A. There shall be a State Publications Clearinghouse Advisory Committee. The Committee shall consist of eight (8) members, five (5) of whom to be selected from the Clearinghouse member libraries and appointed by the State Librarian to two (2) year terms. The State Librarian and the Director of the Clearinghouse shall be ex-officio members of the Committee. The chairperson of the CRIARL Government Documents Committee shall also be an ex-officio member.

B. The purpose of the Committee shall be to advise the State Librarian and the Clearinghouse Director on the operation of the State Publications Clearinghouse for Libraries. The Committee shall meet quarterly and shall elect a chairperson to preside at meetings, and a secretary to record the meeting minutes and distribute them to the Clearinghouse depository libraries.

R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 29-7.

State agencies, departments, and commissions supported wholly or in part by state funds are required by R.I. Gen. Laws § 29-7-5 to deposit prior to public release a minimum of twenty-five (25) copies of their publications with the State Publications Clearinghouse.

A. State publications include any materials published by authority of a state agency/department, regardless of the source of funds, which are intended for distribution outside the agency/department and not published solely to meet the internal operational needs of the agency. State publications which are required to be deposited include, but are not limited to, technical papers, annual reports, financial reports, bulletins, special reports, newsletters, brochures, databases and other publications that would be of interest to the general public. Materials may be in any format, reproduced by any methods and may deal with any subject matter.

B. Informational materials specified by federal or state law to be distributed to the public fall under this definition and are required to be sent to the Clearinghouse

C. Electronic publications submitted to the Clearinghouse will be housed on a computer system administered by the Secretary of State’s office. The Clearinghouse Director will maintain the publications and ensure that they are available to the Clearinghouse libraries. The Clearinghouse Director shall consult with the Chief Information Officer (CIO) on the use of standardized formats for publications. If an agency creates a publication in a format that cannot be transferred to the Clearinghouse’s server, then arrangements must be made so that the publication can be appropriately distributed.

D. Compliance with the Clearinghouse Laws and Regulations does not mean that the Agency has complied with the record retention requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 38-3 or any other reporting requirements enacted by statute or executive order, for example:

1. R.I. Gen. Law §§ 42-20-8.1 and 8.2, "Public access to state contract, Audits".

2. R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-20, "Administration of State Departments".

3. R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35-2.4, "Electronic filing".

4. R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-36, "Annual Reports".

A. Agencies/departments may publish some items that are not appropriate for deposit. These items would include internal memoranda, correspondence, administrative forms, internal confidential documents, minutes of meetings, blueprints, and internal announcements.

B. The Documents Officer shall consult with the Clearinghouse Director to determine if an item falls into one of these categories. An appeal to the State Librarian is an option for any agency/department that disagrees with the decision of the Clearinghouse Director.

A. A minimum of twenty-five (25) copies of each publication are required to be deposited with the Clearinghouse for distribution to depository libraries. At times, more than twenty-five (25) copies of a publication will be necessary for distribution. The Clearinghouse Director will advise appropriate Documents Officers as to which publications fall into this category. The twenty-five copy minimum shall not apply to electronic publications.

B. Publications shall be deposited with the Clearinghouse prior to public release. The publications may be delivered directly to the Clearinghouse or sent by any other means available to the agency/department.

C. If any agency/department does not send a publication to the Clearinghouse the agency will be notified.

D. Electronic publications shall be accepted in formats to be determined by the Clearinghouse Director in consultation with the Chief Information Officer.

A. A Documents Officer shall be named by each agency/department. It is appropriate for agencies/departments with many sub-departments to name more than one Documents Officer in order to facilitate the deposit of their publications.

B. Designation of the Documents Officer

1. The head of each Overseeing Body (i.e. director of state agency, quasi state agency, commission, etc.) is responsible for designating a person to be the Documents Officer for that body. The initial deadline for designation shall be determined by the Clearinghouse Director. At least thirty (30) days prior notice shall be given to comply.

2. The designation of the official Documents Officer must be submitted in writing on the “Open Government Filing Coordinator Designation Form” issued by the Secretary of State. This form must be re-submitted within thirty (30) days of a change in the designation of the Documents Officer. This form will be available online at the Secretary of State’s website (www.state.ri.us). The designation must include the full name, mailing address, phone number and email address for the Documents Officer. The designation will be complete upon the confirmation of a valid email address by the Office of the Secretary of State. This information will need to be updated within ten (10) days of a change in email address.

3. In the event that the designation of the Documents Officer cannot be completed by the specified deadline, designation of an Interim Documents Officer will be accepted until the official ratification of a Documents Officer can be completed by the head of the Overseeing Body, but a Documents Officer shall be officially designated no later than ninety (90) days after the specified deadline. The Secretary of State will provide an interim Documents Officer form.

4. It is the responsibility of the Overseeing Body to ensure that the Documents Officer’s information is current and accurate.

5. Upon the creation of a new Public Body, it is the responsibility of the Documents Officer to notify the Secretary of State and provide all pertinent contact information. Notification must be done through a form issued by the Secretary of State.

6. The duties of Documents Officer will be to ensure that his or her agency/department deposits all publications that are required to be deposited with the Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse Director shall maintain an up-to-date list of Documents Officer, and it will be the responsibility of the agency/department to inform the Clearinghouse of any change in personnel.

Checklists shall be prepared quarterly by the Clearinghouse, and cumulated annually. The Checklist will include: Main entry (author), title, date of publication, date of shipment, receiving libraries, OCLC number, and SWANK number. The Checklist will be maintained dynamically on the Secretary of State’s web site so that users will have up-to-date information in regards to publications that are being added in electronic form.

A. Depository libraries shall be designated by the Clearinghouse Director. Taken into consideration when designating depositories will be location, size of population served, space available in the library for state publications, and the availability of a professional to take responsibility for the collection.

B. There shall be full depositories and selective depositories. Selective depositories shall accept the designated core collection and then choose categories of publications that meet their patrons' needs. Full depositories shall accept all state publications.

C. Responsibilities of the depository libraries shall include:

1. Provide space to house the publications; they need not be housed in a separate collection.

2. Maintain an orderly, systematic record of receipt of publications.

3. Process and make available all state publications within a reasonable period.

4. Provide bibliographic access to the depository's holdings.

5. Assign the state publications collection to a professional librarian.

6. Dispose of publications only in accordance with the established disposal guidelines. (see § 1.12(I) of this Part)

7. Accept and maintain the core collection. (see § 1.12(H) of this Part)

8. Make the publications available to the public during all hours that the library is open.

9. Agree to permit the Clearinghouse Director to inspect the publications collection periodically.

10. Provide access to electronic publications.

A. Libraries may apply to the Clearinghouse Director to be a full or selective depository.

B. The Clearinghouse Director shall designate depository libraries and determine whether they will be full or selective depositories.

A. A depository has the right to terminate its status as a depository by letter to the Clearinghouse Director. However, all depository material remains the property of the Clearinghouse and the library shall retain or dispose of the depository publications only as instructed by the Clearinghouse Director.

B. The Clearinghouse Director may terminate the status of a library as a depository upon proof of unsatisfactory performance. Written notification shall be providing to the depository library director at least six (6) months prior to such action. A depository which takes action to remedy unsatisfactory conditions may apply to the Clearinghouse Director for a suspension or reversal of the decision to terminate depository status. An appeal to the State Librarian is an option for any depository that disagrees with the decision of the Clearinghouse Director.

A. State agencies/departments shall deposit with the Clearinghouse a minimum of twenty-five (25) copies of their publications. State publications that are required to be deposited are defined in R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 29-7 as "any publication regardless of physical form or characteristics produced, made available electronically, printed, purchased or authorized for distribution by a state agency, except those determined by the issuing agency to be required for official use only for administrative or operational purposes." The Clearinghouse Director in charge of the Clearinghouse will also attempt to identify new publications through news releases, personal visits to agencies/departments and through any other means available to him/her.

B. It will be the Clearinghouse Director’s responsibility to be aware of the frequency of publications produced on a regular basis and to see that the agencies/departments are sent reminders of their responsibility to deposit publications with the Clearinghouse.

C. State publications will be classified. The recommended system for classifying separate state publications collections is the Swank classification scheme specifically developed for state publications. In this scheme, Rhode Island is assigned number 39 as a state designation. The Clearinghouse should input into OCLC full original cataloging in the MARC, format based on the latest edition of AACR2.

D. The Clearinghouse will also be responsible for compiling and maintaining an authority file of state agencies, citing the name of the agency as it is to be used for cataloging. The authority file will be based on the latest edition of AACR2. Any necessary cross references and a brief history of the agency/department will also be included in this file. Authority file information will also be available and maintained on OCLC.

E. A record of each publication received by the Clearinghouse will be kept on the State Library's database. The record includes title of publication, issuing body, publication data, date distributed, receiving libraries, swank classification and OCLC number. The records in the database will be used to generate shipping lists and the quarterly checklists.

F. A quarterly checklist of state publications will be prepared for publication. The checklist will be prepared by the Clearinghouse Director. The checklist will include the same information as the shipping list, but cover a three-month time period. The checklist will be sent to all libraries in the state, all Rhode Island State Representatives and Senators, the Library of Congress, and any other person(s) or agencies that may request it.

G. Distribution of state publications will be the responsibility of the Clearinghouse staff. Agencies/departments should send their publications to the Clearinghouse prior to public release. After the Clearinghouse has recorded and cataloged the item, it will then distribute a copy of the publication to each designated depository library.

H. A core collection of printed state publications will be designated to be held by all participating libraries. The libraries may then select categories of publications that meet the needs of their patrons. Some libraries will choose to be full depositories and as such will receive all state publications deposited with the Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse Committee will review the core collection yearly. Any changes will be sent out to all depository libraries. "Core collection publications" means those publications for which members of the public have the most significant and frequent need, as determined by the State Librarian, in consultation with state agencies and librarians. The following list of publications shall constitute the current core collection:

1. Directory of City and Town Officials Education Directory

2. General Laws of Rhode Island Media Guide

3. Pocket Manual of Elder Services Rhode Island Elected Officials

4. Rhode Island General Assembly & How A Bill Becomes A Law Rhode Island Government Owner's Manual

5. Rhode Island Map and Visitor's Guide

6. Rhode Island Public Laws (includes Acts & Resolves)

7. Rhode Island State Budget Documents

I. Publications distributed to depository libraries shall remain the property of the Clearinghouse. Permission from the Clearinghouse will be required in order to dispose of them. Publications must be kept for five years from the date of receipt unless superseded. The superseded edition may then be discarded. The State Library, Providence Public Library, and the University of Rhode Island Library will retain all publications permanently except for ephemera and transmittals.

J. Reference and loan services will be provided by the depository libraries. A professional librarian will be responsible for maintaining the state publications collection in every depository library. The librarian will be responsible for providing reference service to patrons and for providing materials for interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan services will follow established guidelines and will conform to all forms currently in use in the state.