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Proceedings of the 12th Annual
Federal Depository Library Conference
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FirstGov.Gov and the
Federal Citizen Information Center See also: PowerPoint | Text-only of PowerPoint Joanne McGovern Good Afternoon. I’m Joanne McGovern and I’m a Senior Content Manager for the FirstGov.gov website, the US Government’s Official web portal. Today I’d like to share with you some information about FirstGov and about the other programs in the Federal Citizen Information Center. (Slide 2)
FirstGov provides instant, easy and secure access to an astonishing range of government information and services never before available from a single location. Without having to know which agency provides it, citizens can file their taxes, compare their Medicare options, and find good jobs. They can tap into the latest health research, change their address at the Post Office and follow along with NASA’s missions in outer space. Designed around citizen needs, FirstGov is customer focused and is organized around services, not around bureaucracy and departments.
FirstGov is the official portal of the U.S. Government, the catalyst for a growing electronic government and the "Front Door" to government information, services, and transactions online. This site pulls together millions of federal and state web pages. Here, citizens can easily get information and services from the government 24 hours a day, seven days a week – we’re always open. Information is organized into citizen, business, government, federal employee and Spanish information gateways that feature subjects of specific interest to these groups. On FirstGov.gov, you can search 27 million web pages from federal and state governments, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. FirstGov has the most comprehensive search engine of government anywhere on the Internet. In fact, if the information is publicly posted on a government website, whether it’s text on a web page, a pdf document or a database, the FirstGov search engine has it in the index.
FirstGov matters because it is transformative: •We showed that government can move in "Internet Time" The FirstGov website was launched in September 2000, just 90 days after the President announced that we would build it. •FirstGov transcends the traditional boundaries of Government through partnerships with the public and interagency collaboration. Citizens no longer need to know organizational hierarchy or program names to find the information or services they need from the government. •We provide citizens a single point-of-entry for millions of pages of government information •We increase the visibility and accessibility of all government information and services Let’s take a moment and I’ll show you around. (Slide 3) As you well know, the breadth of US Government subject matter is astonishing. Every day we encounter new web pages and new websites and work to determine if they fit on the FirstGov website and if so – where. The first way we break down the information is by what we call "Channels". These are our major audience groups. The channels we’ve established certainly aren’t static, just last week we launched our newest channel – FirstGov en Español and we’re developing a new channel for foreign visitors to the FirstGov website that we’ll launch early in 2004. Right now, the FirstGov site is designed around 6 customer channels: The first, we refer to as "all audiences" – this is where you’ll find information about the FirstGov website, our Privacy & Security Policy, our search engine, Organizational Information about the US Government, our Reference Center and Contact Your Government. The FirstGov search is an index of 27 million government web pages. FirstGov allows users to search all 27 million Federal agency web pages at one time. A breakthrough in one-stop shopping for government services, FirstGov allows citizens to conduct searches faster and more efficiently, by topic rather than by agency and by giving them easy access to 100% of federal government information on the web. Our search is quick and comprehensive, it’s available from all pages and we offer basic and advanced search features. Our organizational section includes information about the Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches of government as well as State, Local, Tribal and International Governments on the web. We also offer an A-Z index of US government departments and agencies – we developed this index in response to some usability testing we did about a year and a half ago. When the test subject was asked if she could use the FirstGov website to locate the FBI home page she wasn’t able to do it because she didn’t know that the FBI is an agency within the Department of Justice. One of the things we’ve learned is that people don’t know and don’t care to know the organizational structure of the government – so we developed the A-Z Index of US government departments and agencies, where our visitors can find the FBI listed under "F". Our reference center features links to US Government public domain graphics and photos, historical information, forms, statistics, maps, libraries, laws and more. The Contact Your Government section of the website offers hundreds of links to contact information so if people want to call, write or email their elected officials, we can show them how. We also offer information about where to find local federal offices and government telephone directories. We offer contact information by topic, so if someone wants to know if they’re eligible for food stamps but don’t know that they need to contact a state agency that administers this federal program, we can get them to the information. We also offer contacts by agency or program name, so if you know you have a Medicare question, we can help. And as always, if a person has a question about the government and they just don’t know where to begin, they can call our National Contact Center at 1-800-FED-INFO or send an e-mail through the FirstGov website, and the trained staff in our contact center will either answer their question or be able to refer them to the appropriate program or agency. (Slide 4) The Citizens gateway offers integrated federal, state & local government information and services. At the top of the page we offer online services – address changes with the US Post office, reservations at a national park, how to find out if the government owes you money, you can calculate your body mass index and the list goes on and on. We also offer information by topic such as benefits, voting, health, money and taxes and more. We break our channels into audience groups with specific information of interest to parents, kids, seniors and veterans. We maintain a special area for features and items that citizens may see in the news – right now we’re featuring flu season information, the "Do Not Call Registry" and the new $20 bill. We also offer people the opportunity to sign up for free government e-mail newsletters. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up for our ever-expanding list of e-mail newsletter offerings on topics from health care to taxes. (Slide 5) Our Business and Nonprofits gateway features online services such as filing for an export license, taxes, or wage reports. We again break our information down into topics relevant to our business audience, such as state licensing, assistance in developing a business and international trade. And like in the Citizens gateway, we offer information for audience groups such as minority business owners, nonprofit organizations and small businesses. (Slide 6) The Government Gateway offers important federal resources to employees of federal, state, local, and tribal governments. We feature e-government initiatives such as Safecom – an initiative to improve public safety response through more effective and efficient interoperable wireless communications. And like our other gateways, we offer information for audience groups such as state, local and tribal governments. (Slide 7) One of our more recent additions is the Federal Employees gateway. Here, federal employees can find information pertinent to them. As always on our gateway pages we feature online services of interest to the audience segment, such as federal job searches, current per diem rates or health plan comparisons and information by topic like benefits, cross-agency collaboration and training. (Slide 8) Our very latest addition is FirstGov en Español – the US Government’s official Spanish language web portal was launched last Thursday. FirstGov en Español is similar to, but not a mirror of our English web portal. Right now we’re not able to mirror all the links included in the English version of the site because not every government web page has been translated into Spanish, so we offer what’s available. We know that Hispanics are now the largest minority population in the United States and we also know that demographic studies are showing that Hispanics are the fastest growing population using the internet – we’re pleased that we’re able to respond to this audience group by helping the Spanish speaking population in the US and abroad find information about US government. I’ll give you a quick tour through our new Español site. The links on FirstGov en Español all go to Spanish language pages, with a few exceptions, and they’re noted. Our left nav bar includes links that are similar to the English version of the site. The FirstGov search engine appears here, like the English version of the site a visitor can type in a keyword and receive returns – there is Spanish text on the search returns page to help the visitor navigate the returns. We’ve got links to local, state and federal agencies (some of which are in English). FirstGov en Español wouldn’t be complete without a Contact Your Government link. Here we’ve got a web form in Spanish where a question can be asked in Spanish. These emails are handled by our contact center – and these questions are answered in Spanish. Last but not least we’ve got our reference center – where our visitors will find general reference information like the US constitution, Government publications and more. (Slide 9) Our first gateway is general resources for the average person – as always starting with online services. You can file an identity theft report, check your immigration case status or buy US savings bonds. Much like our citizens gateway we offer topical information like Agriculture, benefits, health, home and family, consumer protection and more. Information is offered by sub audience as well – children, students and information especially for people who have recently come to the US – we call this our newcomers gateway – in here we offer information about finding housing, immigration, starting a business and paying taxes. The business gateway offers information for business owners and for people who want to start a business. The Small Business Administration has really gotten a lot of great information out there in Spanish, and we’re thrilled to help people find it. But there’s more too – like how to file for a copyright, workplace discrimination laws, and some business resources offered by states too. We’re also pleased to feature information for Spanish speaking foreign visitors to the FirstGov website. On this page we’ve got information on how to get a Visa to visit the US, links to US embassies, and general information about US history and culture. We’re really thrilled that there’s enough Spanish language information out there that we were able to build the FirstGov en Español portal. Right now we’ve hired a full-time bilingual content specialist to manage this portion of the site and to develop it further as more Spanish language information becomes available, which we know it will. Just on the horizon – probably early into 2004 we’ll add a Foreign Visitors gateway to the English version of the site. We were lucky enough to acquire a State Department employee on a detail to help us build this gateway to provide specific information for our website visitors outside the US. I expect we’ll see links to embassies, how to get visas, immigration information, history, culture and more. Right now, over 124,000 sites link to FirstGov and last fiscal year the site received over 175 million visits. Now if that isn’t enough – FirstGov is really only one piece of the pie. Let’s take a step back now and look at the bigger picture. (Slide 10) Last year, some organizational changes were made at GSA that brought FirstGov and the Federal Citizen Information Center together under the roof of the Office of Citizen Services. As a group, we are doing our part to implement the President’s Management Agenda for E-government which includes:
I’d like to tell you a little more about how we’ve been doing this. (Slide 11)(Slide 11) Since 1970, the Federal Citizen Information Center has been a trusted one-stop source for answers to questions about government benefits and services and about everyday consumer issues. Citizens can get the information they need by calling toll-free 1 (800) FED-INFO, and through information posted on our family of websites including: www.firstgov.gov, www.pueblo.gsa.gov, www.kids.gov, www.info.gov and www.consumeraction.gov. And yes, citizens are still ordering printed publications from our facility in Pueblo, CO 81009.Answering citizens’ questions about the federal government and about everyday consumer issues is what the Federal Citizen Information Center is all about. As a group, we watch emerging consumer issues and topics, and regularly review new information coming from federal agencies and consumer organizations. Whether it's new information to be posted on one of our web sites, included in publications listed in the Consumer Information Catalog, or given over the phone or in an e-mail by information specialists at our national contact center, criteria include timeliness, clarity, credibility of the source, and relevance to citizens’ everyday needs. (Slide 12) (Slide 12) FCIC manages a toll-free National Contact Center with specially trained staff to answer questions in English and Spanish about Federal programs, benefits, and services. The public can get help by calling toll-free 1 (800) FED-INFO between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET, by sending an email via the FirstGov website or by searching an online database at www.info.gov. The National Contact Center averages 2-3 million calls a year and answers e-mails within 2 days. On the phone, the National Contact Center meets the needs of citizens who want to get answers and help right away, but who aren’t able to access information on the Internet or who prefer to speak directly with a human being. (Slide 13) (Slide 13) From our print, telephone, e-mail, and web channels, we’ve learned that consumers are most interested in…. Federal Benefits, Loans, Grants Government Sales Immigration and Naturalization Passports/Travel Requirements Federal Jobs Money: IRS, Taxes, Savings Vital Records: Birth and Death Certificates Savings Bonds (Slide 14) One of our top questions at the National Contact Center is "how do I get a passport?" Many Americans do not know where to go to get a passport. People know that if they have a problem with Social Security that they call the Social Security Administration but there’s no agency known as the "Passport Administration." A simple answer is that you can go to a Passport Agency at the Department of State. But we go well beyond that to tell citizens what forms they will need, how much a passport will cost, how long it will take to get it, how they can expedite the process, and where their closest passport acceptance office is. These passport acceptance offices are local post offices, county clerks, and similar offices around the country. In other words, we do much more than just giving the callers a 900 number at the Passport Information Center. You also notice that we get a lot of questions concerning government grants and loans. People wonder how they can get free money from the Government…just like on the TV commercials. (Between you and me, there is very little "free" money available from the Federal government. We like to direct people to specific programs that offer grants or loans, or to a wonderful new portal, govbenefits.gov, which allows people to use an easy tool to find programs that they might be eligible to participate in.) As you can see, we’re the place to come when you don’t know where to go with your question about the federal government. For many questions, we provide the answer directly to the caller. For more complicated questions, we provide the caller with contact information at the correct office.
If the agents are unable to locate the answer to a question, they have access to assistance from an in-house support desk. If the question is so complicated or unusual that even the support desk is unable to find the answer, the call is escalated to the research staff. The researchers can fully investigate the inquiry and provide the answer. The National Contact Center also provides order-taking services for our print publication program. This past year the NCC took 50% of our orders. 21% of orders were placed by Web and 29% were placed by mail. The NCC played an integral role in helping us to distribute 6 million publications last year. (Slide 15) (Slide 15) Published continuously since 1979, the Consumer Action Handbook is one of the U.S. government’s most helpful and popular consumer resources. This 144-page guide is designed to help citizens find the best and most direct source for assistance with their consumer problems and questions. The Handbook offers tips on topics such as buying and leasing cars, protecting against fraud, and shopping from home. It also includes a sample complaint form that consumers can use as a guide for their own letter, fax or e-mail. The Handbook has thousands of names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for Better Business Bureaus, corporate consumer contacts and state, county and city government consumer protection offices. (Slide 16) Citizens can access the web edition of the Handbook at www.consumeraction.gov and use the links provided to register their complaints directly. (Slide 17) Kids.gov is the official U.S. government portal to children’s sites. The site features more than 400 kid-friendly links in one easy-to-find place. Links are organized by topic area and by whether they are a government agency, school, private or commercial organization. The links are safe and age-appropriate. Kids can learn about everything from fighting crime and exploring the world to music and space. And the "Homework" section links them directly to the best reference and homework-help sites on the web. (Slide 18) The TheThe Federal Citizen Information Center launched it’s first website, pueblo.gsa.gov in 1995. The Pueblo website is built around the Consumer Information Catalog and the consumer publications listed it. You can read the full text of all publications and place an order for printed publications online. There are also special features, product recalls, recent scams, consumer news and a calendar of consumer events. (Slide 19) (Slide 19) The Government Printing Office facility in Pueblo, Colorado is the home of the Consumer Information Catalog, published four times a year with descriptive listings of about 200 free or low-cost Federal publications. Topics include health, federal benefits, money management, housing, childcare, employment, small business, education, food and nutrition, cars, travel, consumer protection and more. The Catalog is available through schools, libraries, consumer groups, Federal offices with large numbers of visitors, congressional offices and in response to individual requests. Although the majority of publications listed in the Consumer Information Catalog are developed by Federal agencies alone, some are produced jointly by government and private industry. Our criteria for cooperative publications provide that the publication must: receive the endorsement of the appropriate Federal agency; clearly indicate that it is a joint government/industry effort; be an unbiased, objective presentation with clear labeling of industry or government positions whenever present; be free of advertising or promotional messages; and give permission for reprinting by educational and nonprofit groups. We also publish a Spanish version of the Consumer Information Catalog, which gives ordering information for nearly 200 free federal publications available in Spanish. (Slide 20) Through our websites, publications, telephone, e-mail and fax we provide citizens a "front door" to access their government. This convergence of channels successfully brings together a vast array of useful Federal information and makes it easily accessible to the public… helping to fulfill the goals of e-government. Lastly, but certainly not least, I’d like to mention an e-government initiative that’s managed by the Office of Citizen Services and the Federal Citizen Information Center. We know that citizens who contact the Federal government are often overwhelmed when trying to identify the specific agency or office to ask a question or make a request. USA Services envisions providing Federal government customers with state-of-the-art customer service. This will be accomplished by developing systems that improve the ease with which customers can interact with the government, and also by providing Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) shared services for multiple Federal agency initiatives. USA Services will facilitate interactions between Federal agencies and customers by eliminating redundant processes, enabling the sharing of information between agencies, and providing customers with information about government programs and services. Our phased approach to USA Services includes establishing a multi-channel contact center to facilitate easy access to information and service, which has already been accomplished through our National Contact Center. (Slide 21) The next step is to build a government-wide community of citizen service advocates – to improve response times for citizen inquiries and to begin sharing data that can be used to improve the quality of government responses. The ultimate goal is to offer integrated case management for citizens. A practical example of how that might work is if you changed your address on your Social Security record, it would automatically be updated in other agency databases, such as on your reservation for a national park campsite.
This last step is certainly going to take a while. But when we accomplish it everyone will benefit. The government has always been an integral part of everyone’s lives on a daily basis… roads, mail delivery… taxes. As we’ve grown as a nation and as technologies have increased, the public has demanded greater ease of access and interaction with their government. In order to better meet those demands, government is using digital technology to transform their operations to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and service delivery. We’ll be here to promote these initiatives and to continue to connect the public to government transactions, services and information.
It’s been a privilege to be here today. (Slide 22) (Slide 22) |