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Legal Deposit Act, 1997 (Act No. 54 of 1997)

7. Duties of places of legal deposit

 

(1) A place of legal deposit shall, subject to such limitations as may be prescribed
(a) receive, accession, retain and preserve;
(b) catalogue or inventorise; and
(c) ensure freedom of access to,

the documents supplied in terms of section 2(1).

 

(2) The State Library shall, with the assistance of other places of legal deposit and other appropriate libraries or institutions, compile—
(a) a national bibliography; and
(b) statistics of the South African production of published documents on the basis of the documents supplied in terms of section 2(1) and the information furnished in terms of section 2(2).

 

(3) The South African Library and the National Film, Video and Sound Archives shall, with the assistance of other places of legal deposit, preserve at least one copy of each document supplied in terms of section 2(1) for current and future use.

 

(4) An official publications depository shall—
(a) serve as a centre for promoting public awareness of, and access to, official publications and information held by the government and the institutions listed in terms of section 3 of the Reporting by Public Entities Act, 1992 (Act No. 93 of 1992); and
(b) provide public access to databases and other information sources to which the public may gain access under any law.

 

(5) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), the head of a place of legal deposit may, on the recommendation of the Committee
(a) dispose of;
(b) omit from catalogues or inventories;
(c) omit from a national bibliography; or
(d) impose restrictions on access to, certain categories of documents, supplied in terms of section 2(1) to one or more places of legal deposit.

 

(6) If a place of legal deposit persistently fails to comply with subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4), the Minister may, upon the recommendation of the Committee, by notice in the Gazette exempt all publishers from the obligation to supply to that place of legal deposit the documents contemplated in section 2(1).