Open Access News

A recent request for information...asks whether search technology is powerful enough to replace some government standards for information management. "Does current search technology perform to a sufficiently high level to make an added investment in metadata tagging unnecessary in terms of cost and benefit?" the Sept. 15 RFI asks. Responses are due by Oct. 21....Suggested approaches must meet the wide-reaching aim of identifying the most cost-effective means to search for, locate, retrieve and share information. The notice lists seven scenarios to provide context. For example, the government is looking for information on how to help a physician search multiple databases and Web sites for treatments for a defense contractor's unexplained illness. The doctor might not know which agencies provide information on unexplained or service-related illnesses. He or she would also need a way to search nongovernmental sources, and some of the information might not be easily accessible through traditional Internet search engines. In addition to tackling information sharing, vendors' suggested approaches must address the problem of access....The National Institute of Standards and Technology wants to withdraw the [tag-based] Government Information Locator Service [GILS] because the agency considers the search standard obsolete. A July 15 Federal Register notice states that recalling the standard...seems justified because most agencies now use commercial search tools to help people locate government information....

One global consortium is working with foreign governments on a massive information retrieval and sharing project that could influence the U.S. government's path. Earlier this month, groups from industry, government, academia and nonprofit organizations announced plans to provide online versions of books, academic papers, video and audio to the world. The Internet Archive, a nonprofit entity that offers access to historical collections in digital format, will host the Open Content Alliance (OCA). The National Archives of the United Kingdom has already contributed to the effort. The OCA "may significantly help the [U.S.] government in doing their public access mission," Internet Archive co-founder Brewster Kahle said....Kahle said he has been talking to GPO officials for the past year about joining the alliance. The alliance will unveil a technology Oct. 25 that performs nondestructive scans of book pages at high resolutions for 10 cents a page. That cost savings could appeal to GPO and its Federal Depository Library Program, he said.