Official publications are documents and other resources produced by Parliament and Government during the course of parliamentary and government business.
Content ranges from statements of law and policy to government reports and statistics.
These publications can be a very valuable primary research source and are especially useful to those researching in law, politics and history. However, they are of relevance across all subjects as they address all aspects of governmental work such as science, education, law, agriculture, transport, health etc.
This guide primarily addresses British Official Publications. However it does highlight a selection of official sources from key European and International Organisations which may be of relevance to your research.
The majority of the resources recommended in this guide are available online. The online tools have transformed research in this area as paper based research across official publications was a very laborious process in the past. However, some materials remain tricky to track down, especially when you are hunting amongst vast collections such as verbatim parliamentary debates - so please ask if you need further help.
The major database for UK related official publications is the UK Parliamentary Papers Database and a Proquest LibGuide is available to support users.
A vast collection of primary source archives are also available. For full details, take a look at the Primary Sources LibGuide where you can explore the archives by time period, region and theme. A few highlights include following - but do explore the guide where you will find many more examples