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GPO Access

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years, 7 months ago

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http://www.gpoaccess.gov

 

In 1993 Congress passed Public Law 103-40, a law that stipulated that the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) achieve three goals in effor to digitize government information and increase access. First, the law required that the GPO provide online access to Congressional Records, the Federal Register and other appropriate government information. Second, this law required the GPO to maintain an online directory of Federal government information sources. Third, this law established a storage facility for electronicinformation files.

 

The result of these three stipulations was GPO Access, "a service of the U.S. Government Printing Office that provides free electronic access to a wealth of information products produced by the Federal Government." (www.gpoaccess.gov/about) When GPO Access went live, the Federal Depository Library Program had been distributing close to 167,000 digital copies each year of nearly three hundred titles. The United States government had also been distributing more than 7,500 electronic databases each year and many individual agencies had developed their own webpages.

 

In 2001, GPO Access stated its objectives as follows in the web page training manual:

 

  1. Improve access to official Federal Government informationin electronic formats.
  2. Provide well-designed, easy to use, publicly available online services.
  3. Provide official and complete Federal information.
  4. Provide "finding aides" that assist users in searching and browsing for government-wide information.
  5. Ensure access to broadest audience possible, both directly and through Federal Depository libraries.
  6. Ensure permanent access.

 

 

Anne Rauh

 

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