Legal Deposits

All scholarly material published and assigned an ISSN/ISBN, has to be registered with the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) (see Legal Deposit Act of 1997). The NLSA is also responsible for assigning ISBNs/ISSNs in South Africa.

All South African scholarly publications (including e-journals) must comply with the SA Legal Deposit Act 54 of 1997. The Act is administered by the Ministry of Arts and Culture through an appointed Legal Deposit Committee. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that all South African published material (regardless of format) is collected, catalogued, available for access, and preserved. 

The journal/publisher must provide the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) with means to access the publication. Submissions can be made via post, courier, email, subscription or by hand. 

To comply with the Act, simply email the URL to the NLSA when you publish a new issue online. 

Scholarly journals need to submit issues within 14 days of publication. Non-compliance will result in a fine. 

Changes in journals must be communicated to the NLSA so that the catalogue records are kept up-to-date. The NLSA will also need to be informed of journals that are no longer publishing.

Visit http://libguides.wits.ac.za/LegalDeposit for more information on Legal Deposit in South Africa.

The South African National Bibliography (SANB) contains references to all South African publications: http://www.nlsa.ac.za/index.php/sa-national-bibliography

To search for publications, visit the Legal Deposit Consortium of South Africa: http://www.legaldeposit.ac.za/

Frequently Asked Questions: http://libguides.wits.ac.za/ld.php?content_id=32962272

For further queries, please contact:

NLSA Legal Deposit Coordinator: Mr Harry Nkadimeng

Tel: 012 401 9716 / 012 326 7642

Cell: 072 193 2061 

Fax: 012 325 5984

Email address: harry.nkadimeng@nlsa.ac.za 

Where journals/monographs no longer have printed copies to submit, the details of the journals/monographs/publications should be forwarded to:

Ms Marietjie de Beer

Email: marietjie.debeer@nlsa.ac.za

For those still printing in traditional ways, please see the places of legal deposit.

General Email: legaldeposit@nlsa.ac.za

or

www.nlsa.ac.za

Please direct enquiries related to this matter to the above NLSA email addresses.