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GPO Achieves Nine Billion Retrievals of Government Information

GPO Achieves Nine Billion Retrievals of Government Information

January 2022

NISO Member News

Washington, DC. | January 12, 2022

WASHINGTON —The U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) achieved the milestone of nine billion retrievals of Government information since the agency started publishing information online in 1994. Today, govinfo, as the online, trusted digital repository is known, serves as the one-stop site for authentic, published Government information. GPO’s site, www.govinfo.gov, which has been touted as the “Google for Government Documents,” gives the public access to Presidential addresses, Congressional debates dating back to 1873, Federal regulations, Federal court opinions, maps of explorations of the West, and much more.

“Government information isn’t useful unless it is accessible. By providing digital access to Government information all the way back to the 19th century, we have helped people find the information they were looking for nine billion times,” said GPO Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. “This milestone demonstrates our team’s commitment to making historical and modern documents available digitally on govinfo. Whether it’s on a mobile device or traditional print on paper, GPO has always been committed to Keeping America Informed on the workings of our democracy for the last 160 years. Congratulations to our GPO team and Federal partners!”

The most popular collections are:

  • Congressional Bills
  • Federal Register
  • United States Courts Opinions

The agency’s digital transformation began in June 1994, when GPO first began making Government information available online with GPOAccess. In January 2009, GPO unveiled the next generation system of online Government information with the Federal Digital System (FDsys). GPO launched govinfo in February 2016 to replace FDsys.

In 2019, GPO made history by becoming the first organization in the United States and second organization in the world to achieve the highest global standard of excellence possible for digital repositories. The Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository Authorization Body Ltd. awarded GPO ISO 16363:2012 certification for govinfo. This certification reinforces govinfo as a trustworthy source that performs digital preservation practices to ensure long-term preservation of and access to official Federal Government information.

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, GPO increased the amount of content it made available on govinfo all while making it easier for citizens to find and download Government information. GPO submitted approximately 300,000 content packages to govinfo between March 2020 and March 2021, a more than 33 percent increase compared to the same time period the previous year.

About This Organization

GPO is the Federal Government’s official, digital, secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. The GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through www.govinfo.gov and partnerships with approximately 1,100 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.