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6 Further information

6.1 Detailed definition of ‘official publications’

This definition of official publications for international use was adopted by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ Official Publications Section in August 1983.

1. An official publication is any item produced by reprographic or any other method, issued by an organisation that is an official body, and available to an audience wider than that body.

2. An official body is:

i. any legislature of a state, or federation of states; or of a province (state) or regional, local or other administrative sub-division

ii. any executive agency of the central government of such a state or federation of states or of a province (state) or regional, local or other administrative sub-division

iii. any court or judicial organ

iv. any other organisation which was set up by an official body as in (i), (ii) and (iii) above, and maintains continuing links with that body whether through direct funding or through its reporting mechanism or its accountability

v. any organisation of which the members belong to any of the above 4 categories, including intergovernmental organisations

provided that the body is considered to be official in the country concerned.

3. An official publication is defined by the status of the issuing source regardless of the subject-matter, content or physical form.

Notes

1. For the purposes of this definition, the term ‘official publication’ is comparable to terms used in some countries, such as ‘government publication’ and ‘government document’.

2. The following bodies:

• universities
• learned societies and academies
• industrial and trade associations and chambers of commerce
• libraries, museums and art galleries
• independent research institutes not direct recipients of public funds

will be included as official bodies according to the practice of the individual country.

3. Political parties will not normally be considered as official bodies unless in the practice or constitution of a particular country there is reason to do so.

4. Nationalised enterprises and banks, public corporations and other statutory bodies set up to carry out industrial or other productive activity will be considered as official bodies according to the practice of the individual country. However, state majority ownership of capital and heavy direct subsidy in enterprises that are otherwise nominally independent will not cause those enterprises to be considered as official bodies.

5. Publications originating in official bodies but published by or with the cooperation of commercial firms, universities or independent research institutes, or any other non-official bodies, will normally be considered as official publications.