Recent Canadian government publications

Abstract

All of the publications described here are federal, with the exception of one title from the Ontario government. Sources are given for publications distributed directly by issuing agencies. The government of Canada, in an effort to curb its expenditures, is phasing out Information Canada. However, the publication distribution and sales operations, including the bookstores, will be retained under the direction of some other department. So far there has been no announcement, but by the time this column appears, those libraries that have dealt regularly with Information Canada will hopefully have received notice of the new name and address. Until then, orders should be sent to Information Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, KIA OS9. Since 1958, Organization of the Government of Canada has been the standard source of information on the structure and activities of a steadily growing federal government. The format became looseleaf with the 7th and 8th editions, each revised several times from 1966 to 1970. Unfortunately between 1970 and 1974, Organization of the Government of Canada was not updated. As these were years of explosive growth and extensive change, the failure of this basic reference tool to keep current caused much frustration for those who relied upon it. Commerce Clearing House (Canadian) Ltd. stepped in to fill the breach with it’s Canadian Government Programmes and Services. It began as a semi-annual publication in August 1970, but with the October 1973 issue became a frequently-updated looseleaf service at twice the price. Since not all libraries can afford Canadian Government Programmes and Services, the appearance of the 9th edition of Organization of the Government of Canada early in 1974 was welcomed by many librarians and researchers. At $10.00 it was a reasonable expenditure for those Canadian libraries that were not entitled to a free copy under the depository library provisions of the regulations regarding free distribution. The 9th edition suffered from an unfortunate physical format a combination of a very heavy paper and an inadequate perfect or glued binding. In no time at all, copies were falling apart. The 10th edition, 1975, has thinner paper and the binding, although again a glued one, is much more substantial. The price remains $10.00 in Canada or $12.00 outside of Canada, and the catalogue no. is IC 41-l/1975. A number of new features in this 10th edition will be gratefully received. One of the appendices is a list of brief identifying names of departments (Environment Canada, Canada Post, Agriculture Canada, etc.) The full legal names appear in the text. A short explanation of the use of brief identifying names in conjunction with the federal symbol (red bar and maple leaf) is included with the description of the Graphic Design Secretariat of Information Canada. The requirements of cataloguers for full legal names and dates of changes will remain largely unfilled however, as the treatment given to subdivisions of