Research Guides: INST607: All About E-Government: GPO.gov

GPO is the U.S. Government Publishing Office

"Created by Congress in June 1860, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) began operation on March 4, 1861 with 350 employees ... With the increase in digital communication and expanding publishing technologies, GPO has streamlined and transformed from a print-only operation to an integrated publishing organization. On December 17, 2014, Congress redesignated the agency the U.S. Government Publishing Office." - GPO

More History on GPO

GPO's Mission = Keeping America Informed

Keeping America Informed as the official, digital, and secure source for producing, preserving, and distributing official Federal Government publications and information products for Congress, Federal agencies, and the American public.

What They Do

Produce and distribute information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print formats.
Provide for permanent public access to Federal Government information at no charge through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and govinfo.

GPO provides Free Government Informational Resources!

govinfo | U.S. Government Publishing Office
govinfo is a service of GPO to provide free public access to the full text of official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. When you search the content available on govinfo, you will be able to download the full text of publications but you won’t see records for documents that are not stored on govinfo. govinfo is also a standards-compliant preservation repository, advanced search engine, and content management system that securely controls digital content throughout its lifecycle to ensure content integrity and authenticity.

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) has been part of the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) (formerly Government Printing Office) since 1895, providing Government information to libraries serving the need of people across the Nation for information by and about their Federal Government.

Congress first authorized the distribution of one copy of the House and Senate Journals and other Congressional documents to certain universities, historical societies, and state libraries in an act of 1813, with the Secretary of State responsible for distribution.

Arrangements for printing and distributing documents were reformed and re-ordered numerous times, with varying success. In 1860, legislation was approved to establish a Government Printing Office under the direction of a Superintendent of Public Printing, ending decades of waste and abuse in printing by private firms.

Catalog of Government Publications
The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) is the finding tool for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government. These publications make up the National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications. The CGP contains descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online.