About official publications: GPO, HMSO/OPSI and the European Union.

Abstract

Every member of the public can be a user of official information, no matter if he does it from a particular center of activities, as a member of a lobby or association or simply as an individual. Nowadays the production of information is massive and there is a need for making this information known to the public as soon as possible. For this reason, supranational bodies and national governments develop proceedings in order to communicate written information using centralized, descentralized and mixed editorial systems. This article aims at explaining centralized editorial systems, which are the ones that have experienced a largest editorial development. We will review the procedures used by the U.S.A., the U.K. and the UE in this regard as well as the information sources they produce.