Office of Public Sector Information

Office of Public Sector Information

Advanced Search

Main menu and contents

Guidance - The National Published Archive - Legal Deposit of Official Publications

Number: 11
Date: 15 May 2000
(Revised 21 January 2009)

This guidance note explains the responsibilities for deposit of print and non-print Official publications at the Legal Deposit Libraries

Purpose

1.To explain to government departments and agencies what they need to do to comply with government policy and their legal obligation to deposit copies of both print and electronic Publications with the British Library and the other deposit libraries.

Background

2. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 it is obligatory for a person who publishes in the United Kingdom a work (to which the Act applies) at his own expense to deliver a copy of it to any deposit library entitled to delivery under the Act.

3. The principle of legal deposit has been well established for almost four centuries and has great advantages for authors and publishers. Publications deposited with the libraries are made available to users in their reading rooms, they are preserved for the benefit of future generations, and become part of the national heritage. Whilst this has in the past been based on the deposit of printed publications and offline electronic publications since 2000, the move of much official publishing to online via internet websites has caused the guidance to be reviewed to ensure that a complete archive of official documents can be maintained for future research via the Legal Deposit Libraries.

4. There are six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom and in Ireland whose holdings make up the National Published Archive of the British Isles. These are:

5. Although it is not a Legal Deposit Library under the terms of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act, the Library of Queen’s University, Belfast has, following the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, been treated as though it was an official deposit library for Northern Ireland official publications. This initiative is designed to ensure ongoing access in Northern Ireland to a comprehensive collection of all Northern Ireland official publications from whatever body they originate.

6. This Guidance Note sets out the arrangements that should be applied for all Official Publications (both print and electronic)

What is a publisher?

7. Within the terms of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act ’publisher’ is to be understood as anyone who issues or distributes publications to the public. This definition includes all Government Departments and Agencies where they are publishing material themselves. Where, however, a publication is being published via a private sector publisher (e.g. TSO (The Stationery Office Limited)) then it is the responsibility of the publisher to fulfil the obligation to deposit.

8. Where a department is contracting with a private sector publisher then the contract should emphasise this obligation. The following form of words may be used in contracts:

’Copyright Deposit

The Publisher shall at its own expense deposit such copies of all publications produced under this contract in the libraries in which such deposit is defined and required by law within the time stipulated in the relevant legislation. In the case of libraries which are entitled to copies only on specific claim, the Publisher shall despatch copies automatically without the need for libraries to claim them’

The scope of Legal Deposit

9. All printed publications come within the scope of legal deposit. In advance of the making of further Regulations a code of practice exists in the United Kingdom for the voluntary deposit of non-print publications, including microform and electronic media (see paragraph 12 below). Further Regulations are also planned in relation to the deposit of standalone publications which are only published on the internet (see paragraph 16 below). Although the deposit of both offline and online electronic publications is currently voluntary, departments and agencies should be setting an example and ensuring that copies are deposited.

10. A work is said to be published when copies are issued to the public or made available via an internet website. The place of publication or printing, the nature of the imprint and size of distribution are immaterial – it is the act of issuing it or distributing it to the public that renders a work liable for deposit. Published printed works liable to deposit include books, pamphlets, maps, printed music, journals and newspapers. There are exemptions, however, and unless a written demand is made by the British Library then internal reports and house magazines, local transport timetables, appointment diaries, wall and desk calendars, forms and posters need not be deposited.

The deposit of print publications

11. Publishers are obliged to send one copy of each of their publications to the British Library. The other five libraries have the right to claim those publications from the publishers and distributors. In practice many publishers (including The Stationery Office Limited) deposit their publications with all six libraries without waiting for a claim to be made and it is this practice that departments and agencies should adopt in relation to the deposit of their own publications. In the case of magazines, journals and other serial publications, however, it is advisable to consult the Agent for the Legal Deposit Libraries (see paragraph 18 below) before sending as the five libraries may have agreed between them to limit the number of copies to be claimed.

The voluntary deposit of non-print publications

12. In 1997 the Culture Secretary set up a working party under Sir Anthony Kenny to advise on an effective national archive of non-print material. The working party concluded that only statutory legal deposit could secure a comprehensive national archive. The Culture Secretary responded that, following further work on definitions and the impact on business, he would move towards legislation. In the meantime he asked for a voluntary code of practice to be drawn up.

The deposit of non-print offline electronic publications

k

13. A code of practice for the voluntary deposit of non-print publications in the United Kingdom, including some types of electronic media, was prepared and was endorsed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Legal Deposit Libraries, the Publishers’ Association, the Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers and the Periodical Publishers’ Association. The code was re-launched by DCMS in January 2007 and covers the deposit of non-print publications in microform (e.g. microfilm) and offline electronic media or electronic publications issued on physically separate digital media, such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and magnetic disks. Continuously updated publications such as ’dynamic’ databases are excluded. Deposit is also not required:

14. The code only requires that one copy be deposited with the British Library though the other libraries may request a copy.

The deposit of non-print online (Internet) Official Publications

15. A growing number of Official publications are increasingly only being published on-line via departmental/agency websites. Many of these ’publications’ (e.g. annual statistics, reports etc.) may in previous years have been published in print and copies of these will have been deposited with the Legal Deposit Libraries. It is important that the Legal Deposit Libraries are able to maintain a complete run of such publications and all departments should therefore take steps to provide to the British Library a copy of any publication which is now published only via the internet.

16. Copies of such publications should be provided to the British Library by e-mail or FTP. Further advice may be obtained from the Legal Deposit and Digital Acquisitions Co-ordinator at the British Library (email: LDO-Electronic@bl.uk or tel 01937 546535)

Where should publications be sent?

17. All print, offline electronic and microform publications for the British Library (except newspapers) should be sent to:

Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire
LS23 7BY

Tel: 01937 546268 (monographs) or 546267 (serials)
e-mail: legal-deposit-books@bl.uk
legal-deposit-serials@bl.uk

Newspapers should be sent to:

Newspaper Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Unit 3, 120 Colindale Avenue
London
NW9 5LF

Tel: 020 7412 7382
Fax: 020 7412 7390
e-mail: legal-deposit-colindale@bl.uk

Online electronic publications should be sent to:

The Digital Acquisitions Co-ordinator
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire
LS23 7BQ

Tel: 01937 546535
e-mail: LDO-Electronic@bl.uk

18. The other five legal deposit libraries employ an agent to collect print publications on their behalf. Publications and enquiries should until 28 February 2009 be addressed to:

The Agent
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
100 Euston Street
London
NW1 2HQ

Tel: 020 7388 5061

and from 2 March 2009 should be addressed to:

The Agent
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
33 Salisbury Place
Edinburgh
EH9 1SL

Tel: 0131 623 4680
Fax: 0131 623 4681
Email: publisher.enquiries@legaldeposit.org.uk
www.legaldeposit.org.uk

19. For Northern Ireland official publications copies should in addition be sent to:

The Main Library
The Queen’s University of Belfast
University Square
Belfast
BT7 1LS

Tel: 028 9027 3605
Fax: 028 9032 3340
e-mail: library@qub.ac.uk

CAROL TULLO
Controller HMSO
Queen’s Printer