GPO Eclipses Ten Billion Digital Retrievals of Government Information to Mark Historic 30th Anniversary
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) recently surpassed
ten billion retrievals of Government information since the Agency started publishing
information online. The achievement comes as GPO celebrates the 30th anniversary of the
signing of the GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act. On June 8, 1993, President
Bill Clinton signed the act into law, enabling GPO to put Government information online
for the first time. A year later, GPO made the Congressional Record and Federal Register
digitally available for the public to access. Today, GovInfo serves as the one-stop site for
authentic, published information for all three branches of the Federal Government that
dates back to the 19th century.
“I congratulate the GPO team, our Congressional and Federal partners, and American
citizens on the milestone of ten billion retrievals of Government information,” said GPO
Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern. “GovInfo garnered one billion retrievals since the start
of 2022 alone, ten percent faster than the last billion. This demonstrates the public’s
increasing reliance on GovInfo, a key element of GPO’s commitment to cultivating an
America Informed.”
The most popular collections on GovInfo are:
- Congressional Bills
- Congressional Hearings
- Federal Register
GPO’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.
GPO is the Federal Government’s resource for publishing trusted information for the
Federal Government to the American people. 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.
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