Publications Officer Duties

The Publications Officer is the agency’s designated liaison with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Each agency is required to appoint one of its employees as the agency’s Publications Officer:

“Every state agency shall designate one of its employees as the publications officer for the agency and shall notify the Publications Clearinghouse of the Department of Libraries of the name of the publications officer and of the name of any new publications officer should a change occur.” [74 O.S. § 3106.1(A)]

Submit all publications required by law to be submitted to either the Publications Clearinghouse of the Department of Libraries, the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate.

Ensure that electronic documents are provided as text-searchable PDF files with no permissions, tags, or notes.

Publications Officers are responsible for ensuring their agency complies with Oklahoma’s statutory requirement to deposit official publications with the Oklahoma Publications Clearinghouse. This includes reviewing agency materials to determine whether they meet the definition of a state publication, ensuring qualifying publications are submitted in the appropriate format, maintaining access to the official submission platform, and coordinating with the Clearinghouse when questions arise regarding eligibility or submission requirements.

The Oklahoma Publications Clearinghouse contacts each state agency in January to confirm the name and phone number of the agency’s Publications Officer. The Publications Officer Information form is used to collect contact information for new Publications Officers and to update information for current officers. Any changes during the year can also be submitted using this form.

A newly designated Publications Officer should review the Manual for Publications Officers.

In addition to regularly submitting your publications to us, state agencies are required to provide a comprehensive list of their publications from the previous year. This list is due by January 31. Download the form (PDF).

If your agency did not publish any materials during the previous calendar year, indicate this by selecting “No publications published” on the annual report form (PDF).

Please contact Sam Johnson at 405-522-3189 or Samuel.Johnson@libraries.ok.gov.