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Under terms of the Copyright act of 1911 and the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, the Library would expect to have almost complete coverage for all printed format Official publications that have been published since 1911. Every effort is made to ensure that all principal items published are acquired.

Where publications were available in both individual item and bound volume formats the Library has in the past received copies in both formats, however, since 2010 where individual item and bound volume formats are available, only the bound volumes are accessioned.

Access to online versions are available through Public Information Online.

Official publications relating to Scotland published by the UK Government are treated as part of the UK Official Publications Collection. This includes reports and publications of the Scotland Office, and those covering all reserved matters (matters outwith the remit of the devolved institutions). Scottish legislation enacted by the UK Parliament is also considered part of the UK Official Publications collection.

The Library's interpretation of what constitutes a Non-Parliamentary publication is very broad and inclusive. In addition to Government departments and executive agencies, it includes Public Bodies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and organisations that are publicly funded.

Searching the collection

All Scottish official publications since 1985 are listed in the OPAC. Publications before 1985 are listed on microfiche. Certain publications such as Scottish Statutory Instruments, Bills & Acts and Scottish Parliamentary, Executive and Government Papers are treated as serials and are not searchable by title or ISBN. However, the OPAC of The National Library of Scotland does contain individual records for many of these publications, and can be used to identify the appropriate document number.

The Scottish Parliament and Government do not publish through TSO, although due to a centralised contract for legislation, Scottish Acts and Scottish Statutory instruments are published by TSO, and included in their catalogue. Since 1999, publication on behalf of the Scottish Government (formerly Scottish Executive) has been undertaken by Astron, R. R. Donnelley and APS.

Items may be ordered in advance and may be reserved unless another reader requests the same item.

Scottish Parliament

  • Complete set from 1999 of Scottish Parliament publications including the Official Report, Business Bulletin, Scottish Parliament Papers, Scottish Parliament Bills

Scottish Government (Formerly Scottish Executive)

  • Scottish Executive Papers (SE Papers): Complete set 1999-2007
  • Scottish Government Papers (SG Papers): Complete set from 2007
  • Complete set of other Scottish Government publications available via the OPAC as monographs of periodicals

Legislation

  • Scottish Statutory Instruments: Complete set from 1999 (bound and unbound until 2011, bound only from 2011)
  • Acts of the Scottish Parliament: Complete set from 1999 (bound and unbound)
  • Passage of the Bill Series: Complete set from 1999 (bound)

Journals

  • The Edinburgh Gazette: Complete set from 1985

Online

  • Public Information Online (wide selection of Scottish parliament and government publications from 2006). This can be accessed from the External Electronic Resources page.

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