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Ontario Government Policy: Government Information (Details)

Introduction

Government information is defined as information produced by government. It does not include information produced by political parties or statements made by Members of Parliament who are not Ministers of the Crown. Government information can be found in the form of traditional publications or as ministerial statements, news releases, and so on. Government publications can be found in print or digitally. Printed items (books, serials, etc.) can be found in paper or filmed and housed on microfiche, microfilm, or microcard. 

Finding Print and Microtext Government Material at York

Books and Serials

Printed government publications kept in paper are catalogued and may be found in the same manner as any other book or periodical. Three areas of the collection are organized by a different system and kept in separate sections of the Library: SC-GOV-REF (2nd floor), SCOTT-GOV (3rd floor), and SCOTT-MICR (rm 118). Additionally, some material is kept in storage with the location code, HNES-STOR and may be requested by using the Request from Storage button. When searching the catalogue, add "Ontario" as an author keyword:

Microforms

The following should be used to find Ontario government publications in microform. If an item in the index has been filmed, it will have a Microlog Number. The document will be found in the Microlog collection (J 103 M5) in rm 118 of the Scott Library: 

  • Canadian Research Index (2000-)
    Some of the recent documents are available digitally. Others will have a Microlog number and are found as noted above.
  • MICROLOG Index (1974-2003)
    Published under many titles over time: Profile Index (Provincial Publications, 1973-1978), Publicat (Federal Publications, 1977-78), and Urban Index (Municipal Publications,1977-78), Merged to form Microlog Index (1979-1987), Microlog: The Canadian Research Index (1987-1994), Canadian Research Index (1995-2003). If an item in nay of these was filmed, it will have a Microlog number and will be found as noted above.

Ontario Government Publications Resources

Key Sources for Departmental Information

Departmental Annual Reports

The Departmental Annual Reports are an invaluable source of information on government operations and, by extension, government policy. They correspond roughly to the Departmental Performance Reports mentioned below. 

  • 1868-1948: Annual Reports were published in the Sessional Papers (Scott Gov Reference collection on the 2nd floor of Scott Library CAN6 ONT2 P2.2 S47) and are available via the Internet Archive. The Sessional Paper are also found via the LLMC Digital collection (sign-in is required)
  • 1930/31-1994/95: Annual Reports were published separately for each department. Most can be found using MICROLOG or the Canadian Research Index, the publications resources listed above, or the Canadian Government Publications Portal on the Internet Archive. You may also find copies by searching the York catalogue using the Advanced Search to look for records with Ontario and the name of the Ministry in the author keyword field and Annual Report or Report in the title keyword field: 
  • 2004/5+:  Annual Reports and Departmental Plans are kept on the Ministry of Finance website. 

Note:  It is important to remember that departments change names, so it is helpful to be aware of the name of the department for the year(s) for which you are interested. For more help, consult with a librarian.