PROBLEMS IN THE AVAILABILITY OF SOME SOCIAL SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS

The literature of the social sciences is characterized by a very wide variety of types, from conventional books and journals through official publications and report literature to ephemera, and of formats, from conventional volumes through individual sheets to films and sound recordings. Its total quantity is vast, and much of it raises major problems of availability. Legal deposit of many categories is very inadequate, and for this and other reasons bibliographic control is very poor. Most social science documents are not produced and supplied through normal publication and distribution channels, so that they are very difficult to identify and acquire; much of it can only be acquired locally. Many kinds of materials are also hard for libraries to record and store, and traditional methods are not appropriate or practicable. Improvement of availability must rest partly with local libraries and partly with the national library, which can encourage local collection, set standards, co‐ordinate activity, and aid bibliographic control. A complete solution is unattainable, and any steps towards increased availability are to be welcomed.