The Grey Lit Café

Apr 17 2024

The Grey Lit Café Podcast artwork

Grey (or gray) literature – 'grey lit' for short – includes such forms of communication as reports, white papers, dissertations, newsletters, slide decks, blogs, and podcasts. The Grey Lit Café explores the opportunities and benefits that grey lit provides for professionals and researchers. The podcast is directed by Anthony Haynes, produced by Dr Bart Hallmark, and published by Frontinus Ltd, a communications agency focused on engineering, infrastructure, sustainability, and research. Frontinus provides consultancy, editing, writing, and training services. If you're creating some grey literature and would like some support, contact us via our website, frontinus.org.uk.

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Before Spotify: the remarkable story of chautauquas

Apr 17 2024 10 mins

One question we explore on this podcast is that of antecedents: what came before podcasts? This episode tells the wonderfully rich history of chautauquas - an enterprising means of bringing entertainment and informal education to small-town America. Chautauquas can be thought of as a kind of predigital Spotify.Reference James R. Schultz, The romance of small-town chautauquas (Univ.

How to define grey literature? The implication of letters

Mar 28 2024 34 mins

Anthony Haynes writes: This episode is the third of our series on the relationship between letters and grey literature. In the first, we made the case, using the case of the correspondence of communications theorist I.A. Richards, for considering letters as a form of grey literature. In the second, using the case of correspondence between George Lyttleton and Rupert Hart-Davis, we

Where do podcasts come from? Letters as an antecedent

Mar 07 2024 34 mins

Anthony Haynes writes: Cultural forms and communicative genres tend not to emerge from a vacuum: they tend to emerge from existing forms. In the case of podcasts, obvious candidates include lectures, essays, sermons, and radio interviews. And, we suggest here, letters. In this, the second of a series of three episodes devoted to the topics of letters, we examine the resemblance bet

But what about letters? Their scholarly use as grey literature

Feb 22 2024 27 mins

Grey literature covers a multitude of genres - for example, reports, white papers, preprints, and newsletters. But what about letters?Letters are not usually listed amongst grey literature forms, but this episode puts the case for why letters should sometimes be considered as grey literature. Reflecting on the letters of literary theorist I.A. Richards, the episode both examines th

Overwriting: how and why to avoid it

Feb 07 2024 21 mins

Overwriting - producing a draft that exceeds your word (or page) limit - is an extremely common problem amongst writers in science, research, and professional areas. In this episode, Engy Moussa interviews Anthony Haynes. They examine why this problem arises, what harm it does, and, crucially, how to overcome the problem. The discussion outlines practical solutions, with an emphasi

The case of case studies, with Dr Farrah Arif

Jan 22 2024 25 mins

Anthony Haynes writes: On The Grey Lit Café we frequently explore grey literature by genre. Here we extend our coverage to the genre of case studies.To guide us, we interview Dr Farrah Arif, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull. Farrah takes us on an expert, and enthusiastic, tour of the genre, taking in:how case studies work and what they are used forthe attraction of case s

Why we need to talk about silver literature

Nov 29 2023 6 mins

Anthony Haynes writes: I've long fought for a greater appreciation of forms of serious communication, other than just books and journal papers - forms such as reports, white papers, presentations, and blogs.But it's difficult because the collective term for such forms is 'grey [or 'grey'] literature', which is a term likely to enthuse anyone.'Grey

How to give a presentation on engineering

Nov 16 2023 7 mins

Many engineers need to give presentations. They do so in a variety of contexts - for example, as part of a pitch, project report, conference, or job application. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a top-quality resource on how to do presentations, specifically about engineering?Well, there is! This episode introduces Rothwell & Cloud's Engineering speaking by design,Ref

Grey literature workflows: the surprising role of pen & paper

Nov 02 2023 33 mins

Word processing has been around a long time now - so long, that we barely use the phrase anymore. So dominant in our workflows has it become that we act as though there's no need to distinguish it - as if there is simply no alternative. So pen and paper have become redundant forms of technology then?Well, no, actually. This episode dares, unfashionably, to explore how non-digi

'Quality blogs', with Giovanni Salucci: innovation in scientific and research communication

Oct 26 2023 18 mins

You can wait a long time for ambitious innovations in the communication of science and research - and then two come along together.In our previous episode, Scholarly Podcasts, Mack Hagood articulated his thinking behind a novel approach to podcasting.Now we're delighted to publish our interview with Prof. Giovanni Salucci (University of Florence) and Dr Erika Paoletti on a nov