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GPO announces availability of CFR for bulk download in XML

GPO announced today that the digital version of the Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is now available for bulk download in XML format. A 58 page User Guide (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) XML User Guide (ECFR XML User Guide). U.S. Government Publishing Office, Federal Digital System, 8/24/2015), is available in PDF format.

Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 24, 2015
No. 15-16
GPO & National Archives Make eCFR Available For Bulk Download In XML Format

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) partners with the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) to make the electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) available in XML format for bulk data download from GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). OFR provides eCFR files to GPO and then GPO converts files into XML. The eCFR bulk data will allow for a “one-click” download of the current XML file for each of the titles in the eCFR. XML permits data to be reused and repurposed for mobile web applications, data mashups, and other analytical tools by third party providers, which contributes to openness and transparency in Government.

The eCFR is a currently updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The eCFR is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by OFR and GPO. OFR updates the material in the eCFR on a regular basis and can be as frequent as every day.

eCFR: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse

GPO’s bulk data repository: www.gpo.gov/fdsys/bulkdata

Including Full Text of Commercial Standards in the Federal Register, incorporation by reference

What happens when federal agencies rely upon standards developed by standard-setting bodies and communities of practice and incorporate those standards into federal rules? In many cases agencies refer to the standards but do not include the full text of the standards in Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations. As a result, those interested in commenting on a particular regulation may not have access to the relevant standard, particularly if it is copyrighted or only accessible for a fee.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Association of Research Libraries, and OpenTheGovernment.org have sent comments to the Administrative Conference of the US recommending that “all material incorporated by reference — regardless of the stage in the regulatory process, the subject matter of the regulation, or the identity of the regulated entity — should be made freely available, with no purported copyright restrictions and downloadable on a government agency’s website.”

Public.Resource.Org submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget on making standards that are incorporated by reference into federal regulations widely available to the public without charge. Public.Resource.Org also said that such standards should “be deemed in the public domain rather than subject to copyright restrictions.”

  • OpenTheGov and ARL Join EFF in Urging Government to Make all Parts of the Law Easily Available to Everyone (10/24/2011).

    “copyrighted materials, once incorporated into law, should be available for free.” The principles of transparency and accessibility to the law should animate agency decisions in this arena and materials incorporated by reference should be made freely available, online and off, at all times…

  • Revised Draft Recommendations of the Administrative Conference of the US on “Incorporation by Reference in Federal Regulations” ACUS.gov (October 2011)
     
  • Comments on “Incorporation by Reference in Federal Regulations” (October 21, 2011) To Committee on Administration and Management Administrative Conference of the United States Committee of Administration and Management from Corynne McSherry & Mark Rumold Electronic Frontier Foundation, Prue Adler, Association of Research Libraries, and Patrice McDermott, OpenTheGovernment.org

    We urge ACUS to reject any suggestion that access to the law may be limited where the regulation in question happens to incorporate copyrighted materials. All material incorporated by reference – regardless of the stage in the regulatory process, the subject matter of the regulation, or the identity of the regulated entity – should be made freely available and downloadable on a government agency’s website.

  • Incorporation by Reference, A Proposed Rule by the Federal Register Office on 02/27/2012

    On February 13, 2012, the Office of the Federal Register (OFR or we) received a petition to amend our regulations governing the approval of agency requests to incorporate material by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations. We’ve set out the petition in this document. We would like comments on the broad issues raised by this petition.

  • Re: Request for Information 2012–7602, 77 FR 19357 submitted by Public.Resource.Org to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget Washington (April 11, 2012).

See also: Liberating America’s secret, for-pay laws.

Federal Register wins award

Walter Gellhorn Innovation Award Winner: Office of the Federal Register, Administrative Conference of the United States (December 9, 2011).

The Office of the Federal Register, in cooperation with the Government Printing Office, provides bulk access to the source code of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations. The value in this effort includes making data available in bulk so others may use it, working collaboratively with the community and encouraging innovation, and making source code for a government website available so other agencies and non-governmental organizations can make customized versions.

Success Story: federalregister.gov: The daily newspaper for the government.

GPO press release [PDF].

Interesting, illustrative, informative, bizarre… polar bears in the Federal Register

The Government Printing Office in a press release today announced a success story in the use of the Application Programming Interface (API) for Federal Register. It is certainly interesting and illustrative of how an API can be used to deliver information to a particular community of interest, but I think you may also find it unexpectedly unusual. A researcher used the FR API to create a tracking system for polar bear protection documents.

GPO AND OFR SHOWCASE OPEN GOVERNMENT SUCCESS STORY

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) report a success story from the Application Programming Interface (API) for FederalRegister.gov. GPO and OFR introduced the API in August 2011, enabling information technology developers to create new applications for regulatory information published in the Federal Register. A researcher utilized the API to create a tracking system for polar bear protection documents. The API tool automatically grabs Federal Register items that mention polar bears from 1994 to present, displays the items in a formatted list with browsing capabilities, and links back to the full text on FederalRegister.gov.

Link to Polar Bear Feed: http://polarbearfeed.etiennebenson.com/

“This is another example of how GPO and OFR continue to find ways in achieving the goal of making Government information more transparent and giving users the ability to adapt Federal Register data to their own needs,” said Public Printer Bill Boarman.

“We are thrilled to see the use of the API source material to develop a live feed on the subject of polar bears. This is precisely how we hoped this information would be used when we made it available to the public. We couldn’t be more gratified,” said Director of the Federal Register Ray Mosley.

The print and online versions of the Federal Register are the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other Presidential documents.

President Obama: there are too many .gov Web sites

Evidently, sharing government information with the public is “wasteful.” While I’m all for spending tax dollars responsibly, and don’t want the federal govt to waste dollars on superfluous and wasteful things (like $3 billion for duplicative engines for the F-35 fighter jet), I would prefer if he didn’t use the printing of the Federal Register as an example of govt waste. As we noted in our earlier post:

Public Printer Bill Boarman, in a Mar. 17, 2011 Senate Appropriations hearing for the Government Printing Office, stated that 70% of the cost and work of publishing the Congressional Record is done in pre-press, and many of the same duties necessary to publish it in print are still necessary to put it out digitally.

While it is true that many more people these days access government information (including the Federal Register) in digital format, there is still a need for print from both a usability and preservation standpoint. Gary Price points out some of the incongruities with the White House’s line of reasoning regarding .gov domain:

  1. Top-level web domains are one thing but in saying that there are t0o many subsites/microsites is another. What does this mean? Are we talking sub-sites inside a focused site like this mentioned at the beginning of the blog post OR sub-sites on any web domain?
  2. What exactly is a sub-site? A focused area of a large site, often beginning with the name or a subdirectory or all sites that begin with something other than the top-level domain? Is Chronicling America a sub-site at Chronicling.loc.gov? What about Travel.state.gov or Jobs.Faa.gov?
  3. The White House should know that sub-sites (no matter the definition) CAN be a useful way to organize a lot of focused information and then have an easy URL to share with others and market the content. Yes, of course, it’s also possible to go overboard but have info organization and info architecture been considered?
  4. If old sites are to be taken offline have they been archived properly and are URLs going to be redirected to where the material is being archived? What does the White House have to say about the long term preservation of government web sites and making it easy for researchers to access? NARA does conduct web harvests (using Internet Archive technology). Are the harvests large enough? Are they being promoted properly? Learn more about the harvests at: http://www.webharvest.gov (is this top-level domain necessary? (-:

Our point here is not to say that what’s being discussed is 100% wrong but rather if considerations about many issues (several noted above) are in place about how to proceed going forward?

More from the White House blog post:

As the President points out in this video, our government doesn’t need a website dedicated to foresters who play the fiddle. We also don’t need multiple sites dealing with invasive plants (here and here). And I‘m pretty sure the website dedicated to the Centennial of Flight can come down… particularly since the Centennial was in 2003.

Today, there are nearly 2,000 top-level federal .gov domains (this means a top-level url, [WEBSITENAME].gov, that links to a distinct website). This includes WhiteHouse.gov, as well as others like USDA.gov, USASpending.gov, NOAA.gov and USA.gov. Under many of these domains are smaller sub-sites and microsites resulting in an estimated 24,000 websites of varying purpose, design, navigation, usability, and accessibility.

While many government websites each deliver value to the taxpayer through easy-to-use services and information, an overall online landscape of literally thousands of websites – each focusing on a specific topic or organization – can create confusion and inefficiency.

In addition to confusing the public, duplicate and unnecessary websites also waste money. And while the costs for some of these websites may be relatively small, as President Obama also said in the video, ”No amount of waste is acceptable. Not when it’s your money, not at a time when so many families are already cutting back.”

So the federal government will do more with less, improving how it delivers information and services to the public by reducing the number of websites it maintains. To help drive this change we’ve set a specific goal that over the next year, we’ll get rid of at least half of them.

Watch the video in which President Obama talks about his campaign to cut waste:


[Thanks to Gary Price at InfoDocket for the tip!]

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