From the US GOVDOC Listserv: The White House, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives' Office of the Federal Register (OFR) achieved a breakthrough in making Government information available and usable by the public. GPO converted the text of the Federal Register (2000-2009) into XML and placed it online in numerous Federal Government portals, which include:
This project began when President Barack Obama challenged Federal agencies to create a more open and transparent Government. GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys), a world-class information management system for Federal publications, is instrumental in enabling this enhanced capability for the Federal Register. The change supplements the official publishing formats with XML, a form of text that can be manipulated in virtually limitless ways with digital applications. For example, people who want to know about the workings of the Executive branch of the Federal Government no longer need to sift through the Federal Register in its traditional Department-by-Department and Agency-by-Agency format. This new format will allow applications to be developed that will support user needs and can rearrange the Federal Register's contents in personalized ways to match their particular interests. It will be possible, for example, to download the Federal Register and easily see what proposed actions might affect one's community or region, or what actions might have an impact on one's profession or business interests. Link to the Federal Register Bulk Data Repository