Official publications

Official publications reflect political, economic and social life at all levels of the Swiss administration. Often referred to as “grey literature”, these holdings are a rich and varied source of information on the workings of the Confederation.

Official publications are often referred to as “grey literature”. — © NL

Content and scope

• Documents issued by the federal, cantonal, communal and religious authorities
• Everything published by the administration, including law compilations, minutes of legislative proceedings, accounts, budgets and statistics
• Collection of grey literature is selective (the Library collects what is supplied to it)
• Electronic publications from corporations and institutions are collected via the websites in Web Archive Switzerland.

Collection principles

• From the foundation of the Federal State in 1848 to the present day
• An older category of “edicts”, comprising decrees, public notices and other ordinances issued by the authorities to the population between the 16th and 19th centuries

Research and access

• The majority of documents are listed in Helveticat
• Monographic and serial official publications and edicts are mainly listed in a card index that can be consulted in the NL’s reading room.
• Web Archive Switzerland in the e-Helvetica database

• e-Helvetica
• Helveticat
• Official publications of the Confederation (in French)