ABSTRACT
Legal deposit, in theory, makes it possible for the citizen to have access to all published material from his or her own country. Legal deposit, erroneously referred to in the UK and several other countries, formerly part of the British Empire, as ‘copyright deposit’, first began in France in 1537 and has now spread to almost every country in the world. Information about what has been deposited needs to be made available to the public. This is usually done by way of the national bibliography as well as through the depository library’s own catalogue. Public access is also a concept which should be protected by law. Most countries have a statement of purpose in the law establishing their national library or national depository by which the public are guaranteed access. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
