Science.gov celebrates 10 years

A federal science website that offers access to millions of web pages and is hosted by an organization with offices in Oak Ridge celebrates its 10th anniversary this month.

Science.gov was launched in December 2002. It has broken new ground in interagency collaboration, a press release said, and offers access to more than 200 million pages of scientific information, a “one-stop” shop for real-time science data.

It’s hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, located in Washington, D.C., and Oak Ridge. Science.gov has more than 34 million page views per year, a 45-fold increase from the earliest days, the press release said. It can help users answer a range of scientific questions.

“Over the past 10 years, Science.gov has grown in content, capability, features, and functionality,” said Tina Gheen of the Library of Congress and chair of the Science.gov Alliance. “As a result, we have seen significant user growth. We are very proud of this offering of sound science to the public, and we hope to continue providing this free service for years to come.”

It was formed when senior information managers from 13 federal agencies forged a consensus on how national science organizations could improve public access to the nation’s rich and diverse scientific research information.

“The founding idea was to provide a comprehensive gateway to federal science information for those who might not know exactly where to find it,” the release said. “The interagency effort would raise scientific and technical literacy, serve as a foundation for future discoveries, and foster greater understanding of the public’s return on investment from the government’s science and technology efforts.”

“From its inception, Science.gov has been a model of collaboration, transparency and open government,” said Alliance co-chair Annie Simpson of the U.S. Geological Survey. “Back in 2002, Science.gov was touted as a wonderful ‘potluck picnic’ of science agencies pooling their efforts so citizens could find the science information they need. Well, today we are still pooling our resources because the sum is more useful to the American public than what any individual agency can do.”

The technology has changed and improved, but the goals remain the same, the press release said.

“Science.gov strives to grow and evolve to serve users even better,” it said.

In addition to recent enhancements, in June, Science.gov Mobile made it onto two Top Ten federal government applications lists. A Spanish version of the website was launched in October along with video and image search and other improvements.

Science.gov is governed by the interagency Science.gov Alliance, which includes 13 agencies that represent 97 percent of the federal research and development budget. The agencies are the federal departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, and Transportation; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Library of Congress; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Archives and Records Administration; and National Science Foundation.

OSTI is part of DOE’s Office of Science. In Oak Ridge, OSTI is located on Science.gov Way, near Oak Ridge Turnpike and Melton Lake Drive on the east end of town.

For interesting facts from the Science.gov Alliance members, visit www.science.gov/coolstuff.

Science.gov is supported by CENDI, an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information managers.