and nature-related activities.

The very format of the document makes it attractive to the local operator and whets his appetite to expand. The aim is to encourage the local operator to learn from previous experience and adapt it to local conditions.

By placing particular emphasis on specialized literature DSC is trying to address the particular problems faced by development professionals through the exposure to resources and information which, as yet, are not fully utilized.

You can write to the Library Director, Development Study Centre, POB 2355, Rehovot 76122, Israel.