Month: October 2009

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:

• GPO’s Federal Digital System
• Federal Register Web site
• Government data

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