GPO TO RETIRE THE FEDERAL DIGITAL SYSTEM WEBSITE

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Government Publishing Office will officially retire its Federal Digital System (FDsys) website on December 14. The retirement will complete the transition to govinfo (www.govinfo.gov), the user-friendly, modernized site that offers a dynamic way for the public to discover and access information on the three branches of the Federal Government.

"With the official transition of FDsys to govinfo, GPO demonstrates its continued ability to meet the ever-changing technological needs of the public," said GPO Acting Deputy Director Herbert H. Jackson, Jr. "GPO has now made it easier than ever for members of the American public to access Government information anytime, anywhere."

With the signing of the GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993, GPO set out "to establish a means for providing the public with online access to electronic public information of the Federal Government." It was one of the earliest federal laws to require the Government to provide information online. The first version of the site, called GPOAccess, launched in 1994. In 2009, GPO unveiled the Federal Digital System (FDsys), a digital information platform for the 21st century. govinfo represents the third generation of electronic access to Federal Government information. The one-stop site to authentic, published Government information offers a user-friendly navigation system accessible on smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers.

govinfo, launched in beta in February 2016, offers many enhancements to the way the public accesses more than one million documents from all three branches of the United States Federal Government. Highlights include a modern, mobile-friendly design; links to related documents of interest; curated feature articles with links to famous documents such as the 9/11 Commission Report, the Warren Commission Report, and the Starr Report; quick and easy social sharing; the ability to browse collections A–Z and by category; sortable search filters; RSS notifications feeds; a search engine that makes search results more relevant than ever; shorter URLs; and more. When the FDsys website is retired, existing links will redirect to govinfo. govinfo had more than 424 million retrievals in fiscal year 2018.


 

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, partnerships with approximately 1,150 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program, and our secure online bookstore. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.

 

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