# ANNUAL REPORT

### Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services

#### Fiscal Year 2000

###### Executive Summary

The Office of Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS)
experienced a number of changes during FY 2000. EIDS continued work on
the product development, promotion, and support of electronic products
and services that has led to the continued growth and success of the
*GPO Access* service.

EIDS staff began taking steps to facilitate site indexing of *GPO
Access* web pages by Internet search engines and directories. Reports
were prepared at various intervals to measure the effectiveness of these
efforts. In response to the results of these reports and feedback from
the depository library community and the public, ongoing changes were
made to improve metatags and the positioning of *GPO Access* pages in
Internet search engines and directories.

We also worked on a number of other analytical reports during the fiscal
year, including the *Biennial Report To Congress on the Status of GPO
Access*, a series of legislative resources comparison reports, and
participated in a study to identify performance measures for Federal
agency websites.

Staff also facilitated efforts to improve the ability of customers to
search and order publications through the U.S. Government Online
Bookstore. The groundwork was laid for additional enhancements demanded
by GPO customers, such as a detailed transaction receipt after order
submission online, and an automatic price increase for foreign orders,
among others.

EIDS staff, with assistance from Library Programs Service (LPS),
developed and released *Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids*. Our
goal was to enlarge GPO's audience for electronic Federal Government
information and to support the agency's commitment to providing online
educational resources for students, parents, and teachers.

Additionally, analysis of our most recent survey results suggested that
57% of respondents found information on *GPO Access* either easy or very
easy to locate. Also, almost half of the respondents indicated they use
*GPO Access* at least once a week.

Through all of the enhancements and improvements to services that we
have been working on, the *GPO Access* User Support Team in EIDS
continued to serve as an essential link to the user community,
responding to inquiries on a daily basis.

Our outreach efforts were accomplished through new product development
with publishing agencies, *GPO* *Access* training classes and
demonstrations, and trade shows throughout the United States. We were
aided in these processes by the development of a new *GPO* *Access*
Interactive Training CD-ROM. EIDS also assisted Federal agencies in the
replication and dissemination of their electronic information products
that were produced, procured, and disseminated through GPO.

###### Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of *GPO Access*

In FY 2000, EIDS staff wrote the *Biennial Report to Congress on the
Status of GPO Access*. This report was written in accordance with the
requirements of Public Law 103-40, the Government Printing Office
Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993. The report
discussed the accomplishments of *GPO Access*, discussed costs and
savings associated with the service, and mentioned developments that are
in the works for *GPO Access*. This report is available electronically
at \<http://www.gpo.gov/biennialreport\>.

###### *Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids*

Introduced in December 1999, *Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids*
(Ben's Guide) \<http://bensguide.gpo.gov\> is the educational component
of *GPO Access*. Developed by a team from EIDS and Library Program's
Service, Ben's Guide uses Benjamin Franklin as a "guide." It is intended
to introduce kids to the basics of government in such a way that it
incorporates and explains the resources available via *GPO Access*,
providing official Federal information from all three branches of
government. Ben's Guide presents all information in a grade-appropriate
manner. The site is broken down into four major student grade levels:
K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The material in each of these sections is
specifically tailored for its grade level. Ben's Guide includes
information such as Historical Documents, information on the law-making
process, the election process for Federal officials and their duties,
citizenship information, and much more. Educational games and activities
are also included on the site to assist in learning.

Ben's Guide also provides a section for parents and teachers, complete
with links to publications for sale via *GPO Access*, curriculum links,
information on how to establish a link to the site, links to other
valuable government resources for kids on the Internet, and information
about *GPO Access*. Visitors with government related questions,
comments, or suggestions for the site can email Ben's Guide at
\<askben@gpo.gov\>, and receive a response within 24 hours. Using
grade-appropriate language, Ben points visitors to resources on *GPO
Access* and other official Federal Government sites, while also creating
awareness of the government information expertise freely available
locally through Federal depository libraries.

###### *GPO Access* Sales Applications

A number of improvements and enhancements were made to the sales
applications on *GPO Access* this fiscal year. The U.S. Government
Online Bookstore, under the new URL \<http://bookstore.gpo.gov\>, is the
single point of access for all government information products available
for sale from the U.S. Government Printing Office. A search interface of
the Sales Product Catalog (SPC) is now part of the main page interface.
Advanced search options are also available at the click of a mouse.
Another new feature on the main page is a "pop-up box" that enables
customers to "Browse a Topic." This list of topics is based upon the
approximately 160 Subject Bibliographies available through the online
bookstore. Customer can also browse the "Special Collections" on the
U.S. Government Online Bookstore, including CD-ROMs, Electronic
Products, the Subscriptions Catalog, and the Federal Consumer
Information Center. We have also added a link to our Best Sellers. Of
course the site continues to provide information on the locations of
U.S. Government bookstores, information about the U.S. Fax Watch
service, and ordering information.

Much is in development at this time for further enhancements to improve
the customer's experience on the U.S. Government Online Bookstore. We
are working on sending orders directly to the order processing system
rather than keying orders manually to reduce the probability of errors
and speed processing time of customer orders. Also, we want to provide
customers with a detailed transaction receipt after order submission
online, as well as an automatic price increase for foreign orders.
Finally, we only want customers to enter a secure environment when they
are ready to enter personal information. These and other changes will be
available soon.

**Search Engines**

An important part of our mission is to improve access to official
Federal Government information. One important performance measure that
helps us achieve this goal is to help users find the *GPO Access* web
site and associated information through Internet search engines.

In FY 2000, the robot-exclusion protocol was removed. Additionally, *GPO
Access* Web pages were coded with keyword and description metatags. Upon
completion of this work, EIDS directly publicized its online resources
by contacting webmasters and editors of search engines and directories
to try to help improve the ranking of *GPO Access*, when feasible. To
measure our success, we have engaged in a series of ongoing evaluations
to judge how effectively pages from the *GPO Access* web site are
indexed within and retrieved by various Internet search engines. As
discussed later in the report, this was also accomplished through our
participation in a study to identify performance measures for Federal
agency websites.

Four evaluations have been conducted thus far: October 1999, December
1999, March 2000, and June 2000. These four evaluations involved a
process of submitting URLs of *GPO Access* pages to each of the search
engines being evaluated, performing searches for these *GPO Access*
pages in the search engines based on metatags, and assessing the
positioning of each page in the search engine.

Although results of our first few evaluations were promising, the latest
evaluation showed a decline in the positioning of *GPO Access* pages in
the percentage of overall top 30 returns. In response, we have made
changes to our keyword and title metatags based upon feedback from
depository librarians and the public, and are continuing to try to
gather a full understanding of how individual search engines work in the
creation and updating of their indices. Additionally, we are procuring
both software and a fee-based service for URL submission that we hope
will improve our results.

###### Legislative Resources Comparison Reports

EIDS conducted a series of ongoing evaluations of Congressional and
other legislative information resources available via *GPO Access* in
comparison to other government and non-government Web sites. Two
evaluations were completed in FY 2000 , one in October, 1999, and a
second in July, 2000. These reports are available at
\<http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/libs/compare.htm\>. The following factors
were analyzed: 1) Resources available; 2) Scope of the resources; and 3)
Source of the resources. The most recent comparative analysis yielded
the following key findings:

-   *GPO Access* makes available 19 of the 22 measured legislative
    resources, more than any other governmental or commercial site
    analyzed;

-   Many of the other sites analyzed link to *GPO Access* for the
    official version of their resources;

-   More government and non-government organizations are increasing the
    amount of legislative information available from their sites;

-   Most non-government legislative resources are fee-based.

###### Performance Measures

In conjunction with the Defense Technical Information Center and the
Energy Information Administration, GPO helped fund, and EIDS
participated in, a study to identify performance measures for Federal
agency websites. The study, in which EIDS served as the GPO point of
contact, was led by Chuck McClure, Florida State University, and is
available on *GPO Access*
\<http://fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/libs/measures.htm\>. The overall study
goal was to develop performance measures to help agencies assess the
quality and usefulness of their websites. Objectives included:

-   Identify the basic evaluation methodologies, statistics, and
    performance measures currently in use at each of the agencies;

-   Provide a composite view of the three agencies that would allow each
    to compare its practices and techniques with others;

-   Consider which activities might constitute "best practices" for
    federal website performance measures;

-   Establish a first step toward developing statistics and measures for
    federal website performance measures.

*GPO Access* fared well in the review of current practices and the
report even suggested that our strategy "could serve as a guideline for
other agencies in establishing or amending their website development
strategies."

###### *GPO Access* User's Survey

From October 1999 to January 2000, EIDS conducted a survey of *GPO
Access* users in an effort to learn more about usage patterns and
opinions of our customers. Surveys were collected during this period
from depository librarians, the private sector, and the general public.
Some major findings from this survey were:

-   30% of respondents were from the general public, 16% from private
    companies, 16% university students, and 13% government. 2% or less
    were K-12 students, K-12 teachers, legal, or media.

-   31% of respondents found *GPO Access* through an Internet search
    engine, 24% by exploring links, and 11% through a class.

-   44% of the respondents used *GPO Access* at least once a week, 20%
    used it every few weeks, 24% a few times a year, and 12% once a year
    or less. 77% of respondents affiliated with Federal depository
    libraries used the site daily.

-   57% of respondents found information on *GPO Access* either easy or
    very easy to locate. 33% found it somewhat difficult to find desired
    information, but only 5% suggested that they found it very difficult
    and 4% impossible to find desired information.

###### U.S. Fax Watch

EIDS assumed responsibility for the U.S. Fax Watch service in FY 2000,
and implemented new software to operate this service. The new software
provides greater reporting features than the earlier version.
Additionally, documents can now be converted on-demand, which means that
a document does not have to be in a TIFF, GIF, or G3 format prior to
faxing. It is expected that this new software will also allow users to
receive documents via email, in addition to fax, in the near future.
This service is still available at (202) 512-1716.

###### User Support

The *GPO Access* User Support Team continued to provide assistance to
*GPO Access* users via email, phone, and fax. It is currently comprised
of a staff of eight individuals, which includes two Team leaders added
in Fiscal Year 2000. Staff members are responsible for answering
inquiries about GPO's electronic products, providing assistance in
searching for and locating Federal information products, and offering
technical support for these products. On average, the Team receives
6,000 inquiries per month, including approximately 3,900 phone calls and
2,100 email messages. The Team is responsible for responding to all
email messages within 24 hours. The Team's hours of availability are
Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Time, except
Federal holidays.

Questions or comments regarding *GPO Access* can be directed to the Team
as follows:

 Email gpoaccess@gpo.gov

-   Phone 1-888-293-6498 (toll-free)

202-512-1530 (D.C. area)

-   Fax 202-512-1262

###### Business Development Activities

EIDS business development work continued to increase in FY 2000 as we
worked closely with the Federal publishing community. We assisted
agencies with both Web site development and hosting, as well as CD-ROM
services. In addition to assisting agencies with defining their
electronic dissemination requirements, we also worked in conjunction to
improve the marketing, sales and dissemination of their products.

Federal Web sites added to *GPO Access* in FY 2000:

 Supreme Court of the United States

 National Mediation Board

New CD-ROMs (not a comprehensive list):

 Agricultural Statistics 2000

 Budget of the United States Government: Fiscal Year 2001

 Greening the Government: A Guide to Implementing Executive Order 13101

 Healthy People 2010

###### Training Classes, Demonstrations, and Trade Shows

The continued and rapid growth of *GPO Access* translated into a number
of requests for training classes, demonstrations, and trade shows to
educate users about electronic products and services. During FY 2000,
EIDS staff conducted 20 hands-on training classes, demonstrations, and
trade shows of *GPO Access* for Federal depository librarians, members
of Congress, and the general public, both locally and across the
country. Recent sessions were conducted in Buffalo, Chicago, Houston,
Kansas City and Philadelphia.

EIDS also developed a *GPO Access* Interactive Training CD-ROM, intended
to serve as a tutorial that will teach the fundamental capabilities of
*GPO Access*. The CD-ROM offers an overview of the Web interface,
instructions for locating and retrieving information, sample searches in
popular applications, and interactive elements (section quizzes, Web
links, etc.). This product is currently available for sale through the
U.S. Government Online Bookstore.

By combining multiple activities in the course of one trip, we were able
to cover the widest possible geographic area within budget constraints.
Consequently, for FY 2001, we are only planning to schedule *GPO Access*
training classes in conjunction with trips where exhibits are planned at
trade shows.

# ANNUAL REPORT

### *GPO Access*

#### Fiscal Year 2000

###### Executive Summary

By the end of FY 2000, *GPO Access* housed over 1,600 separate databases
through more than 80 applications. In total, nearly 113,000 titles were
made available on GPO servers (a 12% increase since FY 1999), and more
than 80,000 titles were linked from *GPO Access* (a 35% increase since
FY 1999). At the end of the fiscal year, *GPO Access* averaged more than
26 million documents downloaded each month. Additionally, the number of
retrievals in March 2000 reached an all time high of almost 29 million
retrievals.

In response to this increased traffic, bandwidth capacity was more than
doubled on *GPO Access* to enhance system response time. In conjunction
with the more even distribution of requests across servers using the
Big/IP Controller, the infrastructure was put in place to ensure *GPO
Access* functions as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The increase in titles on *GPO Access* servers as well as titles linked
from *GPO Access* to other official Federal agency sites was accompanied
by site enhancements, such as the addition of a site search capability
and a new, easier to remember web address
\<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess\>.

In recognition of the growth and accomplishments of the service, *GPO
Access* was voted one of the Library Journal's "Best Reference Web
Sites" for FY 2000, and *Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids*
received a number of awards, including being chosen as "2000 Notable
Children's Web Site" by the American Library Association's Notable
Children's Web Sites committee.

###### New Web Address

An "alias" address has been established for the main *GPO Access*
homepage at \<http://www.gpo.gov/gpoaccess\>. Customers using this URL
will be automatically redirected to
\<http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/index.html\>. Additionally, a new
URL was created to make it easier for customers to get to the U.S.
Government Online Bookstore. This service is now available at
\<http://bookstore.gpo.gov\>.

###### Site Search Capability

Site Search was developed to help users find the resources available on
*GPO Access*. This application allows users to perform keyword searches
across all HTML directories and subdirectories on *GPO Access* but does
not search within the individual *GPO Access* databases. However,
indexing the many browse applications such as the Federal Register table
of contents has provided excellent access by returning results that
allow clicking to the individual documents.

**New Databases on *GPO Access* and Improvements to Searches and
Retrievals**

At the beginning of each calendar year, new databases are added to
existing applications on *GPO Access* for the new year or session of
Congress, such as the 2000 Federal Register. Aside from these types of
additions, several new applications were made available. Additionally,
improvements were made to the methods that users employ to find and
retrieve documents. The following list highlights some of these
activities:

-   The Federal Register 2000 application was updated so that any URLs
    published in notices are hot links to those addresses.

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-   Browseable links were added to the Congressional Record sections
    containing roll-call votes.

-   The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, beginning
    with William J. Clinton were made available. Additional volumes
    continue to be added.

-   The Code of Federal Regulations application now features a page from
    which users can place online orders for print copies. There are
    links to this page from both the search and browse portions of the
    CFR application.

-   Deschler's Precedents of the United States House of Representatives
    database was added to *GPO Access*.

-   Our GILS pages were redesigned to improve use and the unnecessary
    pathway records were removed.

###### System Performance

Steps were taken in FY 2000 to enhance system response time for the *GPO
Access* service. In August 2000, new circuitry was installed to increase
the bandwidth capacity of *GPO Access*. As a result, the bandwidth
capacity has more than doubled what *GPO Access* used previously.
Additionally, the F5 Networks BIG/ip Controller distributes requests by
routing them to the server that is carrying the smallest load at the
time. Utilization data indicates that average daily peak usage for
inbound and outbound packets is running at just over 40 percent of
capacity. We now have the infrastructure in place for rapid expansion as
need increases.

###### *GPO Access* Usage Statistics

For FY 2000, GPO recorded over 284 million document retrievals, at an
average of more than 26 million documents downloaded from *GPO Access*
each month during the last half of FY 2000.[^1] This figure reflects a
24% increase over the total number of document retrievals for FY 1999.
Additionally, the number of retrievals in March 2000 reached an all time
high of almost 29 million retrievals. Consistent with FY 1999, the Code
of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Commerce Business Daily
(CBD*Net*), United States Code, and Congressional Record were the
databases with the highest number of retrievals. More than 3 million
retrievals were recorded for Ben's Guide during its first 10 months of
operation, with September showing more than 400,000 retrievals as
students returned to school.

###### Accolades

In FY 2000, *GPO Access* was voted one of the Library Journal's "Best
Reference Web Sites." Also, in the March 21, 2000 edition of PC
Magazine, *GPO Access* was referenced as "one of the free Web sites
available for individuals to keep abreast of what's going on in the
United States and elsewhere."

Additionally, since it went live in December, 1999, *Ben's Guide to U.S.
Government for Kids* has received numerous awards and recognition. Ben's
Guide was chosen as a "2000 Notable Children's Web Site" by the American
Library Association's Notable Children's Web Sites committee. It has
also been recognized as a "Hot Site" on USATODAY.com and as the Blue
Web'n Hot Site of the Week. HomeworkSpot.com recognized Ben's Guide as a
"top-notch tool for students, parents and teachers." Ben's Guide was
also voted Political Site of the Day by
\<http://www.aboutpolitics.com\>, and the Internet Scout Project
selected it for inclusion in the Scout Report for January 21, 2000.

[^1]: Document retrievals indicate the number of files that are
    downloaded from WAIS databases and from static Web pages that have
    been identified as containing Government information content.