College and Research Libraries Government Publications ASUBCOMMITTEE of the A . L . A . Public Documents Committee has been made re-s p o n s i b l e for a section in College and Research Libraries which is devoted to various phases of w o r k with government publications. It is intended that the scope of the contributions which appear in the section shall include annotated lists of bibliographical aids, subject lists of public documents, and notes of general interest to persons engaged in w o r k in this field. T h e committee: Violet Abbott Cabeen, chairman, James B. Childs, M a r y B r o w n Humphrey, Robert E . Scudder. By G R A C E A . C A M P B E L L < British Government Documents: A Guide to Their Use British official publications form a con- venient and unequalled source of factual information on current political, economic, and social developments in the British Empire, owing to their wide range, good technical production, and authoritative c h a p t e r . ^ I l i e y are, in fact, often the principal or sole source of information on particular, subjiects. B . Xeesf-Smith in his monograph entitled, A Guide to Parliamentary and Offitiai Papers groups these publications | X .. 1. Parliamentary Publications. 2. Stationery Office Publications (Since ?»> balled Non-Parliamentary Pub- lications) . 3. t̂aJtutoJ^ Rules and Orders. P a r l i a m e n t a r y Debates. 1 5. Pii|Wlt- 'Dealing with the Day-to-Day % F^lwMl^ngs of Parliament. '{ 6. T^d jPBbund Volumes of This Last Group of Papers Issued to Form a jP«far«|!ient Record, fey. j o u r n a l s of Parliament. 5J H . B. A Guide to Parliamentary Sim ficial Papers. O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1924. p. 5. ( L o n d o n School of Economics and Political 9C$MtcEU|||ttdies in Economic a n d Political Science, i w l l l l No, 5 ) . T o these might be added an eighth clas- sification, Acts of Parliament. T h e major portion of the documents are published by His M a j e s t y ' s Stationery Office. T h i s office is also charged with their distribution and sale. Established at the latter end of the eighteenth century as a government stationer's office, its func- tions are similar in many respects to those of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Superintendent of Docu- ments. T h e following current official lists are issued by the Stationery O f f i c e : G r e a t Britain. Stationery Office. Government Publications. 1936 to date. Issued monthly (with a subject index through May, 1940). Includes Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary Publications. Re- places Monthly List of Publications^lttid Monthly Circular Divided as follows: first, Descriptive Notes on Chief Publica- tions of the Month; second, Catalog of Pub- lications Issued during the Month. T h e latter is divided into: first, Parliamentary Publications; second, Non-Parliamentary Publications (the departments are arranged alphabetically by the significant words in the SEPTEMBER, 1941 355 name of the government authors) ; third, Periodicals which appear regularly once a month or oftener; fourth, Reissues; fifth, Miscellaneous Publications, such as those of the British Museum. Beginning with 1940, the Reissue section has not appeared, and the Miscellaneous Publications section has appeared only occasionally. G r e a t Britain. Stationery Office. Consolidated List of Government Pub- lications. 1922 to date. Issued annually at the end of the year. Based on Government Publications listed above. Includes Parliamentary and Non- Parliamentary Publications. Is the only cumulative list including Non-Parliamentary Publications. Preceded by the following publications: Quarterly List of Official and Parliamentary Publications, March 1894- 1896.2 Quarterly List of Official Pub- lications, 1897-1921? Quarterly List of Parliamentary Publications, 1897-1921.4 Consolidated List of Government Publica- tions issued annually and semiannually 1922- 35 as the 6th and 12th number of each year of the Monthly List of Publications. Di- vided into Parliamentary, Non-Parliamen- tary, and Miscellaneous sections with a general alphabetical subject index. Gives for each publication listed (as does Govern- ment Publications) : title, document number, net price, and price with postage. Useful as a buying guide for current government material and as a subject index for publica- tions of a given year. For Sessional Papers of the House of Commons it is superseded as an index by the annual Numerical List and Index to Printed Sessional Papers. These two lists correspond in a general way to the United States Government Publications Monthly Catalog, with its annual index. T h e British list had the advantage of an index to the monthly issues through M a y 1940, when it was discontinued owing to the pressure of the 2 Childs, J. B. An Account of Government Docu- ment Bibliography in the United States and Else- where. U . S . Government P r i n t i n g Office, 1930, p. 42. I W i t h revised d a t e s . — S . B . C . ] 3 Ibid. [ W i t h revised d a t e s . — S . B . C . ] *Ibid. [ W i t h revised dates.—S . B.C.] w a r situation in G r e a t Britain. Depart- mental and subject lists of Non-Parliamen- tary Publications are also available from the Stationery Office. T h e y are compar- able to the Price Lists issued by the United States Superintendent of Documents Office. Outstanding examples of the British lists are those issued by the Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Depart- ment of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Public Record Office ( L i s t Q), the Admiralty, and the A i r M i n i s t r y . H o w - ever, the publication of these lists has been discontinued for the duration of the w a r . T h e r e are general indexes to Parlia- mentary Publications, each covering a period of years, but there are no indexes to Non-Parliamentary Publications for like periods. T h e r e is no British publica- tion corresponding to the United States Document Catalog, which forms a per- manent record of both Congressional and departmental publications since 1893. T h e need of such a catalog for British publications was not felt until T h e s e include papers w h i c h do not actually originate in the House.- T h e y are presented to the House nominally by royal c o m m a n d / Included here, among other things, are reports of the older or more important government departments, important royal commissions, and note- w o r t h y statements of government policy./ T h e series have been issued t h u s : First series 1818- 1832 N o t scheduled Second series 1833- 1868-69 [ 1 H 4 2 2 2 ] T h i r d series 1870- 1899 [ C . I ] - [ C . 9 5 5 O ] F o u r t h series 1900- 1918 [Cd.1HCd.9239] F i f t h series 1 9 1 9 - date [ C m d . i ] - d a t e 8 7 D a l g o u t t e , W . C. " ' B l u e B o o k ' and ' W h i t e P a p e r . ' " Special Libraries 30:333, Dec. 1939. 8 H o r r o c k s , S i d n e y . " G o v e r n m e n t P u b l i c a t i o n s . " Library Association Record 8:96, J u n e 1930 ( n e w s e r i e s ) . Some of the annuals in this class have been issued for many years. A m o n g these are the Statistical Abstract for the British Empire and the Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom. T h e s e abstracts supply for the British nation information similar to that furnished by the U n i t e d States government in its Statistical Ab- stract. Reports of Committees and Commissions A l t h o u g h the reports of the various Parliamentary committees and commis- sions are published in the Parliamentary Papers, the minutes of evidence and ap- pendices are sometimes published as Non- Parliamentary Papers.- T h i s fact should not confuse one accustomed to using U n i t e d States documents since the hear- ings, on which reports published in the Congressional set are based, are very rarely published in the Congressional series. R o y a l commissions are appointed by the C r o w n , sometimes at its o w n dis- cretion and sometimes on the advice or demand of one or both Houses. T h e y differ f r o m the select committees of either House w h i c h are appointed f r o m the House naming the committee, and the departmental committees w h i c h are selected f r o m the departments w i t h an occasional outsider included. A n o t h e r type of committee w h i c h is of interest, is the department advisory committee, w h i c h has g r o w n increasingly common since 1918. 9 R o y a l commissions have played an im- portant part in the government of G r e a t Britain. T h e first one w a s appointed in 1386. Q u i t e often the report of the com- mission is k n o w n by the name of the c h a i r m a n , ^ fact w h i c h is often a source 9 F a i r l i e , J . F . " A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e s in B r i t i s h A d m i n i s t r a t i o n . " American Political Science Review 22:812-22, N o v . 1926. 358 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH ) L I B R A R I E S of considerable confusion to users of these reports. For instance, the report of the Indian Statutory Commission is known as the Simon Report from the name of its chairman, Sir John Simon.10 Royal commissions are independent except for the control of the Treasury over their expenses. S i d n e y W e b b says of them, . . . T h e y are frequently set up as a safety valve, or a channel for current agitations and counter agitations so as to enable the government, Parliament, and public opinion to test the value of, and to estimate the force behind, each of these agitations. From the standpoint of democratic control, and the education of public opinion, the British royal commission or committee of enquiry is the analogue of the American practice of public hearings. . . .1X An example of a similar body in the United States is the recent U.S. Tempo- rary National Economic Committee. A useful finding list of royal commission reports has been compiled by A. H . Cole.12 Official and Nonofficial Indexes to the Lords and Commons Papers T h e House of Commons Papers were printed as far back as 1641. From 1801 to 1835 some of them were included in the appendix to the Journals, where they could be examined by the public, but they were not put on sale until 1835. T h e House of Lords Papers were sold begin- ning with 1854. T h e Sessional Papers as such date back to about 1800. Collections of Parliamentary Papers date back to 1731, but only since the beginning of the nineteenth century have entire sets been 10 F l e t c h e r , A. S. " P o p u l a r N a m e s of 20th Cen- t u r y British G o v e r n m e n t R e p o r t . " ( I n A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Association. Committee on P u b l i c Docu- m e n t s . Public Documents, 1937, p. 89-90, 132-217.) 11 W e b b , S i d n e y , a n d Webb, Beatrice. " R o y a l Commissions a n d Committees of I n q u i r y as Sources f o r t h e I n v e s t i g a t o r . " ( I n t h e i r Methods of Social Study. L o n g m a n s , 1932, p. 157.) 12 Cole, A. H . A Finding-List of British Royal Commission Reports: 1S60 to 1935. H a r v a r d U n i - v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1935. preserved.13 Catalogs of the House of Commons Papers have been prepared cov- ering the period 1751 to 1800, and of the Reports from 1696 to 1834. A compila- tion of the reports from committees of the House and an index to them has been printed by order of the House.1' Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, [1715-1801] [Lon- \ don] 1803-05. 15 v. G r e a t Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. A General Index to the Reports from Committees, [1715-1801] [London] 1803. Besides annual indexes to the House of Commons Papers and the House of Lords Papers, there are also some general indexes, each covering a period of time, which facilitates the search for informa- tion. y G r e a t Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Reports, Estimates, Accounts, Printed by Order of the House of Commons and to the Papers Presented by Command, 1801-1929. London, H . M . Stationery O f - fice, I853-I93I- T h e volumes are not numbered. Contents: [v. 1] General Index to A c - counts and Papers, Reports of Commissions, etc., 1801-52; [v. 2] General Index to Bills, 1801-52; [v. 3] General Index to Reports of Select Committees, 1801-52; [v. 4] Gen- eral Index, 1852-99; [v. 5] General Index, 1900-09; [v. 6] General Index, 1910-19; [v. 7] 1920-28/29.14 T h e index 1852-99 through a serious error omits the sessional and command » numbers of the documents. T h i s series is continued by the annual index to the Sessional Papers.v' 13 Gaselee, Sir S t e p h e n . " L i b r a r i e s a n d Sources of I n f o r m a t i o n in G o v e r n m e n t D e p a r t m e n t s . " ( I n As- sociation of Special L i b r a r i e s a n d I n f o r m a t i o n B u r e a u x . Proceedings of the 12th Conference, 1935, p. 56.) 14 M u d g e , I . G. Guide to Reference Books. 6th ed. A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Association, 1936, p. 371. SEPT EMBER, 1941 359 G r e a t Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. General Index to Sessional Papers Printed by Order of the House of Lords or Presented by Special Command. London, Eyre, 1860-86. 3 vols. Contents: v. 1. 1801-59; v. 2. 1859-70; v. 3. 1871-8?. From 1886-1920 the annual indexes must be used,15 Since 1921 a table of contents has been published annually for the House of Lords Papers. In 1938 the Stationery Office reprinted the index volumes to the Papers of the Commons and the Lords covering the years 1801-52 and 1801-59 respec- tively. A list of general and special indexes which cover Parliamentary and Non- Parliamentary Publications is to be found in the following compilation: [ G r e a t Britain. Stationery Office.] Indexes and Bibliographical Publications of H. M. Stationery Office. [London, H . M . Station- ery Office, 1939] 7p. A useful nonofficial index for Parliamen- tary Papers is: King, firm, publishers, London. Catalogue of Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1920, with a Few of Earlier Date, compiled by Hilda Vernon Jones. London, King, 1904-22. 3 vols. Contents: 1801/1900. 1904; 1901/10. 1912; 1911/20. 1922. 2. Non-Parliamentary Publications T h e non-Parliamentary group of docu- ments includes among other things, the reports of smaller departments, the reports of department committees, and the minutes of evidence of royal commissions.16 T h e subjects with which these publications deal are many and varied. T h e y include agri- culture, art and science, national defense, economic and social questions, education, 15 Ibid. 16 G r e a t B r i t a i n . S t a t i o n e r y Office. His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1786-1925. [ H . M . S t a t i o n e r y Office, 192S], P. 7. history and archeology, imperial and foreign affairs, medicine and public health, public administration, industry and tech- nology, trade and commerce, transport and communications. T h e tendency in recent years has been to transfer documents formerly issued as Parliamentary Papers to the Non- Parliamentary group. T h i s has been done in response to demands for retrenchment. T h e following aids have been suggested to the searcher of public papers. For a list of publications which were sus- pended, etc., by various government depart- ments during the Great W a r , the reader is referred to the Report of the Select Com- mittee on Publications and Debates' Reports, 1916 ( H . C . 112/1916), Appendix I ; whilst for those which were transferred as the re- sult of the postwar economy campaign the report of the same committee for 1923 ( H . C . 140/1923) should be consulted.17 T h e John Crerar Library has prepared a list showing the transfers in the Ses- sional Papers from 1914 to 1933.18 T h e prewar average total number of volumes of Sessional Papers at each session was approximately one hundred volumes; now it is about thirty. T h e Non-Parliamentary Publications have increased in volume cor- respondingly in the last twenty-five years. Among these are many publications which furnish the source material for the study of economic and social questions. A valu- able series which provides an index to statistics contained in Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary Publications is: Great Britain. Permanent Consultative Committee on Official Statistics. Guide to the Current Official Statistics of the United Kingdom. 1922 to date. Such an index is urgently needed for 11 H o r r o c k s , op. cit., p. 98. 18 T a y l o r , R. L. Guide to the Serial and Periodical Publications in Great Britain. Parliament. Ses- sional Papers, 1914-1933. P r e l i m i n a r y ed., 1934. ( J o h n C r e r a r L i b r a r y . R e f e r e n c e List No. 30.) 360 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH ) L I B R A R I E S U n i t e d States government statistical pub- lications. 3. Statutory Rules and Orders T h e rules and regulations of general interest for any department are collected and published annually in the Statutory Rules and Orders, " . . . T h e s e regula- tions are made by government depart- ments in the exercise of powers conferred upon them by some act of P a r l i a m e n t . " 1 9 T h e y have the effect of l a w and are com- parable to the regulations found in the United States Code of Federal Regula- tions. A t present, t w o volumes a year are published. T h e r e is an index, issued triennially, to all Statutory Rules and Orders in force. T h e Statutory Rules and Orders issued before December 3 1 , 1903, and w h i c h w e r e still in force on that date, have been published in a series of volumes known as the Revised Statutory Rules and Orders. A separate collection, not in Statutory Rules and Orders, en- titled Manual of Emergency Legislation and containing w a r legislation for 1914- 18 w a s published in five volumes. 4. Parliamentary Debates T h e record of Parliamentary debates for the period before 1803 is covered by Cobbett's Parliamentary History of Eng- land from the Earliest Period to the Year 1S03. T h i s series, published by Hansard in thirty-six volumes, is a retrospective compilation rather than a current record.20 T h e Parliamentary Debates proper be- gin in 1803 and are divided into five series: ( 1 ) 1803-20, 41 vols. ( 2 ) 1820-30, 25 vols. ( 3 ) 1830-91, 350 vols. 19 Cowell, F. R. Brief Guide to Government Pub- lications. H . M . S t a t i o n e r y Office, 1938, p. '25. 20 M u d g e , op. cit., p. 130. SEPTEMBER, 1941 ( 4 ) 1892-1908, 77 vols. ( 5 ) 1909 to the present date.2 1 T h e r e is an index for each volume and a general index for each year. T h e de- bates were privately reported up to 1907, although the government gave financial aid beginning in 1855. T h e verbatim reports began in 1909, and since that date the debates of the t w o Houses have been published separately. T h e name of the early reporter and printer, Hansard, is often applied to the whole series. A sup- plementary series containing the debates in standing committees has been published since 1 9 1 9 . T h e entire set is comparable to the United States Congressional Record and the publications w h i c h preceded it. 5. Papers Dealing with the Day-to-Day Proceedings of Parliament T h e Blue Paper which is sent to the homes of the members every morning con- tains a record of the proceedings of Parlia- ment, business to come before Parliament, questions for oral answer, and much gen- eral information. O n e of the principal sections of the Blue Paper is the Votes and Proceedings, which consists of a rec- ord of the decisions of the House of Commons on the previous day. I t con- tains the information corresponding to that found in " H i s t o r y of Bills and Resolutions" in the United States Con- gressional Record. T h e House Votes and Proceedings have been printed for sale to the public since 1680. T h e White Paper is issued to members after they reach the House. I t consists only of those parts of the Blue Paper which make up the agenda for the day.2 2 I t is comparable to the Daily Calendar of the U n i t e d States Congress. 21 Lees-Smith, op. cit., p. 14. 22 Ibid., p . 16-19. 361 + i T h e Blue Paper and White Paper are supplemented by four other documents which are furnished to members, namely, the Order Book of the House of Com- mons, the Weekly List of Public Bills, the list of Statutory Rules and Orders, and the Supply Lists, which show the ac- count of the progress of the different Votes in Supply.23 6. Bound Volumes of Day-to-Day Pro- ceedings of Parliament T h e bound volumes of these papers differ in arrangement from the plan on which they are issued to members.' A c - cording to Lees-Smith the arrangement is as f o l l o w s : ( i ) Votes, ( 2 ) Supplements to Votes, ( 3 ) Notices of Motion and Orders of the Day, ( 4 ) Public Bills, (5) Public Petitions, (6) Private Business, ( 7 ) Amendments to Private Bills, ( 8 ) Standing Committees, ( 9 ) Divisions.24 T h e Divisions correspond to the Yea and Nay Votes of the U n i t e d States Congress. T h e House of Lords Minutes were printed beginning w i t h 1824 but w e r e not placed on sale until 1854. 7. Journals of Parliament T h e Journals are the official proceed- ings of both Houses. T h e Journals of the House of Commons and the House of L o r d s w e r e begun in their present form w i t h the record for 1547 and 1509 respectively. T h e y are printed for each session w i t h an annual index at the end of each volume. T h e printing of the Journals (beginning w i t h sixteenth cen- tury records) w a s first undertaken in the latter part of the eighteenth century. G e n - 23 Ibid., p. 19-20. 24 Ibid., p. 20-21. eral indexes issued in volumes covering periods of approximately ten years each are available for both series. T h e general in- dexes are very f u l l and are often used instead of the Journals themselves./JThey contain a collection of precedents which are useful in the business of both Houses. 8. Acts of Parliament Each act of Parliament is published separately first^in the same manner as are the Slip Laws published by the U n i t e d States D e p a r t m e n t of State. L o c a l and private acts are issued only in separate leaflet form and must be bound by those collecting them. A n annual bound vol- ume entitled Public General Acts, con- taining the public acts, is issued. It is roughly comparable to the United States Statutes at Large. A n annual publication of great importance is entitled Chrono- logical Table and Index of the Statutes, in t w o v o l u m e s : ( 1 ) Chronological table of all statutes since 1235 w i t h an indi- cation of subsequent repealing acts, ( 2 ) Index to statutes in force. F o r the com- plete set of statutes in force, the f o l l o w - ing is also needed: G r e a t B r i t a i n . L a w s , s t a t u t e s , etc., Stat- utes. 2d ed. L o n d o n , H . M . Stationery O f - fice, 1888-1929. vols. 1-24. C o v e r s the s t a t u t e s 1235-1920, a r r a n g e d chronologically. K e p t up to date by the an- n u a l volume of Public General Acts which have been published separately since 1886. F o r the period of the Interregnum the f o l l o w i n g compilation must be consulted: G r e a t B r i t a i n . L a w s , s t a t u t e s , etc. 1642- 60. ( I n t e r r e g n u m . ) Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660. Collected and edited by C . H . F i r t h and R. S. R a i t f o r the S t a t u t e L a w C o m m i t t e e . L o n d o n , H . M . S t a t i o n e r y Office, 1911. 3'vols. 362 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 1