Research Process: A Step-By-Step Guide: 1f. Government and Corporate Information

Government and corporate documents fall under the information category called Grey literature. Grey literature is:

"That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers." (Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature, Washington, DC, October, 1999)

Grey literature includes:

• Annual reports
• Conference papers and proceedings
• Government documents
• Research reports
• Theses and dissertations

Conference papers and proceedings can be very difficult to find because they:

• Can be published in different ways - as books, journal articles, abstracts
• Take several years to be published or may not be published at all
• May be deposited in an author or institutional repository

Government documents are an important primary source of information on a wide range of issues. They can be found through a search of the library catalog and government websites.

According to Wikipedia:

"An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance."

You can often find annual reports on company websites.