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United States Government Printing Office

 
Columbia Encyclopedia:

United States Government Printing Office

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Government Printing Office, United States (GPO), federal bureau originally authorized in 1860 that performs printing and binding for Congress and federal departments and agencies, distributes government publications in printed and electronic formats, and reprints documents for public purchase. It sells, through mail order and government bookstores, approximately 12,000 printed and electronic publications, and administers the program through which selected government publications are made available at some 1,350 depository libraries throughout the United States. The GPO also provides on-line access to the Congessional Record and other key government publications.

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West's Encyclopedia of American Law:

Government Printing Office

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, one government establishment has existed to fill the printing, binding, and distribution needs of the federal government. Established on June 23, 1860, by Congressional Joint Resolution No. 25, the Government Printing Office (GPO) has provided publication supplies and services to the U.S. Congress, the executive departments, and all other agencies of the federal government. The definition of the duties set forth in the 1860 resolution has stayed essentially the same over the years, with only one amendment in all that time, 44 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq.

The GPO is overseen by the Congressional Joint Committee on Printing. The head of the GPO works under the title public printer and is appointed by the president of the United States with the consent of the Senate. The public printer is also legally required to be a "practical printer versed in the art of bookbinding" (44 U.S.C.A. § 301).

The GPO uses a variety of printing and binding processes, including electronic photo composition; letterpress printing; Linotype and hand composition; photopolymer platemaking; offset photography; stripping, platemaking, and presswork; and manual and machine bookbinding. The GPO also provides supplies like blank paper and ink to federal agencies, prepares catalogs, and sells and distributes some publications to civilians.

The GPO offers catalogs that detail publications available to the public. All catalogs are available from the superintendent of documents at the GPO. The GPO Sales Publications Reference File, which is issued biweekly on magnetic tape, lists the author, the title, and subject information for each new publication. A more comprehensive listing, the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, serves as an index to all the publications handled by the GPO.

The GPO also offers two free catalogs for people who are interested in new or popular publications: U.S. Government Books and New Books. The first lists the titles of best-selling government publications, and the second is a bimonthly listing of government publications for sale.

The approximately twenty thousand publications listed in these catalogs can be purchased by mail from the GPO's superintendent of documents. In addition, the books and catalogs published by the GPO can be purchased at the approximately two dozen GPO bookstores open to the public. Most of the bookstores are located in government hub cities such as Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. Publications are also available for public perusal at select depository libraries around the United States.

Owing to the large volume of documents produced by the various federal agencies, the GPO does not handle 100 percent of the printing and binding services for the government. In some instances, the GPO takes bids from commercial suppliers and awards contracts to those with the lowest bids. From there, the GPO serves as a connection between ordering agencies and contractors. The booklet How to Do Business with the Government Printing Office provides a background and instructions for contracting with the GPO and submitting bids. The booklet can be requested from any GPO regional printing procurement office. Any printing or binding contract inquiries can be directed to one of these thirteen offices, located in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Hampton, Virginia; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; St. Louis; San Francisco; and Seattle.

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

United States Government Printing Office

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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Government Printing Office
US-GovernmentPrintingOffice-Seal.svg
Official seal
US-GovernmentPrintingOffice-Logo.svg
Logo
Agency overview
Formed March 4, 1861
Jurisdiction Federal government of the United States
Headquarters 732 North Capitol St. NW
Washington, D.C.[1]
Employees 1,920[1]
Annual budget US$126.2 million (2012); approx. US$135 million (2011)[1]
Agency executive Davita Vance-Cooks, Acting Public Printer[1]
Parent agency United States Congress Joint Committee on Printing
Website
gpo.gov
Footnotes
[1]

The United States Government Printing Office (GPO) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States federal government. The office prints documents produced by and for the federal government, including the Supreme Court, the Congress, the Executive Office of the President, executive departments, and independent agencies.

Contents

History

GPO was created by Congressional Joint Resolution 25 of June 23, 1860. It began operations March 4, 1861, with 350 employees and reached a peak employment of 8,500 in 1972.[1] The agency began transformation to computer technology in the 1980's; along with the gradual replacement of paper with electronic document distribution, this has led to a steady decline in the number of staff at the agency.[1] For its entire history, GPO has occupied the corner of North Capitol Street NW and H Street NW in the District of Columbia. The activities of GPO are defined in the public printing and documents chapters of Title 44 of the United States Code. The Public Printer, who serves as the head of GPO, is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Public Printer selects a Superintendent of Documents.

U.S. Government Printing Office

The Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) is in charge of the dissemination of information at the GPO. This is accomplished through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Cataloging and Indexing Program and the Publication Sales Program, as well as operation of the Federal Citizen Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado. Adelaide Hasse was the founder of the Superintendent of Documents classification system.[2]
In September 2009, the GPO produced the Congressional Record on 100 percent recycled paper for the first time.

In March 2011, GPO issued a new illustrated official history covering the agency's 150 years of Keeping America Informed.[3]

Published government documents

Official journals of government

GPO contracts out much of the federal government's printing but prints the official journals of government in-house, including:

Passports

The new e-passport produced by GPO

GPO has been producing U.S. passports since the 1920s. The United States Department of State began issuing e-passports in 2006. The e-Passport includes an electronic chip embedded in the cover that contains the same information that is printed in the passport: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and photo image of the traveler. GPO produces the blank e-Passport, while the Department of State receives and processes applications and issues individual passports.[4][5][6][7] GPO ceased production of legacy passports in May 2007, shifting production entirely to e-passports.

In March 2008, the Washington Times published a three-part story about the outsourcing of electronic passports to overseas companies, including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage.[5][8][9]

Trusted Traveler Program card

GPO designs, prints, encodes and personalizes Trusted Traveler Program cards (NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST) for the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

GPO's Style Manual

GPO publishes the United States Style Manual.[10] Among the venerable series are Foreign Relations of the United States for the Department of State (since 1861), Statistical Abstract of the United States for the Census Bureau (since 1878) and Public Papers of the President, covering the administrations of Presidents Herbert Hoover onward (except Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose papers were privately printed).

Public Printers of the United States

Main article: Public Printer of the United States

By law, the Public Printer heads the GPO. The position of Public Printer traces its roots back to Benjamin Franklin and the period before the American Revolution, when he served as "publick printer," whose job was to produce official government documents for Pennsylvania and other colonies.

Public Printers:

  1. Almon M. Clapp (1876–1877)
  2. John D. Defrees (1877–1882)
  3. Sterling P. Rounds (1882–1886)
  4. Thomas E. Benedict (1886–1889)
  5. Frank W. Palmer (1889–1894)
  6. Thomas E. Benedict (1894–1897)
  7. Frank W. Palmer (1897–1905), O.J. Ricketts (Acting, 1905-1905)
  8. Charles A. Stillings (1905–1908), William S. Rossiter (Acting, 1908-1908), Capt. Henry T. Brian (Acting, 1908-1908)
  9. John S. Leech (1908-1908)
  10. Samuel B. Donnelly (1908–1913)
  11. Cornelius Ford (1913–1921)
  12. George H. Carter (1921–1934)
  13. Augustus E. Giegengack (1934–1948), John J. Deviny (Acting, 1948-1948)
  14. John J. Deviny (1948–1953), Phillip L. Cole (Acting, 1953-1953)
  15. Raymond Blattenberger (1953–1961), John M. Wilson (Acting, 1961-1961), Felix E. Cristofane (Acting, 1961-1961)
  16. James L. Harrison (1961–1970)
  17. Adolphus N. Spence (1970–1972), Harry J. Humphrey (Acting, 1972–1973), L.T. Golden (Acting Deputy, 1973-1973)
  18. Thomas F. McCormick (1973–1977)
  19. John J. Boyle (1977–1980), Samuel Saylor (Acting, 1980–1981)
  20. Danford L. Sawyer, Jr. (1981–1984), William J. Barrett (Acting, 1984-1984)
  21. Ralph E. Kennickell, Jr. (1984–1989)
  22. Robert Houk (1990–1993),[11] Michael F. DiMario (Acting, 1993-1993)
  23. Michael F. DiMario (1993[12]-2002)
  24. Bruce James (2002–2007),[13] William H. Turri (Acting, 2007-2007)
  25. Robert C. Tapella (2007–2010)[14]
  26. William J. Boarman (2010-201?)[15]
  27. Davita Vance-Cooks (Acting, 201?– )[1]

Notable GPO publications

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Rein, Lisa (January 25, 2012), "U.S. printing office shrinks with round of buyouts", The Washington Post: washingtonpost.com, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/printing-office-shrinks-with-round-of-buyouts/2012/01/25/gIQAkIefRQ_story.html, retrieved January 26, 2012 
  2. ^ GPO.gov
  3. ^ GPO History
  4. ^ GPO's E-Passport Factsheet
  5. ^ a b Bill Gertz, GPO profits go to bonuses and trips, Washington Times, March 27, 2008
  6. ^ Bill Gertz, Outsourced passport work scrutinized, Washington Times, March 26, 2008
  7. ^ Confronting Digital Age Head-On, Washington Post, March 13, 2006
  8. ^ Bill Gertz, Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security, Washington Times, March 26, 2008
  9. ^ "GPO's backup plant on storm-prone Gulf". Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/mar/28/gpos-backup-plant-on-storm-prone-gulf//print/. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
  10. ^ "GPO Style Manual". United States Government Printing Office. April 16, 2009. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/browse.html. Retrieved 9 August 2009. 
  11. ^ Highbeam.com
  12. ^ BUBL.ac.uk
  13. ^ GPO.gov
  14. ^ "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate, 4/19/10". http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-nominations-sent-senate-41910. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
  15. ^ SacBee.com[dead link]

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
$copyright.smallImage.alttext West's Encyclopedia of American Law. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article United States Government Printing Office.  Read more

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