Awareness of legal deposit of published works in the Seychelles |01 December 2020
What is legal deposit?
Legal deposit is a legal obligation that publishers, editors and producers of all types of documents have and that is to deposit a certain number of copies of each of their published documents to designated institutions. It is an international practice for governments to require producers of all types of published documents to deposit.
What to deposit?
The National Library Services Act of June 2010 gives the Seychelles National Library the right to act as the official repository of all materials published:-
(i) in Seychelles;
(ii) on any aspect of Seychelles;
(iii) by any Seychellois;
3 copies of all published documents shall not later than thirty days after it is published or produced, be deposited, free of charge to the head of the National Library.
What is a document?
A document is any object that is intended to store or convey information in textual, graphic, visual, auditory or other intelligible format through any medium. This includes any document that:-
• is intended to be issued and distributed to the public.
• stores or conveys information in textual, visual, auditory, electronic or any other format.
• is a revised version or edition of a document that is significantly different from the previous version or edition in respect of its information content or physical presentation. (Source: www.ifla.org)
Benefits of legal deposit
The purpose of legal deposit is to collect, preserve and make available to present and future users, documents that contain the intellectual and cultural heritage of the country.
The preservation of the documentary heritage facilitates access to all published materials generated within the country. Legal deposit facilitates freedom of information.
It enables our country to fulfill two fundamental moral obligations to its population. These are:
• To record everything the country has produced.
• To ensure that copies of every published document is preserved and available for consultation by scholars and researchers.
It ensures that a creator’s work is not lost for posterity.
It has the potential to make all users of places of legal deposit aware of what has been published or produced.
It forms the basis for the compilation of national bibliographies and other databases that alert potential users nationally and internationally to the existence of books and other documents and thereby promote their distribution and sales. (Source: www.ifla.org)
How to deposit
Clients may deliver in person or by post at the address written below or may contact the address below to make arrangements for collection. Any queries or further information can be obtained by contacting the Seychelles National Library.
Seychelles National Library
Kanna Mall Building 3rd Floor
Room 301
P. O. Box 45
Victoria
Mahe Seychelles
Tel: 2 724953 / 2 824361 / 4387 689/ 4387688
E-mail: natlib@seychelles.net, marylyn.henrie@gov.sc
Contributed by the Seychelles National Library