Official Publications

Introduction and general scope of the collections
Definitions
Selection criteria

• Format
• Language
• Types of official publications
• Exclusions

Collection strengths
Definitions of collection levels
Co-operative arrangements
Appendix

Introduction and general scope of the collections

The Library has since its foundation placed the utmost importance on the collections of government information, recognising that they are essential primary source material for the social sciences.

The general scope of the official publications collection is in line with the subject specialisations of LSE and the general Collection Development policy statement of the Library. However, given the particular nature and extent of official publishing, collection policy is qualified by a number of provisos:

• Although the collections are international in scope, publications from different countries are collected to different levels, based on a grading scheme detailed at section 5 below
• Some material may be collected which is outside the Library's general subject scope because of the light it throws on government policy in a particular area or on political, social and economic conditions in the country; also relevant is the particular status that the government imprint confers
• There is a particular emphasis in the collections on statistical and census publications, as primary research material for the study of social and economic conditions

Although we aim to collect material from most of the countries of the world, as far as Inter-Governmental organisations are concerned the Library concentrates on the following IGOs:

• Universal political, social or economic organisations (eg: United Nations)
• Regional political, social or economic organisations (eg: European Union, ASEAN)
• Economic and social development organisations (eg:World Bank, IMF, OECD)
• Organisations concerned with human rights, peace and security (eg: Council of Europe, OSCE, United Nations Security Council)
• Commodity organisations (eg: International Sugar Organization)
• Single-issue organisations covering the following areas: agriculture, climate, communications, cultural policy, education, energy, environment, health, intellectual property, labour, migration, productivity, tourism, trade, transport (eg: World Trade Org., Food and Agriculture Org., International Labour Org., World Health Org.)

The library will always seek to acquire official publications recommended for teaching or research purposes by members of LSE even if this material falls outside the definitions outlined in this policy statement.

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Definitions

See the Appendix for the International Federation of Library Associations' definitions and as to how these are interpreted by the Library.

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Selection criteria

Format

In theory, no distinction is made regarding format of material: the library will seek to acquire or make available all information within the selection criteria whether in print, microform, electronic or any other format. Duplication of formats will be avoided as far as possible: developments in the archiving of electronic information will be considered in relation to continued holdings of physical information products. Consideration will be given to the usability, currency and archiving implications of the format in question.

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Language

The Library as a general rule collects only in European languages (but not in Finnish, Greek, Albanian or the non-Slav languages of the Former Soviet Union). For textual publications this applies to official publications also. For statistical publications the rule is more loosely applied and material partially or mainly in non-European languages may be acquired. Statistical material in non-European scripts will only be retained if at least outline table headings are provided in a European language.

Material wholly in Chinese or Arabic, for example, would be offered to the School of Oriental and African Studies or the British Library.

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Types of official publications

The principal types of official publication that may be collected in the library can be summarised as:

i. Parliamentary/Assembly papers and documents
ii. Parliamentary/Assembly debates
iii. Legislation, primary and secondary; law codes or international law codes
iv. Treaties or international treaties
v. Major historical documents series
vi. Official histories
vii. Statistics of: economic and financial indicators including national accounts, population, foreign and domestic trade, transport, tourism, agriculture and industry including minerals, energy, environment, social conditions including labour, housing, health and social services, justice and crime, education.
viii. Departmental annual reports
ix. National development plans
x Policy documents in all areas of government but with the emphasis on the subject specialisms of LSE
xi Background documents for major changes in a country's policies or its constitution
xii Administrative and descriptive documents in areas of government within the research interests of the School
xiii Research reports in the social sciences from official bodies
xiv Publications of quangos and regulatory bodies*

*Library staff responsible will seek to identify and collect material from quasi-nongovernmental bodies and other agencies appointed by governments whatever their official status is in any particular country. They will also continue to work towards a clarification of internal procedures to deal with these items.

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Exclusions

Detailed practical material in the areas of medicine, agriculture, military science and science and technology is not collected, but policy documents are.

The following types of material are normally excluded:

• Official gazettes
• Constitutions of individual countries (the library subscribes to the Constitutions of the countries of the world set)
• Provisional statistics unless these are all that is available
• How-to manuals and training material
• Works deemed to be principally public relations material or practical information for citizens
• Propaganda (although representative examples may be retained)
• Ephemeral material (although some ephemeral newsletters are taken, particularly from the European Union, if descriptive of current programmes of work)
• Promotional videos
• Kits, flags, merchandise and school packs

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Collection strengths

The Library collection of official (including IGO) publications is strong overall due to its size, spread, depth and high level of collecting activity over time. In addition, the personal links which LSE staff and students have had and still have with many governments and inter-governmental organisations helps to give the collection relevance.

As regards specific parts of the collection, the following areas are particularly strong:

• British Parliamentary papers
• European Union publications and documents
• League of Nations/United Nations' publications and documents
• United States federal Government publications and documents
• Canadian federal Government publications
• Publications from the Commonwealth countries, particularly India and its states (chiefly historical)
• Statistical publications

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Definitions of collection levels

This section defines the level of collecting for each country of the various types of material listed above. Countries have been assigned to one of four levels of collecting (levels A-D). The main criteria for the assignation of these levels are the importance of the country or organisation under consideration:

• in general terms,
• in terms of its impact on or relationship to the United Kingdom,
• in terms of research interests within LSE.

These factors may have changed and will change over time. For example, the previous concentration on Commonwealth of Nations countries has given way to an emphasis on European Union and other European, particularly "transition" countries. The importance of inter-Governmental organisations has also grown over time. The changing political importance of countries is also a factor to be considered.

On a more practical note, the availability of publications from countries and organisations, although not an overriding consideration, is taken into account - as is the existence of depository or exchange arrangements between the Library and countries or organisations.

The following is a list the collection levels and the countries/organisations ascribed to them:

Collection Level A
Definition: Comprehensive coverage and pro-active selection of source material.

Materials of British local government are not comprehensively collected, but are acquired selectively, with the emphasis on planning documents. The Library holds substantial collections from the GLC and its predecessor authorities and from the present LPAC. Publications will be obtained selectively from any future London-wide body such as the Assembly and mayoralty.

Collection Level B
Definition: Good coverage within constraints of availability, supply and staff resources. Material types collected are as for A, except that Parliamentary papers and documents, legislation, treaties, administrative and descriptive documents, research reports may not be comprehensively covered. The degree of "pro-active" selection and the identification and acquisition of grey literature will be at a lower level than for A.

For countries with federal government the principal policy and statistical publications are collected as resources permit; for other countries local materials are only very selectively acquired.

The Library has special responsibilities under the SCOLMA (Standing Committee on Library Materials for Africa) scheme to collect social science material from South Africa.

Canada and the United States are special cases where the library has selective depository/quasi-depository status. Coverage is very full at present, but may not remain so if financial arrangements change.

Collection Level C
Definition: Countries of lower priority for active acquisitions of material;
but may be quite well covered if appropriate material is received unsolicited.

Coverage of material types vii (Statistics), x (Policy documents) and xi (Background documents on major changes) is the priority, with less depth in each category than for Level B. Development plans (ix) will be collected where available. Other material types will not normally be collected.

New Zealand and India have extensive historical collections.

Collection Level D
Definition: Lowest priority countries: efforts are focused on the principal statistical serials, on censuses of population, and on development plans where applicable.
There is no active selection of policy documents in level D. The collecting of material for these countries may be more subject to availability and local conditions of supply than for the countries mentioned in levels A-C.

The circumstances relating to these countries may change over time and this will be reflected in collecting policy.

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Co-operative arrangements

These cover arrangements to deal with individual titles or organisations or with other libraries:

• Technical agricultural material from the FAO is passed on to Wye College
• Depository arrangements exist with the European Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization and with the Asian Development Bank by which the Library receives material with no reciprocity
• Exchange agreements exist with the United Nations (although the Library retains its depository status) and with the United States by which the Library sends material in exchange for receipt of items
• Partial exchange agreements exist with the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the WHO
• Duplicates of items received at the Library are listed and these lists sent to exchange partners (libraries and government departments around the world). Titles are received from the partners on the strength of receiving the lists

As well as arrangements to pass on or receive material, there are complementary official collections in London which are worth noting. In particular, the British Library holds strong collections of United States Government material, the India Office records (archives) and holds United Nations publications and documents. It also holds non-UK government and IGO material. The University of London Library at Senate House holds British Parliamentary papers. The United Nations and the International Labour Office have libraries of their own in London.

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Appendix

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has defined "official publications" in the following way:

"An official publication is any document, printed or produced by any other reprographic method in multiple copies, issued by an organisation that may be considered to be an official body, and available to a public wider than that body".

See the types of official publication under consideration at the Library

IFLA has defined an "official body" thus:

a) "Any legislature of the nation-state, or federation of states, or of a province or regional or local sub-division which has its own revenue-earning powers.
b) Any executive agency of the central government of such a nation-state, federation, state, province or regional or local sub-division, or any court or judicial organ.
c) Any other organisation which can be considered to be official or governmental in type, in the sense that it was set up by a legislature or executive agency as in a) and b) above, and maintains continuing links with that body whether through direct funding or through its reporting mechanism or its accountability.
d) Any association of which the members are national, federal, state, provincial, regional or local governments or official organisations as defined above of such governments provided that the body is considered to be official in the country concerned.

An official publication is defined by the status of the issuing source regardless of the subject matter or content.

The terms official publication and government publication shall be taken to be synonymous."

At the Library, inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) are taken to be official bodies under the definition d) given above.

The IFLA definition provides the following notes:

a) "The following bodies:
· Universities
· Learned societies and academies
· Industrial and trade associations and chambers of commerce
· Libraries, museums and art galleries
· Independent research institutions not direct recipients of public funds

will be included as official bodies according to the practice of the individual country.

b) Political parties will not normally be considered as official bodies unless in the practice or constitution of a particular country there is reason to do so
c) Nationalised enterprises and banks, public corporations and other statutory bodies set up to carry out industrial or other productive activity will normally be considered as official bodies. However, state majority ownership of capital and heavy direct subsidy in enterprises that are otherwise nominally independent will not cause those enterprises to be considered as official bodies
d) Publications originating in official bodies but published by or with the co-operation of commercial firms, universities or independent research institutes, or any other non-official bodies, will normally be considered as official publications"

In practice, national banks and universities have been treated as non-official bodies at the Library

web version sm May 2000

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