Publisher's Synopsis
A discussion of recent developments in the publication of official information, concentrating on events since 1979.;A chronology outlines important changes and three significant events are examined in detail: the changes in the role and status of HMSO, the effects of the 1979 Rayner Review on official statistics and the concept of tradeable government information ushered in by the 1983 ITAP report "Making a business of information".;The availability of official publications for the library and the user is discussed with a comparison of the situation in the UK and that in the USA.;Recent developments are described, and their causes and the effects they have had on libraries, the information professions and the public are analysed.;The author suggests that the dissemination of government information is based largely on economic considerations rather than social ones and that in the absence of an explicit policy the issues important to the library profession have been overlooked.
