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The National Technical Library in Prague (henceforth the NTK) is the central professional library governed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. According to its statutes the NTK runs – among others - project of building the National Repository of Grey Literature.
The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture and its full title is The Digital Library for Grey Literature –Functional Model and Pilot Implementation (henceforth the project). It is planned for period of four years, commencing in 2008 and ending in 2011. There are two participants: the NTK and the University of Economics, Prague.
In the past, the NTK was responsible for distribution of grey literature data from the Czech Republic to SIGLE (System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe), produced by European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation – EAGLE. This system ceased developing after 2003 and it was incapable of supplying modern services in the electronic environment. In 2005, this resulted in its dissolution. As a result, the coordinated evidence of grey literature based on SIGLE principles was terminated in the Czech Republic. In 2005, the NTK organized several meetings with representatives of universities, central libraries and other institutions, concerning potential collaboration in collecting grey literature at the national level. On the basis of these meetings, the NTK gradually started to prepare this project. The very project was initiated in 2008. First, at the turn of 2007 and 2008, a detailed analysis of the state of grey literature and its producers in the Czech Republic was performed. In the scope of a questionnaire survey, universities and AS CR institutes were addressed as main representatives of grey literature producers. 39 out of 48 questioned institutions expressed willingness to collaborate in the future, with respect to agreed license conditions.
The main aim of the project is to create the National Repository of Grey Literature (NRGL), which presents the NRGL Central Search Interface and the NRGL Digital Repository for long-term archiving and access to grey literature. The software solution as such and the related area of metadata format and identifiers are described further. Before the acquisition of grey literature it is necessary to specify the typology that clearly defines the subject of collection. In order to ensure a stable development, a regular audit of the NRGL as a trustworthy digital repository is performed using the DRAMBORA tool and methodology.
The project is aimed at acquiring metadata and full texts. A great importance is attached to the creation of a partner network of collaborating institutions from the field of education, research and development, civil service, commercial sphere and verified open access sources. Partner institutions have continuously been addressed since 2009 on the basis of a questionnaire survey and of a typology of documents accepted into the NRGL. The information on why to collaborate and which forms of collaboration are available may be found in the section How to collaborate.
In relation to the project solution, an academic discussion on the topic of grey literature is encouraged on the occasion of a regularly organized Seminar on access to grey literature.
Citation of the web:
National Repository of Grey Literature [online]. Praha : Národní technická knihovna, [2008] [cit. 2011-01-10]. English version. Available from World Wide Web: <http://nrgl.techlib.cz/>.
