Government Documents Move to Improved Federal Digital System
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 02/06/2009
- Replaces GPOAccess, by mid-2009
- Much better searching
- A "leap forward," says librarian
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The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has launched its new Federal Digital System (FDsys), which is 
already getting high marks from libraries. GPO calls it a “one-stop site” for “authentic, published government information” in a repository that offers permanent, public access.
In mid-2009, FDsys will replace GPOAccess, which, since the mid-1990s, has been the central online storage, preservation, and retrieval point for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).
“FDsys represents quite a leap forward for those of us working in government information,” commented Cass Hartnett, U.S. Documents & Women Studies Librarian, Government Publications, University of Washington Libraries.
Hartnett, who serves as chair of the American Library Association’s GODORT (Government Documents Round Table) stressed to LJ that she was speaking not for ALA/GODORT but as a working federal depository librarian who is in regular contact with dozens of colleagues.
Better searching
Until now, GPO Access has relied on WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers), an older and less efficient technology, as its search engine. "In a sense, any updated search functionality would have been an improvement, but FDsys is far more than a new search system," Hartnett said. "It's an integrated system for storing, preserving, describing, organizing, authenticating, searching, and accessing material.”
Search capabilities include the opportunity to search by Congressional Committee, a Member of Congress, keyword, and date. The GPO says releases with additional functionality will occur throughout the next several years.
GPO, Hartnett added, has kept the library community informed of the project’s conception, design, and development. “To those of us waiting for FDsys, it became a bit of a larger-than-life system that would solve a multitude of problems, so there was healthy skepticism about what FDsys would look like ‘in real life,’” she said. “It's safe to say that even the skeptics have been pleasantly surprised by the roll-out.”
Perhaps not all the skeptics. Some comments at the Free Government Information blog suggest that the search system, while greatly improved, could use additional enhancements.
Growing collection
More than 154,000 documents are currently accessible, with additional documents coming daily. “Although there are only eight collections contained in FDsys now, that still represents a solid cache of materials, enough to see the search interface is clean, easily navigable, and responsive," Hartnett said. "Librarian colleagues at my institution have called it ‘crisp,’ ‘pretty,’ and ‘surprisingly efficient.’"
She added, "Time will tell how the system will handle millions (literally) more documents, but it appears flexible enough to aggregate/cluster documents in meaningful ways while also allowing for very fine-grained searching/navigation.”
New compilation
GPO says the Office of the Federal Register's (OFR) new online publication, Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, was specifically engineered for FDsys. It replaces the printed Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.
Public Printer Robert C. Tapella said, "FDsys will not only provide transparency to our government, but forever change how we maintain and manage government information." The project began four years ago, under the Bush administration.
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