'FirstGov for Science' opens

Science.gov: FirstGov for science

A 10-agency alliance last week announced the launch of science.gov, a Web portal that provides free access to science-related reports, databases and other information from the federal government.

Billing itself as "FirstGov for Science," the site links to information from more than 14 federal science and technology organizations. It is intended primarily for the education and library communities, but can also be helpful for businesses, scientists and the general public.

Users can search for any federally sponsored research and development project by subject, and the search will be performed across all 14 organizations. Users also can search in specific subject areas, such as applied science and technologies, computers and communication, health and medicine, and science education.

"Science.gov provides the unique ability to search across the content within databases as well as across Web sites," said Eleanor Frierson, deputy director of the National Agricultural Library and co-chairwoman of the science.gov Alliance.

The search, however, will not include areas of Web sites or databases that require a password or have other access restrictions.

The portal received two rounds of funding through the CIO Council's Cross Portal fund, which is administered by the FirstGov office at the General Services Administration. The alliance also is supported by CENDI, an interagency working group of science and technical information managers.

The agencies participating in the science.gov Alliance are the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Interior; the Environmental Protection Agency; NASA; and the National Science Foundation.