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For publishers and authors

If you publish in Queensland, then legal deposit applies to you.  This means that you are required by law to deposit a copy of your publication with State Library of Queensland.

If you live in Queensland and have published in another state, overseas or with online publishers based outside Queensland, then the legal deposit obligation does not apply to your publication.

A publisher can be an individual, club, church, incorporated society or organisation as well as a commercial publisher.

Electronic publications and recordings are included in legal deposit. 

All Queensland publishers, including government departments, commercial organisations, clubs, churches, societies and private individuals, are required by law to deposit one copy of their publications with State Library of Queensland. The requirement is legislated in part 8 of the Libraries Act 1988 (Qld)

Benefits

  • Preservation of publications
    Legal deposit, which applies to all Australian state and territory libraries and to the National Library of Australia, ensures that works published in each of these jurisdictions will survive for the use of future generations.

    State Library of Queensland provides environmental conditions specifically designed to ensure the long-term preservation of its physical collections.
     
  • Assisting research
    Our comprehensive collection of Queensland publications reflects the diversity of the Queensland experience, providing for research relating to Queensland’s history and culture and to its scientific, commercial and technical development.

Deposit returns

It is State Library standard practice not to return items deposited via the web. We recommend you do not delete items from your own system until you receive confirmation from us that your material has been accepted into the State Library's collections.

Please contact us to discuss alternative options.

 

  • All published items: books, serial publications (such as newsletters, annual reports, newspapers, magazines and journals), sheet music, maps, plans and charts; non-print materials such as: disks, videorecordings, films and audio tapes; electronic publications.
  • Material is considered to have been published if reproductions of the material or edition have been supplied (whether by sale or otherwise) to the general public via a commercial distributor.
  • Self published works are subject to legal deposit in instances where the commercial distributor or agent responsible for making the publication available to the general public is located in Queensland.
  • Self published books which have not been made available to the general public through a commercial distributor or agent are not subject to legal deposit (regardless of the author’s place of residence).
  • Where the distributor or agent responsible for having made a self published work available to the general public is located outside Queensland, no legal deposit obligation exists with State Library of Queensland.
  • Print or hard copy editions: If you publish material in various forms of differing quality, a copy of the finest quality should be deposited. For example, if both a hard-cover edition and a paperback edition are published, one copy of the hard-cover edition should be deposited.
  • For legal deposit purposes, a copy that is numbered and signed by the author is not considered to be finer than another copy of the same edition that is not numbered or signed.
  • Electronic (e-) publications: if a publication is produced in both electronic and print formats the electronic version should be deposited, providing it is in either a PDF or Word (.doc) format. Otherwise the print copy is acceptable for deposit purposes.
  • Only one copy of a publication (print or electronic, whichever is applicable) should be deposited.
  • A copy of a second or later edition of any published item does not have to be deposited unless it contains substantial additions or alterations. Reprints to correct errors in previous print runs should not be deposited.
  • If a second or later edition does contain substantial additions or alterations then the finest copy of that edition should be deposited.  If a book is reprinted with a change of title, or by a different publisher, it is considered to be altered and should be deposited.

One copy is to be provided within one month of publication.

Post to:

Legal Deposit
Metadata Services, Level 4
State Library of Queensland
PO Box 3488
South Brisbane  QLD  4101
e: legaldeposit@slq.qld.gov.au

or deliver in person to:

Infozone Information desk, Level 1,  or John Oxley Library Information Desk, Level 4.

A further legal deposit obligation may exist with the Parliamentary Library (Qld) and/or with the National Library of Australia. Enquiries can be directed to:

Parliamentary Librarian
Parliamentary Library
Parliament House
George Street
Brisbane  QLD  4000
t: 07 3553 6222
f: 07 3553 6201
e: Library.inquiries@parliament.qld.gov.au

Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth), a copy of any work published in Australia may be required for deposit with the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

Legal Deposit Unit
National Library of Australia
Canberra  ACT  2600
p: 02 6262 1312
f: 02 6273 4492
e:legaldeposit@nla.gov.au

Legal deposit FAQs from the National Library of Australia

Legal deposit legislation also applies to electronic publications and recordings. The State Library is able to save and preserve e-publications received under legal deposit in the Library's digital repository.

Only deposit once:  From 30 May 2019, you can deposit electronic publications to fulfil national and state digital deposit responsibilities through a single online service – National edeposit (NED).

What to deposit:  National edeposit simplifies your deposit obligations. You can deposit books, serials, maps and music scores. The details of your publications are discoverable on Trove, and on national, state and territory library catalogues.

Where to deposit:  To make your edeposit visit the NED deposit website at: ned.gov.au/

How to information: Click on the About tab for more information: https://ned.gov.au/resources/about.html

Please note: Publications comprised of more than one part (file), such as environmental impact statements, are not able to be deposited through National e-deposit at this time. Please contact us for alternative arrangements.