The Research Ladder

Researching with grey literature is only part of the entire research ladder. Each rung describes the group influenced by the topic and how information about that topic is shared at those difference levels. Polytechnic research should touch upon all levels of influence for a topic. It should address national/world trends as well as how the topic impacts an individual. The image above gives Stout related examples to explain the different levels of influence and rungs of the research ladder.

Polytechnic and career specific research must hit every rung of the research ladder.

National and world trends can typically be found through traditional library and research resources. These resources tend to be reviewed/edited more closely and are traditionally or commercially published. These are the records that you see in library databases, are found more readily through search engines, and are crawled by generative aritifical intelligence software. The following are examples of these resources: peer reviewed articles found in EBSCO databases, New York Times newspaper articles, or federal laws and regulations. These are not considered grey literature.

Regional, institutional, and personal resources will either have to be created or accessed through institutional repositories. These resources are considered grey literature.

What is an institutional repository?

An institutional repository is a consalidated location representing an instition that holds a variety of records relating to that institution. It can be a repository for an academic institutional like a univerisity, a repository for a nonprofit or other organization, or a repository for a company. It contains research, scholarly, and creative projects that are unique to the institution. Records are openly accessible, except in cases pertaining to branding, copyright, or patents.

The UW-Stout Archives is UW-Stout's Instititutional Repository.

How to research with an institutional repository?

Contacting an institutional repository is different depending on the instititution it represents. In some cases, an appointment is necessary to research their physical materials. Allow yourself the lead time necessary for an appointment and to research records that are not digitized. Use the following link to access appointment information for the UW-Stout Archives: https://library.uwstout.edu/UWStoutDigitalCollections/ResearchAssistance

In many cases, institutional repositories have digital content that is openly accessible. These resources can be viewed without a Stout ID or loging in.

UW-Stout has the following openly accessible, digital repositories available for researchers. For a more comprehensive list of most used collections, visit the UW-Stout Archives Digital Collections site: https://library.uwstout.edu/UWStoutDigitalCollections

Minds@UW - Minds@UW is a green, open access repository of research and projects from the Universities of Wisconsin. Minds@UW-Stout holds UW-Stout research collections including Stout student creative and research projects, Stout Theses/Dissertations, and Stout oral histories and other recordings.
Internet Archive - Internet Archive is a digital repository that holds keyword searchable Stout bulletins, Tower yearbooks, Stoutonia, and other Stout publications.
Stout Digital Collections through Preservica - Preservica holds digitized and born digital records from Stout departments, UW-Stout Shared Governance, News Releases, Blue Devil Athletics, Commencement Programs, and more.
UW Digital Collections - The History of UW-Stout Collection in the UW Digital Collections includes materials that represent the students, faculty, campus, events, and classroom work on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Stout and its predecessors.