WAAL10: Fun with FDSys

Fun with FDSys (Federal Digital System)
Beth Harper, UW-Madison Memorial Library

* FDSys  = New database from U.S. GPO (Government Printing Office)

* Designed to handle changes in digital formats

* Intended to replace GPOAccess (15+ years old), which was difficult to navigate and annoying to search

* Search box is front and center, results include keywords in context and date, able to perform faceted browsing, better metadata for files

* Help file is decent - explains all about what publications are produced by different agencies, with sample searches

* Facets: Collection, Date, Government Author, Person (can also be place), etc.

* Advanced search allows searching in various fields, including full text, SuDoc number, etc.

* Citation search - shows you what a sample citation looks like for each collection

* Some collections can be browsed (alphabetical or date published)

* Intended to collect documents from many agencies, all branches

* Includes news media transcripts - interview on Jay Leno, etc.

* Currently only text, not other types of media

* Thomas - from different agency (LOC); only legislative or Congressional materials; will continue to exist

* Links to Catalog of government publications - not integrated into FDSys

* GPO isn't currently taking digitized documents from others, because they aren't the "official" copies

* "View in Catalog" and "Find in a Depository Library" links aren't particularly useful yet

* No "Print" button - just use browser's print option

* Considered "beta" - GPO has announced future changes with new releases

* Could use an RSS feed

* Can bookmark settings