Thursday, October 31, 2019

GPO and Law Library of Congress will Digitize Nation's Most Treasured Publications

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), in collaboration with the Law Library of Congress, has started a large multi-year effort to digitize and make accessible volumes of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set back to the first volume, which was published in 1817.
The United States Congressional Serial Set, commonly referred to as the Serial Set, is a compilation of all numbered House and Senate reports and documents, including executive reports and treaty documents, issued for each session of Congress. As a chronicle of events of the U.S. Congress over the years, the Serial Set is one of the Nation’s most treasured publications.
Some interesting information the public can expect to find in the Serial Set includes:
  • Maps and reports of explorations of the West
  • Reports of explorations and surveys for the Pacific Railroad
  • Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789–1897 (Includes Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln)
  • Annual Report of the Boys Scouts of America, dating back to 1924
“GPO is honored to partner with the Law Library of Congress on this massive effort toward digitizing the entire Serial Set,” said GPO Acting Deputy Director John Crawford. “Through this digitization, members of the public will be able to digitally access comprehensive and detailed information on a wide range of subjects useful for genealogical and biographical research. Of course print versions of these historic publications are available in Federal Depository Libraries across the country.”
“The U.S. Congressional Serial Set documents the history of the United States of America. We are very pleased to partner with GPO in order to make these key historical government publications searchable and freely available to the public,” said Deputy Librarian for Library Collections and Services and Law Librarian of Congress Jane Sánchez. “The Library's collection is so vast and impressive, but it is not enough to collect and preserve. To be successful, collections must be used, and this collaboration signifies our resolve to do that.”
The Law Library of Congress will digitize the Serial Set. GPO will securely store the files in its certified preservation repository where the documents cannot be edited or tampered with in any way. GPO will upload volumes of the official Serial Set in phases for free public access on govinfo, the one-stop site for authentic, published Government information. The entire effort is expected to take at least a decade to complete.

Thursday, October 03, 2019

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.
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.