"While the United States does not publish an official gazette, most countries of the world do. These primary law sources are invaluable for foreign legal research. While no two countries’ gazettes are identical, most contain legislation, orders, regulations, statutory instruments, and international agreements. Some even include decisions of courts and administrative agencies. The currency of gazettes adds to their value. A new law may be published in a gazette months before it appears in a statutory compilation or a bound volume of session laws. In some cases, the official gazette becomes the only source of a legislative record. The Law Library strives to collect official gazettes from all countries of the world (past, current, and future).
Government Gazette of Botswana
Collection maintenance / access
Official gazettes are a significant part of our collection and can pose a variety of maintenance issues. Some countries see these publications as advance copies of legislation, and print their gazettes on cheap, low quality paper or newsprint. This paper does not age well; it quickly turns yellow or brown and becomes brittle. For gazettes published in this manner, we microfilm them to ensure continued access to this valuable information. In fiscal year 2010, the Law Library sent 2,907,936 pages of gazettes for microfilming..."
Gazettes
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