Federal Register 2.0
National Archives and Records Administration and Government Printing Office
The daily journal of U.S. government transformed for 21st Century democracy.
The Challenge
The Federal Register is the legal newspaper of the U.S. government. It contains proposed and final regulations, Presidential documents, and other important announcements. But the print-based format is dense and difficult to navigate, limiting access to information and public participation in the democratic process. Revamping the Federal Register through traditional processes could take years of effort and great expense.
The Solution
Federal Register 2.0 was launched on July 26, 2010 as an online news journal. The new website is built for the 21st Century reader and communities of interest. Articles are organized into news sections for Business & Industry, Environment, Health & Public Welfare, Money, Science & Technology, and World. The most significant and popular articles stay on the news pages as long as they remain current. The site lets readers browse by agency and by topic, and automatically connects them to the official sites for submitting comments on regulatory actions.
The Benefit
The new Federal Register website has a clear layout and Web 2.0 tools to help users find what they need. Users can check timelines for the entire history of rulemaking actions and set up RSS feeds on any topic or search term. Readers can easily connect with Regulations.gov to submit their comments on regulatory actions and read other public comments and supporting material.
The site was built at minimal cost in just three months by using open source software and through collaboration with non-profit organizations, universities, and the open government community. The open source programming code is available for reuse by all.
Additional Details
The Federal Register 2.0 website also offers official print-ready PDF files and raw XML data for each document. The underlying code for the Federal Register 2.0 website is available at: https://github.com/criticaljuncture/fr2. An advanced search feature and email subscriptions are planned for future releases.
For more information, email OpenFederalRegister@nara.gov