Recommendations cannot be accepted for other jurisdictions until they are scientifically evaluated for local conditions. Government publications are normally distributed through a Depository system. The libraries of large comprehensive universities are usually full depositories , receiving all publications included in the program, while the smaller college, university and public libraries participate as selective depositories , making a selection more specific to their requirements from lists of new publications being distributed. The MacRae Library is a selective depository for both federal and Nova Scotia government publications. In addition, the MacRae Library has been a full depository for Statistics Canada publications since November 1997.
All libraries have reference collections.
Some examples are encyclopedias, directories, handbooks and manuals, yearbooks, dictionaries, thesauri, or compendium. The indexes and abstracts also are considered to be reference journals in that they allow you to peruse a very large number of journal titles by subject, by author or by other more specialized indexes, to identify specific journal articles on your topic. All of the most important CD-ROM bibliographic databases for agriculture started as printed abstracts. So, if you are searching for information earlier than 1970, you may need to consult the print editions of these abstracts and indexes. In some libraries the CD-ROM bibliographic databases are accessible only from dedicated computer workstations located in the reference section of the library.