Everything about The Government Printing Office totally explained
The
Government Printing Office (GPO) is an agency of the
legislative branch of the
United States federal government. The office prints and provides access to documents produced by and for all three
branches of the federal government, including the
Supreme Court, the
Congress, the
Executive Office of the President,
executive departments, and
independent agencies.
The primary mission of the GPO is to make government publications widely available, by gathering, cataloging, providing, and preserving published information in all forms. GPO provides information to the public through GPO Access, which contains searchable databases of government information, and through the
Federal Depository Library Program, which is a partnership with hundreds of libraries throughout the country.
History
GPO began operations in accordance with
Congressional Joint Resolution 25 of June 23, 1860. The activities of GPO are defined in the public printing and documents chapters of
Title 44 of the United States Code. The
Public Printer, who serves as the head of GPO, is appointed by the
President with the
advice and consent of the
Senate.
Official Journals of Government
GPO now contracts out much of the federal government's printing but prints the official journals of government in-house, including:
Passports
GPO has been producing
U.S. passports since the
1920s.
The
United States Department of State began issuing e-Passports in 2006. The e-Passport includes an electronic chip embedded in the cover that contains the same information that's printed in the passport: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and photo image of the traveler. The e-passport contains security features to prevent the chips from being read, cloned or changed. GPO produces the blank e-Passport, while the
Department of State receives and processes applications and issues individual passports.
GPO ceased production of the older passports in May 2007.
Recently, the GPO has come under fire for outsourcing the manufacturing of e-passports, a concern for national security.
Future Digital Information System (FDsys)
GPO's Office of Innovation and New Technology is working to develop GPO’s Digital Information System (FDsys). The goal of FDsys is to allow federal agencies to easily create and submit content that can then be preserved, authenticated, managed and delivered upon request. GPO plans for FDsys to be the core of GPO’s future operations.
FDsys will include all known federal Government documents within the scope of GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), whether printed or electronic. Information entered into the system will be authenticated and catalogued according to GPO metadata and document creation standards. Content will include text, graphics, audio, and video files. It will be available for online searching and viewing, downloading and printing, and as document masters for conventional and on-demand printing.
FDsys is being developed in phases and currently included three scheduled releases. The first public release is scheduled for early 2008.
Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
The
Federal Depository Library Program
(FDLP) was established by the
United States Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government's information. Since 1813, depository libraries have safeguarded the public's right to know by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting users with information from the federal government. The FDLP provides Government information at no cost to about 1,250 designated depository libraries in the U.S. and its territories. These depository libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access to Government information in an impartial environment with professional assistance.
Material distributed through the FDLP includes information on careers, business opportunities, consumer information, health and nutrition, legal and regulatory information, and U.S. demographics.
Other
The GPO also publishes annual
United States Government Manual, and an official
style manual to be used for all Government publications. The GPO Bookstore sells these and other publications. The bookstore is located at 710
North Capitol Street NW,
Washington, D.C. 20401.
The
Bureau of Engraving and Printing is responsible for the printing of
United States currency.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Government Printing Office'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://united_states_government_printing_office.totallyexplained.com">United States Government Printing Office Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
