The publications of British national para-governmental organisations

Government Publication Review, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 399 - 401

0 Pergamon Press Ltd. 1978. Printed in Great Britain

THE PUBLICATIONS OF BRITISH NATIONAL PARA-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

STEPHEN RICHARD Official Paper Room, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, OX1 3BG, England

Abstract - Quasi-governmental and quasi-non-governmental (para-governmental) organisations form an increasingly large and important group of bodies which issue large numbers of official publications. The types of organisation, their importance, the reasons for their establishment and problems of accountability are described. The publishing patterns of these organisations are then analysed. and the problems of bibliographical control discussed. The consequent difficulties of acquisition of this material are outlined, and techniques are suggested to overcome some of the difficulties of acquisition.

INTRODUCTION

There is a large and increasing number of organisations in Britain, which are neither strictly governmen-

tal nor private. [‘I Sometimes given the acronym “quangos”, they are dependent in some way upon

Government - by means of finance, through ministerial appointment or approval of members of the governing body, through Government vetting of policies, or because they are acting as agents of Government. Examples are nationalised industries (British Gas, National Coal Board, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority); semi-commercial organisations (British Airports Authority, National Ports Council, Independent Broadcasting Authority); public bodies administering government funds (Arts

Council, Sports Council, and the research councils); agents for Government activity (Countryside Com- mission, Civil Aviation Authority, Medicines Commission, National Radiological Protection Board); and national organisations funded by the Government (British Museum, British Library various art galleries and museums). There are very few national organisations which are not financed in some way by Government funds - universities, research associations, and many private bodies with public aims receive Government funds either directly or indirectly.

These organisations are of major importance in the public life of the nation, as can be seen by the few examples given above. Their existence raises problems of public accountability, as many are not directly accountable to Parliament. The creation of consumer councils for the agricultural marketing boards and nationalised industries has not proved wholly successful in improving their accountability; both Government and industry often show little regard for their comments.

These para-governmental organisations certainly create problems for researchers and librarians. They have a high birth and death rate, as many are created for limited functions over finite periods. Their publications are not well covered in national bibliographies; often they are not properly documented even within the organisations themselves. These factors combine to create difficulties in identifying and obtaining the publications of para-governmental organisations (PGOs).

THE NATURE OF PARA-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

The study of para-governmental organisations[‘l within the field of public administration was given a strong impetus by the 1969 Ditchley and 1971 Williamsburg conferences, financed by the Carnegie

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400 STEPHEN RICHARD

Foundation.[‘l Interest began in the United States where it developed through the use of terms like “military-industrial complex” and “contract society” and commonly took the form of accountability studies. The Ditchley conference showed British participants that the same problem existed in Britain under different names. The Fulton Committee on the Civil Service, which reported in 1968,[‘] gave much attention to the “hiving off” of Government functions to streamline the civil service by taking certain activities and functions out of central government. This was essentially a discussion about making the civil service more efficient in management terms and did not concern itself with public accountability, as that was assumed to be built into the civil service through the Ministers’ accountability to Parliament. As the number of PGOs has increased, so the measure of accountability to the legislature has diminished.

Para-governmental organisations have a number of characteristics by which they can be recognised and classified.[51 They are predominantly staffed by civil servants of the Crown or of local authorities, in many cases on secondment, and usually with similar conditions of service. The members of the gover-

ning bodies are not directly elected, but appointed or approved (wholly or in part) by the Crown or Government Ministers under statutory powers; this of course does not apply to quasi-non- governmental organisations. PGOs are not normally audited by the Government; however they report to Parliament, to Ministers or to bodies which do report to one of these. Often they have special chartered or statutory powers to punish offenders, or raise licences or levies for special purposes. Many PGOs have a long-term contractual dependency on the Government or a quasi-governmental organisation. Their policies are vetted by the Government, and usually are openly used by the Government or other PGOs as instruments for Government, although sometimes the use of organisations is unacknowledged and clandestine. The ownership of the PGO may be by a corporation based on charter or statute, by a limited company partially owned by the government, or by a wholly government-owned company such as a nationalised company. These are financed largely by public funds, which may be parliamentary appropriations, grants, ad hoc tax relief, contracts, Government shareholdings, government loans or guarantees, or loan sanctions. To summarise, PGOs are set up or used by Government; are dependent on Government funds; are subject to some public accountability through representation or reporting arrangements; they normally have their own boards responsible for their own affairs and programmes. They may even be legally a private company, but they are subject to Government policies and direction. Alan Pifer defines a PGO as being

“created as the result of legislative or administrative action rather than on the in- itiative of private citizens. It is dependent financially for its very existence on [Government]“.[‘l

A minor point of interest is that staff of a number of PGOs consider their organisations to be governmental because of reporting arrangements, financial connections and civil service conditions. Only a few consider their organisations to be independent of Government - usually those in businesses like the Radiochemical Centre.

ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF PARA-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

There are numerous and interrelated reasons for the establishment of PGOs, some of which have been in existence for many years. The late 18th century saw the establishment by Government of various turnpike authorities, canal commissions, and later railway companies, all of which required Acts of Parliament for their establishment and functioning.

The 19th century saw the extension of the PGO into many other spheres - the poor law commis- sioners, gas and electricity companies and Royal Commissions. In the present century they have become much more numerous, while at the same time their accountability to Parliament has decreased.

To some extent, PGOs provide a buffer protecting certain activities from day-to-day Parliamentary scrutiny, or relieving the Government itself from unpopular actions (e.g. the Prices Board and the former National Board for Prices and Incomes). Sometimes the establishment of a PGO may represent

The publications of British national para-governmental organisations 401

an attempt at a “sleight of hand or secrecy by Government “[‘I to remove direct responsibility from the

Government. Many times the establishment of PGOs is for administrative reasons: “many of these

systems are likely to have a single objective or limited range of objectives and can therefore develop the appropriate form of organisation for the task. “W They can also provide specialised services not easily available in Government departments. They can harness the professions in the service of Government and assist in the provision of objective advice, e.g. Royal Commissions. Diffusion of responsibility by use of advisory bodies and the transfer of regulatory and adjudicative powers to non-ministerial bodies and even devolution of power are sometimes reasons for the establishment of PGOs. Often PGOs are set up to spend money through intermediaries. Their purpose may be summarised as being

“to meet Government’s need for specialised services not elsewhere available, to provide it with independent judgement and to offer the kind of flexibility required for fresh solutions to complex and novel problems”.IOl

Para-governmental organisations operate both nationally and locally. The main criteria of government finance, appointment or approval of members of the governing bodies, and establishment by statute, results in a wide range of bodies - local government, universities and other higher educational institutions, many research associations, local aits councils, hospital boards, and regional economic planning councils, among many others. This paper, however, concentrates on national PGOs and their regional subdivisions, and excludes local organisations. The types of organisations which are con-

sidered are nationalised industries and other semi-commercial bodies like the Independent Broadcasting Corporation and the British Airports Authority; grant-giving bodies such as the Arts Council and the University Grants Committee; agents for Government activity and regulation such as the National Enterprise Board, the Gaming Board and the Airworthiness Requirements Board; and national museums and galleries.

PUBLISHING PATTERNS OF PAR&GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

Much more research is required on the publications of para-governmental organisations, especially by types of publications and bodies. The following survey is based on experience gained in acquiring (or attempting to acquire) their publications.

PGOs issue a wide range of publications including investigative reports, marketing reviews, annual reports, house journals, operating and training manuals, careers literature, posters, maps, calendars, standards, codes of practice, publicity materials and books in the recognised sense of the word. The types of publication issued depend to a large extent on the rationale of the organisation. The Civil Avia- tion Authority is largely a regulatory agency of the Government and most of its publications reflect this by taking the form of requirements and standards for the civil aviation operators and employees. Organisations which have the primary function of persuasion reflect this in their publications: the Com- munity Relations Commission, for example, provides information about the historical and cultural backgrounds of various immigrant groups. Museums tend to issue studies of artists, inventors, periods, exhibition catalogues, and so forth. Other bodies publish incidentally to their administrative or marketing activities; for instance, British Gas issues publicity materials, although it also produces reports and manuals of various kinds which are restricted to the industry’s employees. Another example is the Metrication Board, which occassionally issues substantial publications, but primarily issues informational material incidental to the change-over to the metric system of measurement. An organisation like the Independent Broadcasting Authority has its own publishing subsidiary, which operates in a similar manner to a commercial publishing house. It issues much material linked to its educational activities on radio and television, and in conjunction with various programme series. British Museum Publications is a similar organisation.

It seems that most PGOs issue a few (say under 20) publications annually, while some issue a large number (say over 100) annually. An unpublished British Library study on report literature showed that 60% of report producers issue 10 or fewer reports annually, while only 15% issue over 50 annually[lO].

402 STEPHEN RICHARD

It appears that the vast majority of bodies issue either many or only a few publications, while only a small number produce moderate quantities of publications.

SOURCES OF PGO PUBLICATIONS

The major types of sources of publications are Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, the organisations themselves, publishing subsidiaries and commercial publishers. HMSO acts as a sales agent for a number of organisations at their request, subject to the publications being acceptable to the HMSO bookselling operations. Rarely are all of the publicly available publications of a PGO issued through HMSO; an exception is the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority which issues all its publicly available publications through HMSO.

The most common source of PGO publications is the organisation itself. Most bodies have a public relations or information office responsible for publications. A good deal of what they produce is of a promotional character and is therefore usually free. Much of the research and investigative report material is issued by research departments. The smaller the organisation’s publishing output, the more

likely it is to have a single central source of publishing, and the converse is also true. The reasons for this are partially functional and partially organisational. The public relations objective is to disseminate

widely information serving the body’s purposes; research departments tend to circulate to limited groups information on narrowly defined topics; while marketing departments often wish to restrict their reports to limited groups within the parent organisation. Of course there are variations between similar departments in different organisations; and there are many types of department which issue publications, training, engineering, and so forth.

The effect of organisational structure on publishing is most apparent in regionally organised bodies, of which the electricity industry is a good example. The Electricity Council publishes some but not all of the material issued regionally. Many electricity boards issue substantial numbers of publications in- dependently, including regional survey and marketing reports, manuals of various kinds, and publicity material. The Electricity Council itself has a number of outlets for its publications, for example its Research Centre, Marketing Department and Technical Research Department. In addition, the Central Electricity Generating Board issues publicity and research materials. Though perhaps an extreme example, this demonstrates the publishing behaviour of PGOs with regional divisions.

Another complication is the existence of subsidiaries, particularly in Government-owned companies and nationalised industries. The National Bus Company, which is a holding company, issues only a few publications and has no knowledge or control of the publishing of its 40 subsidiaries. The Post Office

exemplifies the changing pattern of publishing in PGOs. When it was a Government department its publications were under loose central control; but after “hiving off” the Post Office split into four companies - Postal, Telecommunications, Giro, and Data Processing, each of which now controls its own publishing activities in various ways.

A third means of publishing is through subsidiaries. These are set up by organisations issuing large numbers of priced publications, and while there are not many in existence, they are important because of the number and kind of publications they issue. BBC Publications is an example. Its publications are priced and are widely available in bookshops and through its own sales department; their sale is also ac- tively promoted in book-trade journals and on radio and television. The Independent Broadcasting Authority and British Museum also operate publishing subsidiaries. They do not, however, handle all publications: much material, which is normally free, is issued by the publicity or marketing departments of the bodies concerned. For example, British Museum Publications issues exhibition and other catalogues of the British Library, but the BL itself also issues much free and priced material emanating from its various departments - Lending Division, Science Reference Library, Official Publications Library, Research and Development Division, Bibliographical Services Division and the Press and Public Relations Office. The British Library has no central publications office, because of its dispersed


organisation, the existence of a publishing subsidiary, and the differing publication policies in the

various divisions. A fourth method of publication is through commercial publishers. This is probably the least common

method of publishing, as few items are considered to have large markets. The Design Council and Arts Council are two organisations which do have some of their material published by commercial publishers. This is, of course, done in the same manner as commercial publishing for any association, and mainly to shift the responsibility for the required capital to the publisher.

Another element in the publishing pattern of PGOs is the availability of their materials. This involves categories of materials which are restricted or are internal documents. Almost every organisation issues

items in multiple copies for internal purposes, and certain of these may sometimes be available outside the organisation. House journals, for example, come into this category, while materials such as operators’ manuals will be restricted to the organisation. The restrictions placed on research, marketing or technical reports vary greatly. Some organisations restrict whole series; some declassify individual reports; while others make reports available to interested organisations only. A British Library study on report literature showed that one-quarter of Government and para-governmental organisations produc- ed 1 l-50 or more research reports annually; and more than one-half of the nationalised industries pro- duced 1 l-50 or more research reports annually. I”] Clearly, research reports are an important part of their publication programmes, but there is little that can be said with certainty about the availability of

this report literature. Each organisation and series of reports must be approached individually. All the problems of report literature apply to PGOs just as to other organisations issuing restricted publications.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

The bibliographical sources for para-governmental organisations are scarce and most are incomplete in some way. This creates difficulties in identifying publications and has important consequences for acquisition. HMSO has been considered the Government publisher; this is still true in the sense that HMSO is the largest single publisher of Government publications, but an increasing number of publications are being issued by Government departments and Government-related organisations outside HMSO. HMSO act as a sales agent for a selection of publications of some PGOs, but for many it handles only the annual report, which is usually a statutory requirement. By way of example, the White Fish Authority’s annual report was issued as a parliamentary paper until 1972, HMSO then acted as a sales agent to 1974, while from 1975 it has been published by the Authority itself and distributed free of charge. This kind of change makes the publishing history of a series complex and increases the difficulty

of maintaining supply. In general, the HMSO catalogues are not very productive sources for PGO publications as only a proportion of publications are represented in the catalogue, although there are exceptions, such as the UKAEA and the British Museum (Natural History), both of which issue a large proportion of publicly available items through HMSO. The method of entry has varied. In the past, some PGOs were entered under their own names and others under the responsible departments; but as the HMSO catalogues now use the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules all appear under their own names, making it more immediately obvious which of them have been included.

The British National Bibliography (BNB) is an important source. Its main advantage over the HMSO catalogues is that it is not a publisher’s catalogue, and so avoids the complications of publishing history as outlined for the White Fish Authority. A second advantage is that it includes a much wider range of organisations. It also has a more systematic index, both by subject and by author and title (though it must be said that the HMSO catalogue indexes are being improved). In spite of these advantages, the coverage of PGO publications by BNB is still not very good. This was demonstrated by testing a selection of 37 PGOs the quantity of whose publications for 1976 was known. Table 1 shows that 40% had none of their publications listed, almost 60% had less than one-tenth, and only 25% had one half or more listed.[‘2J

404 STEPHEN RICHARD

Table 1. Proportions of PGO publications listed in BNB

Organisations Publications 0 l-10% 1 l-49% 50-99% 100v0

Number 15 I 6 5 4 Percentage 40 19 16 14 11

Probably the most important single reason for the poor coverage of PGO publications is the exclusion policy of the BNB. The relevant exclusions cover specifications, loose-leaf material, typescripts of original documents, research report series, promotional (publicity) literature, annual reports of bodies not publicly accountable, equipment handbooks and “unpublished” material. Clearly, the most important exclusions are research report series, annual reports, promotional literature and “unpublished” material; although for some organisations the exclusion of specifications (including standards, recom- mendations, and regulations) is important, for they produce large quantities of this material (e.g. the Civil Aviation Authority and the Airworthiness Requirements Board).

Many important research reports issued by PGOs do not qualify for inclusion in BNB as they form constituent parts of series. Also, a large amount of material emanating from PGOs can be deemed to be “promotional” by anyone seeking to make exclusions - yet often they are the most convenient and re- cent sources of information on certain topics. It would also be useful to know more about the criteria used in excluding the annual reports of bodies not publicly accountable. Experience shows that many organisations are not considered to be publicly accountable but are dependent in some way on the Government. Further, it seems that if the organisation does not report to Parliament or a Minister, most of its publications are excluded, which increases the number of PGO publications that are not listed in BNB.

BNB also excludes unpublished material. A large number of documents are issued in limited numbers and distributed to the public in various ways. Most often they are not priced, but they do include items of public importance such as consultative documents. None the less they are generally excluded from BNB. This means that many documents which should be made widely accessible to the public fail to appear in the national bibliography, and this in itself may be said in some way to compound the problem of lack of public accountability.

The 1976 volumes of BNB are the first to rely wholly on the British Library’s Copyright Receipt Of- fice intake rather than the receipts of the Copyright Agent for four other libraries with legal deposit privileges. They show a marked improvement in terms of the inclusion of PGO publications, and it is to be hoped that the improvement will continue.“31

One source which goes some way towards rectifying the exclusion of research reports from BNB is the British Library Lending Division’s BLLD Announcements Bulletin.[‘41 This lists 80-85% of the 4500-5000 reports received at BLLD. [lSi The emphasis is on science and technology, but a significant number of social science reports are included. This is an essential tool for acquisitions, giving at least partial coverage of research report literature. It is of little value as a retrospective bibliography as there is no index, and the subject divisions are very broad. Extremely useful is the British Library Official Publications Library’s Checklist of Current British OfficiaI Series Titles,[‘81 which is a listing of series titles, giving information about periodicity, availability, changes of titles, demises and new titles added. It is therefore an important tool for control of the serial publications of PGOs.

These bibliographies still leave a great number of publications not covered by any national bibliographical service. Reliance for knowledge of further publications must be placed on publications lists from the organisations concerned; unfortunately many organisations do not issue such lists. Generally, those PGOs which issue relatively large numbers of substantial items (many of which are for sale) tend to issue publications lists, which those which issue most of their publications free of charge tend not to do so. Two examples support this statement: the Arts Council and Design Council both


issue a number of substantial publications for sale and do issue lists; the Electricity Council issues main-

ly free items, probably well over 200 per year, but does not issue any lists.

ACQUISITION

Acquisition of the publications of PGOs is made difficult by the omission of the publications from the national bibliographies and by the lack of publications lists. It is further complicated by the often uncontrolled publication by departments within an organisation and by the publications of subsidiaries. There is also a high birth and death rate among these organisations.

Identification of publications must be made by scanning the publications lists, where they exist, and

by scanning BNB, the HMSO catalogues and the BLLD Announcements Bulletin. Publications issued by PGOs are often listed in their annual reports, but the reports are usually considerably in arrears and the information provided varies greatly from one organisation to another. The informational materials issued by the various organisations often list some of their publications. Where lists exist, the requirement is to receive them regularly - this is often not straightforward. Where no publications lists exist, it is necessary to use other sources. Library accession lists are valuable sources for learning of new publications; they usually include the publications of related organisations, but they are time- consuming to scan. The BNB, issued weekly, is a good source for learning of new publications, bearing in mind the limitations imposed by its exclusion policy and the time lag between publication of an item

and its listing. Cataloguing-in-publication has been introduced to reduce delays, though there are as yet no PGOs which participate in this scheme.

The BLLD Announcements Bulletin, issued monthly, is a good source for learning of research reports, although the delay in entering items is even longer than in BNB. Scanning is eased by the use of

the symbols “D, R and T” indicating theses, reports and translations, respectively. As many organisations do not issue publications lists and their publications are unlikely to be listed

consistently anywhere, one method of acquiring publications of PGOs is to attempt to obtain a selection or all of each body’s publications by means of standing orders. The Potato Marketing Board, for

example, has recently introduced a Publications Subscription Scheme which assures the receipt of the Board’s periodicals and publications. Most bodies do not have the organisation to deal with standing orders easily, although they are very helpful with inquiries for single publications or for publications on a particular topic, but it is difficult to maintain consistent supplies over an extended period.

The most effective method of acquisition seems to be personal contacts. If a particularly helpful per- son can be found in the public relations department, information department, or library, much can be done to maintain a steady supply of publications. If a library is interested in a number of organisations, a file needs to be maintained for each organisation, noting the reasons for difficulties in supply. As the

main problem of acquisition is discovering what has been published, contact with persons in organisations which do not issue publications lists is essential. Another advantage of contacts is that many organisations do not have central enquiry points for publications.

IDENTIFICATION OF PARA-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

The relatively high birth and death rate of these bodies creates problems of identifying new PGOs, maintaining supplies of publications and of cultivating new contacts. This can be exemplified by the Race Relations Board, which was established in 1968 and disolved nine years later in 1977, to be merged with the Community Relations Board to form the Commission for Racial Equality. Many advisory bodies have much shorter lives - one or two years; one consolation is that they are not normally large producers of publications. Several sources are useful for the identification of these bodies. The Civil

Service YearbooP”] lists many PGOs, although is concentrates on the more permanent ones staffed by civil servants. Since 1976, these have been grouped in a separate section following the Government departments. The information given includes the address, departmental organisation and senior

406 STEPHEN RICHARD

members of the organisation. It is supplemented by A L&t of Advisory Bodies compiled and issued by the Civil Service Department annually. [“lCouncils, Committees and Board.+01 gives the date of, and authority for establishment of each organisation, its purpose (terms of reference), address and some in- dication of its publications. This is an extremely valuable source for determining which organisations are public and which are private. The Directory of Paid Public Appointments Made by Ministers[201 lists bodies by appointing department, place and purpose of the body. It is to be hoped that further, regular editions of this very useful publication will be issued. Government Research and Development: Guide to Sources of Informationl”] gives details of organisations performing research for the Govern- ment and indicates the type of publications issued. Public Boards, a L&t of Appointments Made to Boards of a Commercial CharacteVl is issued annually as a parliamentary paper and lists the boards’ memberships. Management Services in Government[251 contains an annual review of developments in Government organisation, as does Public Administration [“I; these two periodicals are helpful in obtaining information on new organisations and on developments which affect the sources of publications. Finally, the general news press and trade press need to be scanned to keep up to date on new organisations.

The complicated publication pattern of PGOs and the exclusion of many of their publications from the national bibliographies make knowledge of this group of publications and their acquisition difficult. Most of the problems outlinedin this paper also exist for the departmental publications of central

Government departments. These publications are of importance to the public life of the nation and should be widely available and made easily accessible through the national bibliography. Britain clearly lacks a comprehensive bibliographical source for Government publications. Provision of a comprehensive bibliography is not impossible as is shown by the Government publications supplements to the national bibliographies of France and Germany (where the Government organisation is no less complicated), and by the inclusion of these materials in the United States Government Printing Office’s Monthly Catalog. Further research and persuasion is required in Britain to make the bibliography of Government publications rise to a satisfactory standard.

REFERENCES

1. Neville Johnson in 1973 identified “800 bodies of different kinds, ranging from those with executive functions to those of a purely advisory nature, dependent in some way on British central government departments alone”. All indications point toward an increase since then. Johnson, N. Accountability in a Complex Ad- ministrative Pattern, Public Administration Bulletin, No. 17 (December 1974) 13.

2. These organisations are often called quasi-governmental and quasi-non-governmental. I am indebted to Eve Johansson for the term para-governmental to cover the whole range of organisations between central government and private bodies.

3. The results of the 1%9 Ditchley and 1971 Williamsburg conferences, which were financed by the Carnegie Foundation, are reported in three volumes: Smith, Bruce L. R. and Hague, D. C., eds. The Dilemma ofAc- countability in Modern Government: Independence Versus Control. London: Macmillan, 1971. Smith, Bruce L. R., ed. The New Politico1 Economy; thePublic Use of the PrivoJe Sector, London: Macmillan, 1975. Hague, D. C., et ol., Public Policy ond Private Interests; the Institution of Compromise. London: Macmillan, 1975.

4. Civil Service. Report of the Committee. Cmnd.3638. London: HMSO, 1968. 7 volumes. 5. This discussion draws heavily on Hood, C. C. and Mackenzie, W. J. M. The Problem of Classifying Institu-

tions. In Hague, D. C. et ol., eds. op. cit., p. 409-423 6. Pifer, Alan. The Quasi-Non-Governmental Organisation. In Hague, D. C. et 01.. eds op. cit., p. 382. 7. Smith, Bruce, L. R. and Hague, D. C., eds. op.cit., p. 74. 8. Keeling, D. Beyond Ministerial Departments; Mapping the Administrative Terrain. I: Quasi-Governmental

Agencies. Public Administration. 84 (Summer 1976) p. 168. 9. Pifer, Alan, op. cit., p. 385.

10. British Library. Unpublished study on report literature. 1977, p. 10. 11. British Library, op.cit.. appendix I, table 4. 12. Various qualifications need to be made concerning these results. This was not a scientific sample, as the

organisations chosen were those with easily available publications lists and those for which, through private communications, the author had data on the number of publications issued. The proportion of publications included in BNB may be slightly low as some organisations issue a proportion of their publications under the author’s name. However the Arts Council, which issues many of its publications in this way, had only 56% of


its publications recorded in the 1976 BNB. Even if the specific percentages cannot be defended, the general im- pression they give is accurate.

13. But see Chaplin, A. H. New Patterns of National Published Bibliographies. London: British Library, 1976. Ex- cluded official publications are regarded as being of “little general interest (and) may be regarded as of secon- dary importance” (Paragraph 21, p. 6). This does not lead to much confidence for any further improvement being attempted by BNB.

14. British Library Lending Division. BLLD Announcements Bulletin. Boston Spa: BLLD. 15. British Library. Unpublished study on report literature. 1977, p. 10. 16. British Library Official Publications Library. Checklist of Current British Official Series Titles, 9th edn. Lon-

don: Official Publications Library, 1977. 17. Civil Service Department. Civil Service Yearbook. London: HMSO. Annual. 18. Civil Service Department. A List of Advisory Bodies. Issued annually in August. 19. Anderson, 1. G., ed. Councils, Committees and Boards, 3rd edn. Beckenham: CBD Research, Ltd, 1977. 20. Civil Service Department. Directory of Paid Public Appointments Made by Ministers. London: HMSO, 1976. 21. Cabinet Office. Government Research and Development, a Guide to Sources of Information. London: HMSO.

Annual. 22. Civil Service Department. Public Boards, a List of Appointments Made to Boards of a Commercial Character.

London: HMSO. Annual. 23. Civil Service Department. Management Services in Government. London: CSD. Quarterly. 24. Public Administration; Journal of the Royal Institute of Public Administration. London: RIPA. Quarterly.

Documents

The publications of British national para-governmental organisations