The Cinderella Collections:
History of Official Publications Collections in the
British Library
Jeremy Jenkins
Official Publications and government information in the
libraries of the Republic of Croatia,
National and University Library Conference,
Pula, Croatia
24th-25th May 2012
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British Library overview
Founded 1753 installed in Montagu House, Gt. Russell St.
British Library Act of Parliament 1973.
Brought together:
British Museum Library including manuscripts;
National Reference Library for science and invention;
National Central Library;
National Lending Library;
1982 India Office Collections;
1984 National Sound Archive.
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British Library Act 1972
“This Act shall establish a
national Library for the United
Kingdom…consisting of a
comprehensive collection of
books, manuscripts, films and
or recorded matter whether
printed or otherwise …formed
part of the collections I the
Museum’s Department of
Printed Books, Department of
Manuscripts and Department of
Oriental Printed Books
Manuscripts.”
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Collections
150,000,000 Total Items
13,950,000 Books
824,101 Serial Titles
351,116 Manuscripts (Single and Volumes)
8,266,276 Philatelic Items
4,347,505 Cartographic Items
1,607,885 Music Scores
3,000,000 Sound Recordings
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Foundations of the Exchange Programme
Complex and chequered history :
1832 - First mention of an Exchange of Official Publications
Pre 1880 – British Museum acquired material in 3 ways

Legal deposit & Colonial Copyright

Purchase

Donation
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Agreement of the 30 October 1882
“…was in favour of exchanges to
enable the British Museum and British
government departments to obtain foreign
official publications which they needed.”
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The Types of Material Covered by Exchanges
1. Papers printed or presented to either house of Parliament;
2. Historical , scientific, or antiquarian works published by the
Government;
3. Maps or charts, published by Government;
4. Departmental publications which are placed for sale.
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Exchange of Official Publications
1882: Canada;
United States,
1883: New Zealand,
Tasmania,
France,
Netherlands;
Italy.,
1885: Queensland;
1886: Victoria;
1887: Norway
Pre 1887: Cape Colony,
Chile.
1894:
1904: Australia
(Commonwealth of), Sweden;
1905: Newfoundland;
1908: Western Australia;
1911: Denmark;
1913: South Africa;
1923: Finland;
1926: Southern Rhodesia;
1935: South Australia;
1936: Portugal;
1939: Greece.
New South Wales,
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Purchased or Presented late 19th Century
France;
Germany;
Bavaria;
The Netherlands;
Belgium;
Italy;
Spain;
and Hungary.
Prussia;
Austria,
Portugal,
Greece,
Turkey,
and Switzerland
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Responsibility for Exchanges
Treasury
1882-1919
HM Stationary Office
1920-1972
British Library
1973-
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Exchange items received pre-1965
500000
450000
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
1873
1887
1890
1938
1958
1961
1963
1965
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Exchange Position in 1972
Complete reciprocal exchanges of all official publications on
both sides. U.S.S.R., U.S.A., France, Canada, New Zealand,
Australia.
Incomplete exchanges including all significant material, East
and West Germany, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and
India.
Exchanges with smaller countries which sent all their
significant publications received only a selection of the British
output, e.g. Nigeria, Kenya, Luxembourg, etc. (some twenty or
more countries).
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How the Collections Grew: Deposit and Exchange
UK Legal Deposit – comprehensive
 Undermined by fragmentation of official publishing from 1970s
 Challenge of move to web publishing
 Impact of e-legal deposit
Colonial legal deposit – selective
 Replaced by exchange/donation post independence
 Now moving to purchase where possible
 Serious supply problems from developing countries
Exchange
 Expanded after World war II
 Cut back in early 1990s
 Switch to purchase of key series
 Now moving to electronic exchange agreements
Deposited Archives
 Lord Robert Cecil’s papers – British representative at negotiation of Treaty of Versailles
 King George III Library - Official Publications included in the Foundations Collections
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How the Collections Are Growing: Selection Guidelines
We Collect:
 Parliamentary proceedings and papers;
 Development plans;
 Primary legislation (official version);
 Official gazettes;
 Census;
 Key statistical series.
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Social Sciences Collection Guides
http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/offpubs/guides/govtguides.html
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Union List of Holdings
Flare works to
improve
the coverage
and accessibility of
foreign legal
materials at the
national level and to
raise expertise in
their use.
http://ials.sas.ac.uk/flare/flare_fog_unionlist_europe.htm
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Official Publications Pressmarks post 1945

A.S.64/45 for the United States and so on.

B.S. 42/193 British

C.S. A. 45/11 European material

C.S. 109/ 21 Colonial and Commonwealth

L.A.S. 7/34 Latin American

S.12/10 Other Official Publications, subdivided
geographically

U.N.A. For International Organisations Publications
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New pressmarks Official Publications Library

O.P.L. 326.4216
Replacing :

S.P.R.Ref.A.12.

S.P.R.3/1/4

S.Ref.
S.P.R. is still in use for Microfilm collections.

2007 EU.310 – General Statistics
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Shelfmarks
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European Documentation Centre Collection
The BL has:
Activity collected EU material since it’s formation in the
1950s. Manly through donation;
 After the UK became a member in 1973 we received 2 sets
of documentation from the then EEC;
 In 1982 this became one set due to a cost cutting exercise;
 By 2007 the BL gained EDC status and it inherited the
Westminster Public Library’s collection.

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As an EDC

Open access collection located
in the Social Sciences Reading
Room;

Coverage of 10 years arrange
by Dewey with an EU prefix;

After 10 years items are turned
out of the EDC to the DSC
collection or de-accessioned
and disposed;

Online and print version of
Subjects covered in the EDC
Collection;

A Collection Guide in Print and
PDF covering the BL’s EU
collections.
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European Union Collections Web pages
Intute RSS
feed
Find help by subject:
Social Sciences
Find help by resource
type: Official Publications
European Union
subject page
European Documentation
Centre resource page
EU-US
relations guide
EU Elections
2009
Lisbon
Treaty
EU
Information
online
EU
Resource
Guide
EDC subject
classification guide
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How the Collections are Growing: in the digital age
 Governments & IGOs are moving from print to web-only
publishing;
 Governments & IGOs are digitising key series retrospectively
and disseminating them via the Internet;
 Where print is still produced it is very expensive;
 The BL is moving from owning content to linking to key series
on the web;
 BL is exploring digital document exchange – EU pilot.
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2020 Vision
“Continue the transition to
collecting and connecting
by establishing
collaborative stewardship
arrangements with other
national libraries and
memory institutions.”
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/2020vision/2020A3.pdf
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Conclusion
-Hvala Vam-
Questions and Comments
Jeremy Jenkins
Curator International Organisations &
North American Official Collections.
British Library
Jerry.Jenkins@bl.uk
+44 (0)20 7412 7743
Twitter: @BLIntOrgs
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