[USA OK] State of Oklahoma Publications and Web Sites

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Posted July 21, 2005
By Gary Phillips, Ok Publications Clearinghouse, ODL

Research produced by Oklahoma higher education can be surprisingly hard to locate in libraries, and it's getting harder as items are not printed and are published "Internet-only."

Part of the problem has always been the format of many of these studies. They are often short to the point of being brief, two pages to twenty for many. They don't fit on our library shelves very easily and libraries don't seem to want to use supply money like we used to for pamphlets. It may not be too long before the term "pam binder" joins other library arcana such as shelflist, p-slip, main entry, and the long lost accession book. I have to admit in my career I actually used "library varnish" as well. That wasn't my wish and I always thought the director was wrong in requiring those books to be varnished!

Besides not fitting on our shelves, these dinky reports cause teeth-gnashing in catalog departments. OCLC-level cataloging is difficult, tedious, and expensive, and it's the national standard. You don't gain friends in Cataloging by sending down lost of 4 page "research reports" for original cataloging.

Nonetheless, this grey literature exists and includes items with current relevance. An Oklahoma example found recently comes from Northern Oklahoma College. Up on their website is the NOC Report : a Report on the Post-implementation Effects of the Oklahoma Pseudoephedrine Law on Pseudoephedrine Gathering for Methamphetamine Manufacturing, May 2005.
http://www.north-ok.edu/2002/pdfs/05_spring/Report.pdf
Oklahoma Publications Clearinghouse has printed this out (26 pages) for our collection and it will be sent to depository libraries as microfiche: OKDOCS Z 1600.3 N756r 2005

Publications produced by Oklahoma higher education, and its many affiliated research units, are exempt from the state depository library act though they are considered to be state publications. Each higher education unit is required by law to send to Publications Clearinghouse an Annual List of their publications. Most dutifully send in something although this chore is relegated to someone in the administrative office and is difficult for them. The Lists are far from complete.

Some of the larger research units sell their studies. I think librarians have a good awareness of the Geological Survey, Biological Survey, and so on. Free items or internet-posted filed are a different matter. Has anyone collected anything from the Oklahoma Water Resources Research Institute (at OSU)? There have been two issues of The Aquahoman from them this year. The Sutton Newsletter from Sutton Aviary Research Center is in volume 21 but I only find that OSU Library has it. The Extension Service at OSU issues research items but it looks like they have not been entered into library catalogs other than at OSU.

I'm sure much of this "stuff" eventually makes it into University Archives collections, but awareness for actual users is much higher if items are in WorldCat. A cooperative effort pushed by documents librarians for research publications of their institutions to be acquired and cataloged would be helpful for the state.

 

Posted October 15, 2004
By Gary Phillips, Ok Publications Clearinghouse, ODL

The issuance of the Spanish language Driver's Manual received quite a bit of newspaper and TV publicity. Manual del Conductor del Estado de Oklahoma (OkDocs S 300.5 D782/s 2004) is also available at the Department of Public Safety's website http://www.dps.state.ok.us/dls/pub/ODMSPANISH.PDF.pdf.

It may shock you to hear from the Evaluation of the Abstinence Education Projects: the Oklahoma Experience (OkDocs H935.3 E902a 2004) that "teenage sex is nothing new"!
The report covers 4 projects in Lawton, Enid, Antlers, and Oklahoma City and says "overall, the results are somewhat mixed." "Between the administration of the pre- and post-tests, a five percentage point increase occurred among those who said they were sexually active. Although the change…goes in the undesired direction...it is possible that, without the program in place, the changes could have been greater." The report does indicate some attitudes towards abstinence were positively impacted by the projects.

Be prepared for a long wait at the polls in November. There are nine state questions this year, including some such as the Tobacco Tax that are rather complex. The ballot wording is available on the Election Board website at www.elections.state.ok.us/sqgen04.pdf. Authoritative information on the legislative background comes from the House of Representatives State Questions volume (OkDocs L1305.3 Q5 2004).

The American Association of Law Libraries has released State-by-state Report on Permanent Public Access to Electronic Government Information (on the web at http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/PPAreport.htm. Their priority seems to be actual legislation and they cite Washington and Colorado as successes. However the notes in the Colorado state survey say that legislation to require state agencies to report URL's for web documents "was recently defeated." A recent article in Documents To The People appears to have more recent information on efforts by the Texas State Library.

Another new librarian in Publications Clearinghouse in addition to myself is Clif Broadworth (he also works halftime for Steve Beleu in US Government Information.) Clif is currently adding dozens of new Hot Links to State Agency Websites to ODL's service. He finds the Department of Human Services website to be one of the best in Oklahoma state government (www.okdhs.org). DHS has many divisions and programs and the front page tries hard to get you to them.

For anybody interested in the outdoors Clif recommends the interactive digital mapping service from Department of Wildlife Conservation for info on Wildlife Management Areas. It allows one to download or print out maps with many different configurations and customization. Site URL: http://maps.scigis.com/odwc/viewer.htm

You may already be familiar with the Oklahoma Historical Society's Abstracts of articles in The Chronicles of Oklahoma 1992 - present. This allows one to quickly scan through the Chronicles to find articles for research or pleasure reading. (Clif interned at OHS not long ago.) Site URL: http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/pubs/abstracts.htm

The Your Oklahoma official state government website (www.youroklahoma.com) is overdue for a new edition that should be appearing this fall. The private vendor, NIC, and the state recently signed a contract lasting through 2009. NIC provides quickie templates for agencies desiring them for a small fee. I guess a small fee as compared to the costs of fulltime staffing. Comments on the new edition of Your Oklahoma at the August State Webmasters meeting at ODL indicated that cosmetic and entertainment issues are of concern as well as weightier matters. "It won't be green" and there will probably be trivia questions that refresh with the page. Of more concern to librarians there is likely to be an agreement with Google for the search box and the NIC folks seem interested in ODL input (cross your fingers here). There may be a "ask a question" feature to be staffed to some extent by NIC. The NIC presentation referenced Kansas and Utah state websites as examples of their direction.

Even in this day of Internet only state documents there are fugitive publications out there eluding us. Publications Clearinghouse has somehow come by one copy of the Department of Corrections History: the 20th Century published in 2003. It's apparently impossible to get DOC to disgorge any other copies so depository libraries will see this eventually as a microfiche item (OkDocs C5700.8 H673t 2003). It is true that of all state agencies DOC could probably answer "we can't afford to print any more" and be right. I could find no direct reference in the 2003 history to the 1991 History of Corrections in Oklahoma, 1908-1988 (OkDocs C5700.8 H673c 1991) which was written by an OSU Professor, Dr. Sandhu, on contract from DOC. The 1991 history is a better job than last year's title which somewhat resembles the miscellanies local history societies put out. The 2003 volume does have some history down to the individual correctional institution, lists of individuals who had important roles in DOC, and a variety of curious photographs which unfortunately don't reproduce well even in photocopy much less microfiche.

 

Posted October 10, 2003
Titles reviewed by Donna Denniston, ODL

The Employment Security Commission has the following online only publications of interest. These will be available in microfiche at the depository libraries.

The Oklahoma Secretary of State's homepage now allows customers to submit the majority of business entity documents, trademarks/renewals, and Notary public applications/renewals online at SoonerAccess This also provides customers access to their database to search business entity, trademark, and notary public information.
http://www.sos.state.ok.us/sooneraccess_news.htm

From the Oklahoma Senate: If you want to know what the Oklahoma Legislature will be considering for the next session, check out the Issue Papers at http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/senate/Issuepapers.dir/issuepapers.html.These documents provide in-depth information on current legislative topics.

Related to this are the Legislative Studies, which are ongoing studies of legislative issues created by legislation. http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/senate/senate_studies/senate_studies_index.html

Landscaping for Wildlife: A Guide to the Southern Great Plains is highly recommended for all libraries. It provides detailed instructions that will help you inventory and wildscape your own property. Wonderful drawings and photos illustrate landscape plans. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has this for sale on their website at http://wildlifedepartment.com/outstorepubs.htm
This is NOT a depository item, but we do have a copy for interlibrary loan in the Clearinghouse.

 

Posted July 10, 2003
Titles reviewed by Donna Denniston, ODL

“Economic Impact of the Arts in Norman, Oklahoma”, by David A. Penn, Oklahoma Business Bulletin, Vol. 71 No. 2, April 2003, University of Oklahoma, pp 9-27.
(Although not a depository item, most libraries receive this publication) Presents an overview of individual artists in Norman from telephone interviews. Gives arts-related revenue, economic effects of arts events, results of questionnaires used for interviews. Unique local information.

Oklahoma Department of Commerce has 2 online publications that depositories will be receiving in microfiche only:

From the Oklahoma Department of Commerce: This is a database and not a publication:
Foreign Owned Companies in Oklahoma
http://www.odoc.state.ok.us/international/foreigns.nsf/

The Oklahoma Department of Securities has information on locating information on old stock certificates:
http://www.securities.state.ok.us/current_events/Stkcert2.htm

From the State Auditor and Inspector comes the Corporation Commission’s Petroleum Storage Tank Division audit on the Indemnity Fund that has been in the news: The Independent Accountant’s Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures.
A3706 C822pst/ap 2001/02 (3 copies received for the Clearinghouse only)
Also see it online at: http://sai.state.ok.us/PDF%20files/investigative%20special%20audit%20files/IndAcctReport03.pdf

The Oklahoma Almanac, Oklahoma Department of Libraries
L 1400.5 O41a 2003-04
This essential reference work on the state features update sections on Oklahoma state and county government, education, agriculture, commerce and more. The feature for this edition is Oklahoma’s Dome - the history of the state capitol building and the building of the dome. Many wonderful photos illustrate the article.

The State Department of Health has 3 new publications of interest: Fact Sheets
H 800.5 S741h 2001/02 (depositories will get microfiche)
Lists in alpha order the trades or professions that are licensed or certified by the Dept. of Health. Gives contact person, fees, and statistics on numbers of individuals licensed and fees collected. For occupational licensing online see: http://www.health.state.ok.us/program/ol/index.html

Marriage and Divorce Statistics 1990 -2002 by County of Issuance.
H 875.3 M359d 1990-2002 (depositories will get microfiche)
This may be the last statistical report on marriage and divorce by county from the State Health Department. They are no longer able to collect these statistics from some counties. See note on page 347 in the latest Oklahoma Almanac.

Selected Demographic Information Mother, Infant and Child Health State of Oklahoma, 2001.
H 1015.3 M918i 2001 (depositories have this in paper format)
The last Dept of Health Statistical Report was in 1998, so this information will update that report.Goal of the report is to document health trends related to childbearing and to identify individuals at increased risk. For Oklahoma Health Statistics Report online:
http://www.health.state.ok.us/program/phs/ohs/index.html

Current state Notable Documents from the ALA committee (Library Journal May 15, 2003) features 2 documents by our U.S. Government librarians Steve Beleu and Kevin Motes.

Annotated Bibliography of Government Documents Related to the Threat of Terrorism & the Attacks of September 11, 2001. Compiled by Kevin Motes.
L 1400.5 T328a 2002
This timely annotated bibliography is intended to serve as a means of access to information produced by the US Government concerning the events of September 11. Arrangement is alphabetical by document title within broad subject areas. Sudoc numbers are included. Where applicable URLs are also provided and have been verified. The second volume updates this information since April 2002

Forty-Six Important Federal Publications about Oklahoma- the 46th State. By Steve Beleu amd Adrian Edwards-Johnson.
L 1400.5 F745i 2001
This bibliography lists 46 federal government publication that highlight important events in Oklahoma history, including the Five Civilized Tribes, Gold and Silver Fever, the Wichita National Forest, Rights of Women in Oklahoma, Remembering Will Rogers, The Dust Bowl, and the Oklahoma City Bombing. Each entry includes a brief physical description and annotation.

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Last update: July 21, 2005
Questions and comments to:
sholcom@okstate.edu
URL: http://regdocs.okstate.edu/