LibGuides: Finding British Parliamentary Papers in the M.S.U. Libraries, Collections Guide No. 6 (Advanced): Non-Parliamentary Publications

Non-Parliamentary Publications

In the 20th Century, non-parliamentary publications are either departmental publications published by HMSO but not part of the Sessional Papers or publications which are government documents but are not published by the Government publisher at all. To a greater extent than is currently the situation in the United States, the Government publisher has cut back on the number of documents it issues. A Treasury circular in 1921 made certain classes of documents that were once parliamentary non-parliamentary. Sometimes not all the documents relative to significant policy issues are published by HMSO. It is entirely possible that the final report of a royal commission will be published by HMSO, but not the evidence taken.

For historical research prior to the Internet era, to be sure to identify all the possible documents associated with a particular project, which make up its history, one must be sure to use the Stationery Office Annual Catalogue (Z 2009 .G822 Main) and its predecessors. The Breviates listed in Part II of this guide usually list all the documents associated with a problem or project also. One must also use the Stationery Office Annual Catalogue and its predecessors to identify department level publications. In addition, M.S.U. Libraries also has these other guides and indexes to this material:

Catalogue of British Official Publications not Published by HMSO. 1981. Z 2009 .C3 1980 Main

This is published by Chadwyck-Healey, a microfilming/digital publishing company. It includes publications from government departments, nationalized industries, research institutes, quasi governmental bodies, non-government organizations, and other official bodies whose work is not available from HMSO. The publications include periodicals, newspapers, serials, updates, leaflets, maps, posters, visual aids, etc. If M.S.U. Libraries owns any of these titles, the online catalog will indicate that.

Checklist of British Official Serial Publications. 1987. Z 2009 .B7 1987 Main

Arranged alphabetically by serial name, this source provides issuing agency name, frequency, and availability information for British government issued serials (periodicals). It includes titles issued by government departments and by bodies established, controlled, and/or financed by the government of the United Kingdom. It does not include reports, minutes, or proceedings of select committees of parliament, or the publications of nationalized industries, public corporations, bodies with only regional responsibilities, tourist boards, or museums and galleries.

Documents on British Policy Overseas This link opens in a new window
Documents on British Policy Overseas offers researchers the opportunity to see beneath the surface of the major events of the twentieth century. Users can access contemporary accounts and follow the detailed exchanges that shaped British foreign policy from the origins of the First World War and beyond.

Upon completion this resource will contain 56,000 U.K. government documents relating to Britain's international relations, including foreign policy instructions, letters and memos, business reports, and more. These primary source materials have been selected by the official historians of Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and, in many cases, have been declassified at their request for inclusion in this series.

This resource offers single-point online access from three print series: British Documents on the Origins of War, 1898-1914 (Main stacks D 505 .G68 v. 1-11 contains material on the tensions that led to WWI), Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939 (Main stacks DA 566.7 .A18 Ser 1-3 v. 1-65 interwar period with items on Italo-Ethiopian War and German affairs), and Documents on British Policy Overseas (Main stacks DA 588 .D63 1984 Series 1-4 17 volumes plus cds and microfiche with items on atomic energy, the Korean conflict and the Cold War).

Hathi Trust offers limited view (search only) for the second print set listed above, covering 1919-1939.
Colonial State Papers, Collection I This link opens in a new window
Colonial State Papers provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

Also included is a digitised version of The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, which contains bibliographic records and extracts for thousands of additional documents.

For finding British documents published from the mid 1990s on, use of the Internet is essential. Here are some avenues into the departmental publications via online searching:

Home Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Department for Culture, Media, and Sport

Department of Health and Social Care

Office of Public Sector Information link now goes to Legislation.gov.uk.

MSU Libraries

Research Guides

Finding British Parliamentary Papers in the M.S.U. Libraries, Collections Guide No. 6 (Advanced): Non-Parliamentary Publications

Non-Parliamentary Publications