A STUDY OF THE AVAILABILITY AND USE OF OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS IN LIBRARIES

The problems of identification and acquisition of official publications are common to most countries both developed and developing. A study of the availability and use of official publications in libraries was carried out in 1981. 565 libraries in 50 countries were sent questionnaires; the response rate was 35%. Most respondents reported a growing volume of official publications and had ambitious collection development policies. Heavy reliance was placed on deposit but purchase was used as the main tool of collection building. Bibliographic control is seriously deficient and presents problems for tracing new publications. The organization of official publications varies between different parts of the world, from complete integration in the main library stock to wholly separate collections — the latter is most common in North America and Africa. Little information was available about the use of official publications. Interlending arrangements did not appear to be a major issue.