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 Books824,101 Serial Titles351,116 Manuscripts (Single and Volumes)8,266,276 Philatelic Items4,347,505 Cartographic Items1,607,885 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: New South Wales,

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.

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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

British Library

1973- Treasury 1882-1919

HM Stationary Office 1920-1972

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Exchange items received pre-1965

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

450000

500000

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

Find help by subject: Social Sciences

Find help by resource type: Official Publications

European Union subject page

European Documentation Centre resource page

Intute RSS feed

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 JenkinsCurator International Organisations & North American Official Collections. British Library Jerry.Jenkins@bl.uk+44 (0)20 7412 7743Twitter: @BLIntOrgs