public access to us government scientific information: the science.gov approach presented by thomas...
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Public Access to US Government Scientific Information:
The Science.gov Approach
Presented by Thomas Lahr, US Geological Survey and Co-chair, Science.gov Alliance
Special Libraries Association Baltimore, MDJune 13, 2006
Why Science.gov?
There is a need to find U.S. government scientific and technical information quickly and easily, but
information is dispersed across thousands of Web sites (“Surface Web”) and databases (“Deep Web”).
What is Science.gov?
• “FirstGov for Science” an e-gov initiative• A Web portal that provides unified and
simplified access to selected U.S. government Web sites and databases that contain scientific and technical information
• A voluntary large scale collaboration among U.S. government agencies
How Has Science.gov Evolved?
• Science.gov Alliance formed in 2001 - 14 scientific and technical information organizations from 10 major science agencies
• V. 1.0 of www.science.gov launched in December 2002
• V. 2.0 launched in May 2004• “Alerts” service launched in February 2005• V. 3.0 launched in December 2005• Science.gov Alliance now includes 16 organizations
from 11 agencies
Particpating Agencies
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Interior
Environmental Protection AgencyNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNational Science FoundationUS Government Printing OfficeNational Archives and Records Administration
Science.gov Creation Challenges
• Broad scope of Federal science and technology research and development missions
• Wide-ranging interests of potential audiences• Information organization (taxonomy) issues given
the broad scope and audiences• Blending information resources from different
agencies into cohesive functionality and page design
• Politics, human resources, funding, sustainability
What Does Science.gov Do?
• Searches selected Web sites (“Surface Web”) and Databases (“Deep Web”) from one search box, using simple to fairly advanced searching techniques
• Combines results from all sources searched, ranks and displays them by relevance
• Sends “alerts” for topics of interest every Monday or as new information is added
• Provides browsing of selected Web sites• Links to special collections and other information• Featured search and sites highlight hot topics
Continuing Challenges
• More usage – science.gov usage is growing, especially as more “alerts” are established, but it has plenty of room for growth
• Increase information, both deep web and databases
• Add US Government partners• Coordination with other worldwide science
portals
What’s Next for Science.gov?
• Version 4.0, under development, will add searching of decentralized full text repositories to the existing searching of Web sites and databases
• Science.gov Alliance members will continue to add new content
• Collaboration with other national science portals• www.science.gov will be evaluated and modified to meet
customer needs• The Science.gov Alliance will begin to plan the future of
www.science.gov beyond version 4.0
Thomas LahrUSGS/Biological Informatics Program
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive / MS 302Reston, VA 22092
Telephone: [email protected]
Eleanor FriersonNational Agricultural Library (NAL)
10301 Baltimore Avenue, Room 200Beltsville, MD 20705-2351Telephone: [email protected]
Gail Hodge
CENDI Secretariat - IIa312 Walnut Place
Havertown, PA USA 19083Telephone: 610/789-6769
Science.gov Co-Chairs
Further information at www.science.gov or contact: