How Do You Find Grey Literature?
A search engine, like Google, is a tool that you can use to locate grey literature on the Web. However, it can be a challenge to find these types of resource so use the Google tips and trick examples on this page to help you search the Web efficiently. If you need extra research help, use the Sheridan Library's Ask a Librarian virtual chat service to speak with a staff member!
Also, documents posted on the Web can disappear at any time. If you find something useful for your research assignment, take proper notes to record what you need right away! Here are notetaking strategies to get you started.
(CC0 Public Domain)
Google Search by filetype (e.g. pdf, doc, xls, ppt)
Grey literature may be posted on the Web as PowerPoint presentations, PDF documents, images, and more. Did you know that Google can search for specific file types? The video below explains how to locate documents using the "filetype:" feature.
Check out the Google Help channel on YouTube for more videos!
Filter Results by Date
Click on the "any time" drop down menu to filter the publication date of your search results.
Google Site Search
Government, organizations, and academic websites are good places to look for grey literature. You may want to consider restricting your search to a specific website domain with the "site:" feature. For example, locate ONLY websites from the government of Canada by including "site:gov.ca." in the Google search box.
Google Search Tips & Tricks
Here's a handout created by Google that summarizes all of the advanced search techniques:
