Finding Official Publications

It is traditional to divide UK official publications into two main types: Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentary. Parliamentary papers are a product of the work of the UK Parliament and also of the devolved parliaments and assemblies. Non parliamentary papers are the reports and other publications of individual government departments and agencies, such as the Department of Work and Pensions and the Highways Age

Examples include:

• House of Commons Papers and Bills
• Command Papers
• House of Lords Papers and Bills
• Hansard - Parliamentary Debates, both Commons and Lords
• Standing and Public Bill Committee Debates
• White and Green Papers (including government policy documents and consultations)
• 'Non-Parliamentary' publications related to the work or policies of government, e.g. codes of practice and Home Office research publications.
• Acts and Statutory Instruments (these are shelved in the Law section)
• Statistical sources (most of which shelved in the statistics section, HA/ )

Libraries and Learning Resources hold large collections of UK official publications in printed form and also providesaccess to online versions via FindIt@Bham

Most, but not yet all, parliamentary publications are available on large searchable databases and websites with a commitment to preserving online access. Please note that many of the major online resources are only available to you if you logon to FindIt@Bham