FirstGov has just announced their new search engine which searches US Government public science information – Science.gov.
Gary Price of ResourceShelf writes “We just learned about this new release and need some time to check it out. ‘Science.gov [version 1.0 was launched in 12/2002] is a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.’ The new version offers improved relevancy (their words) and an advanced interface. The site utilizes federated search technology called Explorit. It comes from Deep Web Technologies.”
More from Science.gov:
Science.gov contains reliable information resources selected by the respective agencies as their best science information. Two major types of information are included—selected authoritative science Web sites and databases of technical reports, journal articles, conference proceedings, and other published materials. (The specific content varies by database.) The selected Web sites can be explored from the science.gov homepage. The Web pages and the databases can be searched individually or simultaneously from the search page.
Science.gov was developed by an interagency working group of 17 scientific and technical information organizations from 12 major science agencies. Together these agencies make up the science.gov Alliance. A number of these agencies are members of CENDI, which provides administrative support and coordination for science.gov. These agencies are committed to serving the information needs of the science-attentive citizen, including science professionals, students and educators, business people and entrepreneurs, and members of the public with an interest in science. The Alliance and science.gov were formed to improve and enhance access to information at science agency programs in response to the April 2001 workshop on "Strengthening the Public Information Infrastructure for Science."
The information resources content was contributed by various agencies participating in this project. The Web page search function is provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the "explore by subject" search of selected federal scientific and technical Web sites is maintained by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The science.gov Web site is hosted by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which also supplies the site’s "deep Web search" capability.
