“Welcome FDsys,
So Long GPO Access”
Kristina Bobe
kbobe@gpo.gov
Outreach Librarian, Education & Outreach unit
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
DC SLA and the SLA Government Information Division
Sponsored by LexisNexis - September 14, 2011
Getting started…
• What types of libraries or information
centers do you work in?
• How many of you are in a Federal
Depository Library?
• How many of you have used Fdsys?
What is FDsys? - www.fdsys.gov
• FDsys provides free online access to official Federal
Government publications.
• 3 components:
i. FDsys is a Content Management System
ii. FDsys is a Preservation Repository
iii. FDsys is an Advanced Search Engine
• FDsys provides enhanced searching and access features
for Congressional materials, Presidential materials, and
materials from Federal agencies.
FDsys Collections
Currently around 40 collections, which are:
• Primarily comprised of legislative and executive
branch publications; light on judicial, for now.
• Available from around 1994 to present – some begin
earlier, others later (currently mirrors content on GPO
Access).
• Not uniform; some collections are only available for a
fixed time frame, for example
• Commerce Business Daily (ceased in 2001)
• GAO Reports (1994-2008)
Status of FDsys
• On December 20, 2010, FDsys became GPO‟s
official Web site for Government information.
• What about GPO Access?
– FDsys and GPO Access are still updated.
– GPO Access will be „sunsetted‟……
• FDsys development is on hold; future
development is contingent upon funding.
• Content updates continue.
FDsys and Open Government
• FDsys - based on concepts of interoperability and
reuse.
• XML data allows for new ways to use the content
(FedThread.org, govpulse).
• FDsys content available in major search engines.
• Other government sites rely on FDsys to enrich
their user experience:
• FR 2.0 (federalregister.gov)
• Regulations.gov
• Science.gov
e-CFR and FDsys
For 2011, the e-CFR will continue to reside at
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr/; accessible in the list of
available FDsys collections in the "Other Resources"
section of the FDsys collection browse page:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectiontab.action
-- nothing has changed with the e-CFR at this time.
The Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is working
with GPO on a replacement for the entire e-CFR
publishing platform with a public access component that
will be incorporated into FDsys in a later release.
Authentication
GPO Seal of Blue ribbon =
Authenticity =
Means the document
Collection has being viewed has not
undergone the been altered since
Authentication GPO made it
process available on FDsys
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GPO Access FDsys
System Design Information storage system Content management system capable of
managing, authenticating, preserving, and
providing access to content in multiple
formats
Simple Search Multiple search boxes (e.g. one Search all collections from a single search box
for each collection)
Advanced Search Multiple advanced search Advanced search against robust metadata from a
pages single search page
Query Capability Rigid query language using Construct complex search queries using
basic Boolean operators advanced Boolean and field operators with
with a legacy search a world-class search engine
engine
Search Results Basic search results with no Refine searches by applying filters, sorting
filtering, sorting, or query search results, and searching within results
refinement capabilities
Performance Legacy information retrieval Access documents in seconds
system
GPO Access FDsys
File Formats Limited file formats and View document summary information and access
summary information additional file formats (e.g. XML) from a
about documents “More Information” page
Metadata Full-text search without access Access metadata in standard formats such as
to metadata MODS XML
Content Packages Documents must be Download documents and metadata packaged
downloaded individually together as single ZIP file. For example, an
issue of the Federal Register or
Congressional Record can be downloaded
in a single click
Browse Limited static browse Dynamically browse collections of documents or
capabilities browse within a document using its table of
contents
User Help Separate help page for each Utilize context-specific, field-level help
collection information and a consolidated, searchable
online help system
FDsys Search Options…
• Browse
• Simple (Basic) Search
• Advanced Search
• Retrieve by Citation
From the home page at www.fdsys.gov
Browse
Browse options:
By Collection, Committee, or Date
Select by year
Expand Title to “drill down” to desired level
Click on „Download‟ to access full text of parts
Simple
Search
Simple Search results
Refine using „Within Results‟
checkbox
1,767 results…
To 698 results…
To 586 results…
To 31 results…
More Information:
File formats and options for retrieval
PDF
example
More Information:
Document in Context
(My highlighting in yellow)
Boolean and Other Search Operators
*default operator is AND (in GPO Access it was OR)
• Normal Boolean operators: and, or, not (or “-” sign)
• Exact phrase: use “double quotes”
• Find the words, use parentheses: (in any order)
• Proximity: near/#
• "Health care" near/10 Obama
• Ordered proximity: before/#
• (Bill Clinton) before/50 (Hillary Clinton)
• Truncation/wild cards:
* to replace multiple characters, congress* for congressional
or congressmen
? to replace a single character: helpful for alternate spellings
?addafi, ?sama
Relevance Tweaking
“+” sign adds weight to a term – use it to tweak the
relevancy of the search results
There are differences in the search results for the
following searches:
"tea party" job +education
vs.
"tea party" +job education
Advanced Search
From the home page, next to Simple Search:
Click here and this takes you to advanced options
Advanced Search
• Searches full text and metadata like Simple
Search
• Results are presented similar to results for simple
search
• Advanced search makes it possible to construct
more focused queries and narrowed search
results
• Tip: Learn how to construct proper syntax or a
search string using the „Help‟ guides that are
available
Search on Publication Date…
Select one or more collections to search, then
„Add‟ or „Remove‟ as needed
Retrieve
by Citation
„Retrieve by Citation‟ option:
• Retrieves the smallest piece (granule) of the
document.
• Presents in PDF format in a new window.
• Requires turning off pop-up blockers or changing
settings to allow pop-ups from gpo.gov.
Fill in fields for citation…
Advanced Search Options from the
Simple Search Box:
Field Operators
• Allow search across the Metadata.
• Are specific to individual collections.
• Are recommended for frequently repeated
searches in a specific collection.
Click on „Help‟ to find Metadata, Field
Operators, and search examples…
…then click on „What‟s Available‟ to find Field Operators
specific to each Collection
Use one or more Field Operators to
customize your search
Current/Historical Editions Sort Option
Find older versions of documents where it says
„Historical editions have been hidden from results. Show
all editions.‟
Search in: Additional Government
Publications collection
• Use the Advanced Search feature to search
within publications located in the Additional
Government Publications collection.
o Select the Additional Government
Publications collection.
o Under “Search in:”, select Publication Name.
o Use the additional drop down box to select
the desired publication to search within.
What is Metadata?
• MODS: data about the publication
– Metadata Object Description Schema
• PREMIS: preservation data
– Preservation Metadata: Implementation
Strategies
What is the big deal with metadata?
• Relevant search results
• GPO Access vs. FDsys
• Zero in on captured metadata for precision
searching
• Different metadata is captured for different
collections, this allow you to do very specific
searches over collections
MODS Metadata Example
Metadata Field Display Name = upper case
Field Operator = lower case, no spaces
http://www.gpo.gov/help/field_operators.htm
Search Results Example
Browse example
More Information Example
Contact Education and Outreach
fdlpoutreach@gpo.gov
Questions
http://gpo.custhelp.com
Thank you!