GPO Produces U.S. Code With New Digital Publishing Technology

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has taken a major step forward in the modernization of its publishing systems by beginning to publish the 2018 main edition of the United States Code through XPub, the agency’s new digital technology for XML-based publishing. With the implementation of XPub, GPO will be able to simultaneously publish all legislative documents in a variety of print and digital formats in a timelier manner. The 2018 main edition of the U.S. Code is the first, large-scale production job that GPO has published using the new composition system.
“XPub is reinventing GPO’s production process,” said GPO Acting Deputy Director John Crawford. “The new system will allow GPO to complete work for Congress and the American people with remarkable efficiency and accuracy. I congratulate everyone who is working to develop this system that will carry GPO into the future.”
The XPub system will replace GPO’s more than 30-year-old MicroComp system. GPO plans to transition the production of all routine publications, including the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, Public Laws, Congressional Bills, Statutes at Large, and House and Senate Calendars, to the XPub system. XPub will allow customers to provide GPO with content in any format. The system will also be able to do the following:

• Accept content in any form, including XML sources, as well as digital file formats and hard copy manuscript pages.
• Simultaneously generate content in a variety of print and digital formats, including but not limited to mobile apps, websites, eBooks, print-ready PDFs, and print products.
• Produce PDF files and digital products that are Section 508-compliant, meaning they are accessible to people with disabilities.
• Create templates so content can be easily repurposed and reproduced.

Print copies of the U.S. Code are being shipped to Federal depository libraries nationwide as volumes become available. The first seven titles of the 2018 U.S. Code are available now on govinfo with additional titles to be released continuously as they are available.

• Title 1 - General Provisions
• Title 2 - The Congress
• Title 3 - The President
• Title 4 - Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States
• Title 5 - Government Organization and Employees
• Title 6 - Domestic Security
• Title 7 - Agriculture

The U.S. Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States and is produced in a main edition every six years. The 2018 main edition is approximately 60,000 pages encompassing 54 volumes and is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Through XPub, GPO plans to complete the publishing of the 2018 main edition in less than a year – a process that has historically taken 1.5 years.