Google: Now you can search government docs
Google has added a new feature to its ever-expanding universe of search options: Google U.S. Government Search. The new site indexes press releases from the government, information from government Web sites, and news from The Washington Post and other news outlets. It even prominently lists the weather in Washington.
The new site is part of Google’s drive to digitize government documents and records. The National Archives and Records Administration has given Google about 20 government films to digitize and post on Google Video. Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the archives, said her agency was negotiating with Google to digitize more material, possibly in other types of media. She said that the National Archives’ negotiations with Google were not exclusive. Yahoo is rumored to be talking with the National Archives as well, but Ms. Cooper could not confirm that.
In early July, the Library of Congress Law Library will begin sending thousands of volumes of U.S. Congressional hearings to Google for digitization. The first shipment will consist of 5,000 volumes, but library officials anticipate that they will send 10,000 volumes a month to the search-engine company, says Mark Strattner, the law library’s chief of collection services.
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Education
The new site is part of Google’s drive to digitize government documents and records. The National Archives and Records Administration has given Google about 20 government films to digitize and post on Google Video. Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the archives, said her agency was negotiating with Google to digitize more material, possibly in other types of media. She said that the National Archives’ negotiations with Google were not exclusive. Yahoo is rumored to be talking with the National Archives as well, but Ms. Cooper could not confirm that.
In early July, the Library of Congress Law Library will begin sending thousands of volumes of U.S. Congressional hearings to Google for digitization. The first shipment will consist of 5,000 volumes, but library officials anticipate that they will send 10,000 volumes a month to the search-engine company, says Mark Strattner, the law library’s chief of collection services.