Publishers in the UK and Ireland have a legal obligation to send one copy of each of their publications to the Legal Deposit Office of the British Library within one month of publication.
In addition, the National Library of Scotland; the National Library of Wales; the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford; the University Library, Cambridge and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin each have the right to request one copy. These copies can be supplied via the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries in Edinburgh.
Since there is no national library in Northern Ireland, NIPR requests that publishers in Northern Ireland also donate one copy of each publication to the NIPR collection. These can be sent to NIPR c/o The Linen Hall Library, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GB.
From 6 April 2013, legal deposit also covers material published digitally and online, so that the Legal Deposit Libraries can provide a national archive of the UK’s non-print published material, such as websites, blogs, e-journals and CD-ROMs.
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
Address:
The Agent, Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries,161 Causewayside, Edinburgh EH9
Tel: +44 (0)131 623 4680 Fax: +44 (0)131 623 4681
Email: publisher.enquiries@legaldeposit.org.uk
Web: www.legaldeposit.org.uk
British Library
Address:
St. Pancras, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB
Tel: 087 0444 1500
Web: www.bl.uk
NIPR
Address:
NIPR, c/o The Linen Hall Library, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GB
Tel: 028 9032 1707
Email: nipr@nibooks.org