# Current and Future State of GPO Access

By T.C. Evans

Director, Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services

Depository Library Council Meeting

Mobile, AL

April 22, 2002

## Introduction

I appreciate the opportunity to update the Depository Library Council
and the library community on the current and future state of GPO Access.
Hopefully, you have a copy of our printed GPO Access update. It contains
a variety of statistical information on GPO Access, as well as what is
new and on the horizon.

The vast amount of information available on GPO Access continues to
grow, and more users are finding their way to our applications.
Unfortunately, there was a lengthy period where system performance
problems were severely limiting the amount of usage possible and
frustrating large numbers of users. Time-out and other types of errors
were far too common, particularly during the busiest hours of the
workday, and even successful transactions took far too long. While I
deeply regret this period of poor service to GPO Access users,
particularly those who have come to rely on our Federal Register and
Code of Federal Regulations applications, I am pleased to report that
diligent work by our Production department has resulted in making
tremendous progress towards overcoming many of these problems. As a
result, system performance has improved dramatically in recent weeks.

Through a performance measurement service contract with Keynote Systems,
Inc., we track performance from the user perspective around the clock.
We accomplish this by monitoring actual use of the Code of Federal
Regulations application by agents located in 10 major cities in the
United States. The agents load the main CFR application page, perform a
search for "hazardous wastes," and retrieve a Title 40 document from the
results list. The computer agents are set up to act as users with common
technology performing through connections commonly available through a
variety of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), or parts of the Internet
backbone. Each agent makes multiple attempts each hour and both the time
required for the agent to execute each part of the transaction and any
errors encountered are recorded and the data is made available to us for
analysis in a variety of ways.

The measurements helped to pinpoint problems being reported by users.
Specifically, we found that errors frequently occurred in the search and
retrieval portions of the transaction and that most of these errors
involved time-outs, particularly during prime usage hours. It is
important to note here that Keynote considers a lack of success after
two minutes a failure at any of the three points of the measurement
transaction. In addition, we found that a significant number of users
who succeeded in getting their search completed then encountered an
error in attempting to download the target file. Even successful
transactions were taking an unacceptably long time to complete. There
were no particular patterns emerging regarding regions of the country or
parts of the backbone, so we knew that the problem resided with us.

These findings gave us new tools to add to the feedback we had been
getting from disgruntled users and both were shared with our Production
department who went to work to use what we had learned to improve
performance. I am pleased to say that they have succeeded in eliminating
almost all of the error problems and the results are showing
dramatically reduced completion times for successful transactions. On
average, successful transactions are now taking less than 10 seconds
from start to finish, with slightly longer times during our busiest
hours. This means that an agent can load the CFR application page,
perform a search and receive the results of that search, initiate a
download from the results and get the first byte of the target file on
their machine very quickly. Much faster than I could do myself, but that
can be blamed on my typing skills, not GPO Access.

While these changes should greatly enhance the user experience on GPO
Access, we will continue to work towards even more improvement in
performance. In addition to adjusting the operation of the current
system and adding more resources to make the system deliver better
response to users, there are efforts underway to identify a successor
platform to the Wide-Area Information Server (WAIS) technology currently
in use. Funds have been included in the FY 2003 budget to acquire this,
and it is hoped that a rapid deployment of the platform selected can be
effected after it has been purchased.

These improvement efforts also include work towards establishing a
geographically separate mirror site and backup facility for GPO Access
in Pueblo, Colorado. Based on a recently conducted onsite inspection of
the facility, work will begin as soon as practicable. This effort will
be funded in part by the \$4 million Congress provided to GPO in
supplemental transfer authority for emergency preparedness (P.L.
107-117) following the events of September 11, 2001, in addition to
other project funding from the Salaries and Expenses appropriation to
the Superintendent of Documents. Beginning with the most frequently used
GPO Access resources, GPO will steadily add to the resources and data at
this facility until it is a complete mirror site for GPO Access. This
will include the portion of the FDLP Electronic Collection Archive
maintained by GPO.

# Search Engine Results

We have continued our work with maximizing our visibility in major
Internet search engines. In particular we have been testing paid keyword
positioning for the U.S. Government Online Bookstore through the
Overture service. While we had some success, the results pointed out
that more research was needed. Therefore we contracted with Overture for
a detailed analysis and recommendations for maximizing the visibility of
the GPO Access main page, the Online Bookstore, and the Code of Federal
Regulations main page. The results of these efforts contained the
following information:

-   A list of keywords to be bid on

-   Suggested bidding strategies

-   Total amount we could expect to spend each month, based on our
    budget and the position in Overture\'s search results (first or
    third, etc.)

-   Suggested language to appear with the links to GPO Access pages on
    Overture\'s search results

We are currently analyzing these proposals and hope to take action on
them in the near future.

We have also continued to monitor the latest developments in the search
engine industry, including sending staff to participate in the Search
Engines Strategies Conference recently held in Boston, Massachusetts. A
good example is our examination of the offerings from the newly emergent
Teoma engine. Owned by Ask Jeeves, this search engine offers several new
ways of searching for information. Along with the regular results, it
also provides suggestions for refining your search to obtain more
specific results. A list of suggested keywords refining your search will
appear on the right side of the screen. Clicking on one of these
keywords will add them to the search terms you have entered and provide
you with a new set of results. The refinement process they offer and its
ability to get at specific GPO Access resources looks promising. In
fact, we are adding it to the list of search engines that we regularly
examine.

#### Joint effort with STAT-USA

My staff has been working hand-in-hand with STAT-USA to improve the
availability and usability of their information products at depository
libraries and as such will be including information on STAT-USA's State
of the Nation (SOTN) and Global Business Opportunities (GLOBUS) &
National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) products in *GPO Access* training
classes. EIDS Staff also worked with STAT-USA representatives on the
development of a special insert for the GPO Access Training Manual and a
new flyer to promote the partnership. It is also expected that STAT-USA
representatives will participate in *GPO Access* booth exhibits.

# 

It is hoped that these cooperative efforts can promote and improve the
use of these products in depositories as well as build a case for the
possible addition of other products from STAT-USA in the future.

In addition to the previously mentioned products, two other services are
currently available from STAT-USA. These are USA Trade *Online* and
EuroTrade *Online*. While there are barriers to offering free public
access to these two products at Federal depository libraries, it is
hoped that our working relationship will assist in overcoming them. In
the meantime, the information contained in USA Trade *Online* is
available in the monthly U.S. Imports of Merchandise and U.S. Exports of
Merchandise on CD-ROM. Both are distributed through the Federal
Depository Library Program.

**What's new on *GPO Access***

There are a number of recent changes to *GPO Access* that should be
mentioned. The most notable are:

-   The Budget of the United States Government for FY 2003 is now
    available. It was transmitted to Congress on February 2, 2002, and
    covers the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2002.

-   The new edition of the Congressional Directory for the 107th
    Congress is also available.

-   The 2002 Economic Report of the President is now available on *GPO
    Access*.

-   Volume I of the 2000-2001 Public Papers for William J. Clinton is
    now available online.

-   Two Independent Counsel reports are available:

    -   The Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison
        Guaranty Savings & Loan Association Regarding Monica Lewinsky
        and Others

    -   The Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison
        Guaranty Savings & Loan Association (The Madison
        Guaranty/Whitewater Investigation)

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-   Riddick\'s Senate Procedure-Precedents and Procedures are now
    available via *GPO Access.*

-   Two new topics have been added to the New Titles By Topic E-mail
    Alert Service available through the U.S. Government Online
    Bookstore:

    -   Employment and Occupations

    -   Federal Statistics.

## What's on the Horizon for GPO Access

As always, work is under way to add more content to GPO Access and to
refine access to the materials already provided. Some key examples of
current efforts are:

-   An interactive site guide is being developed to help users find
    their way to the resources of GPO Access. Users will be able to
    follow a pathway of links in an exploration of the rich set of
    resources that GPO Access offers. It will provide an augmented
    assistance tool that lets users learn more about what is available
    when the regular navigation paths fail to get them where they need
    to go.

-   Making use of what has been learned from our work with users in open
    forums, usability studies, and through regular feedback channels,
    work toward an enhanced look and feel for GPO Access has begun.
    Please play a role in this process by attending the GPO Access Open
    Forum sessions this afternoon (Monday, April 22, 2002, at 2:00 pm
    and 3:30 pm) and reacting to some prototype pages created to show
    our current approach.

-   Future enhancements for the U.S. Government Online Bookstore include
    improved online ordering for foreign customers and providing
    third-party hand off of orders for those who are unable to directly
    purchase from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore.

**User Survey**

It is almost survey time again. In the next few days the annual online
GPO Access user survey will become available. I hope you all will assist
us by participating and alerting other users to this opportunity to play
a role in the ongoing development of GPO Access.

####### 

#######  Online Bookstore Enhancements

Several new features have been added to the U.S. Government Online
Bookstore in order to enhance usability and expedite orders:

-   The various browse features on the Online Bookstore have been
    enhanced so that price and status information is updated daily. In
    addition, customers may now use the search and browse features to
    add publications to their shopping cart for a fully integrated
    shopping experience.

-   While the Online Bookstore has safeguarded a customer\'s personal
    information through online encryption since 1999, the service was
    recently changed so users do not have to enter the secure
    environment until they have finished shopping and need to enter
    personal information when completing the order.

## As you can tell, change is a constant with GPO Access. As its offerings and popularity continue to grow, our efforts to provide the best possible service will make every effort to keep pace. Once again I remind you that your feedback plays a vital role in this development process. Participation in this afternoon's open forum is an excellent opportunity to add your voice to the process, but a comment or suggestion sent to the GPO Access User Support Team serves well at any time. Thank you and I look forward to talking with you during the conference.

***GPO Access* Update**

**Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services**

**Spring 2002 Depository Library Council Meeting**

April 21-24, Mobile, AL

> *GPO Access* Performance Measurement and Improvement
>
> It has recently become apparent that system performance problems have
> been severely limiting the amount of usage possible and frustrating
> large amounts of *GPO Access* users. Time-out and other types of
> errors were far too common, particularly during the busiest hours of
> the workday, and even successful transactions took far too long.
> Through a performance measurement service contract with Keynote
> Systems, Inc., we are tracking performance of the Code of Federal
> Regulations from the user perspective from ten major U.S. cities. The
> findings from this service and problem reports from users were shared
> with the GPO Production Department, who have begun work to eliminate
> these problems. They have succeeded in virtually eliminating the error
> problems, and results are showing that successful transactions during
> peak times are now taking on average less than 10 seconds from start
> to finish, down from over 42 seconds previously. We will continue to
> monitor performance with an eye towards improvement.
>
> ***GPO Access* Statistical Measures**

-   Since 1994, *GPO Access* retrievals have exceeded 1.2 billion. This
    is equivalent to over 29 billion typewritten pages.

-   *GPO Access* has averaged close to 32 million document retrievals in
    the last six months, and reached an all-time high of almost 36.5
    million document retrievals in October 2001.

-   *GPO Access* contains over 133,000 electronic titles and points to
    over 89,000 others for a total of more than 222,000 titles.

-   *GPO Access* provides use of almost 2,400 databases through more
    than 80 applications.

**What's New on *GPO Access***

-   The Budget of the United States Government for FY 2003 is now
    available via *GPO Access* at
    \<<http://www.access.gpo.gov/usbudget>\>. It was transmitted to
    Congress on February 2, 2002, and covers the fiscal year beginning
    October 1, 2002

-   The new edition of the Congressional Directory for the 107th
    Congress is available at
    \<http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong016.html\>.

-   The 2002 Economic Report of the President is now available on *GPO
    Access* at \<http://www.gpo.gov/eop\>.

-   Volume I of the 2000-2001 Public Papers for William J. Clinton is
    now available online at
    \<http://www.gpo.gov/nara/pubpaps/srchpaps.html\>.

-   Two Independent Counsel Reports available at
    \<[http://icreport.access.gpo.gov](http://icreport.access.gpo.gov/)\>:

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-   Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty
    Savings & Loan Association Regarding Monica Lewinsky and Others

-   The Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty
    Savings & Loan Association (The Madison Guaranty/Whitewater
    Investigation)

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Riddick\'s Senate Procedure-Precedents and Procedures is now
    available via *GPO Access* at
    \<http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/riddick/index.html\>.

-   Two new topics have been added to the New Titles By Topic E-mail
    Alert Service. Employment and Occupations and Federal Statistics. To
    sign up for any of these lists, go to:
    \<<http://bookstore.gpo.gov/alertservice.html>\>.

####### Online Bookstore Enhancements

> Several new features have been added to the U.S. Government Online
> Bookstore in order to enhance usability and expedite orders:

-   The various browse features on the Online Bookstore have been
    enhanced so that price and status information is updated daily. In
    addition, customers may now use the search and browse features to
    add publications to their shopping cart for a fully integrated
    shopping experience.

-   While the Online Bookstore has safeguarded a customer\'s personal
    information through online encryption since 1999, the service was
    recently changed so users do not have to enter the secure
    environment until they have finished shopping and need to enter
    personal information when completing the order.

> ***GPO Access* Training Manual Updates**
>
> Updates to the *GPO Access* Training Manual were recently posted on
> the *GPO Access* help page. Approximately 33 pages were changed,
> including URL updates, new diagrams for tracking legislation,
> regulations, and Federal publications, and updated U.S. Government
> Online Bookstore information. In addition, a special insert has been
> added that discusses Federal depository library access to
> STAT-USA/Internet, which is provided through a partnership between the
> U.S. Government Printing Office and the Department of Commerce. These
> updates may be found at
> \<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess/help/trainingbk\>.
>
> **Changes made to Senate, House and Executive Reports Application on
> *GPO Access***
>
> In response to user feedback, the Senate, House and Executive Reports
> application \<<http://www.gpo.gov/congress/cong005.html>\> on *GPO
> Access* now includes the ability to search across multiple Congresses
> in addition to being able to search for these documents within a
> particular Congress.
>
> ***GPO Access* User Survey**
>
> EIDS staff is in the process of developing a new online *GPO Access*
> User Survey, which will provide us with valuable feedback and a
> measure of usability and efficiency. The survey will be available in
> the near future on *GPO Access* at
> \<<http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/survey02.html>\>.

####### Under Development

-   An interactive site guide is being developed to help users find
    their way to the resources of *GPO Access*. Users will be able to
    follow a pathway of links in an exploration of the rich set of
    resources that *GPO Access* offers. It will provide an augmented
    assistance tool that lets users learn more about what is available
    when the regular navigation paths have failed to point them in the
    right direction.

-   Making use of what has been learned from our work with users in open
    forums, usability studies, and through regular feedback channels,
    work toward an enhanced look and feel for *GPO Access* has begun.
    Please play a role in this process by attending the *GPO Access*
    Open Forum sessions this afternoon (Monday, April 22, 2002, at 2:00
    pm and 3:30 pm) and reacting to some prototype pages created to show
    our current approach.

-   Future enhancements for the U.S. Government Online Bookstore include
    improved online ordering for foreign customers and providing
    third-party hand off of orders for those who are unable to directly
    purchase from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore.

####### Upcoming Outreach

EIDS personnel will be attending and displaying the GPO booth at the
following shows:

+-------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------+
| > May 14-16 | > Info Today 2002                       | > New York,  |
|             |                                         | > NY         |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------+
| > June      | > American Library Association Annual   | > Atlanta,   |
| > 13-19     | > Conference                            | > GA         |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------+
| > June 30-  | > National Education Association        | > Dallas, TX |
| > July 2    |                                         |              |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------+

> http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess