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 Do You Have Consumer Questions? Ask Uncle Sam! Any time you are doing research on a particular subject, you need to track down the information while at the same time making sure that the source of that information is authoritative. This is particularly true when using the Internet, the place so many of us turn to for information these days. Multiple government agencies are key providers of information, not just about government policy but also useful facts about more generic consumer concerns. Much of this is available on the agencies’ own websites, but it might take awhile to locate. To make it easier for consumers to find information online, the Federal Government has developed FirstGov, a website that calls itself “Your First Click to the U.S. Government.” It is making a wealth of information available at one Web address. FirstGov’s “About” page explains that the site got its start when Internet entrepreneur Eric Brewer, whose early research was funded by the Department of Defense, offered to donate a powerful search engine to government. That gift helped accelerate the government's earlier work to create a government-wide portal. FirstGov.gov went online on September 22, 2000. It is an interagency initiative administered by the General Services Administration. The goal of the new service is to transcend the traditional boundaries of government and its vision is global – connecting the world to all U.S. government information and services. How FirstGov Works The site can answer your questions directly and also has links to other sites that will do so. It provides access to more than 51 million Web pages from the federal government, as well as local and tribal governments. Most of these pages are not available on commercial websites. Navigating this enormous trove of information isn’t as difficult as you might imagine. Suppose you are looking for information on a consumer issue. On the Web page called FirstGov for Consumers you can click on “map” on the top navigational bar to see a listing of 84 topics under ten key categories: Food, Product Safety, Health, Home & Community, Money, Transportation, Children, Careers & Education, Technology, and General Consumer Information. Frequently-asked Questions In another location on the site are FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) that are received by the federal agencies that handle millions of calls, letters and e-mail from citizens who are trying to get answers to their questions. The FAQs are grouped in two sections: by topic (for instance, “college students,” “the draft,” “healthfinder,” etc) or by 35 departments and agencies from Agriculture to Veterans Affairs, each listed with a number of sub-topics (example: “Energy” includes sections on energy information, data and analyses, fossil energy, geothermal energy, and wind energy). The next time you’re searching for consumer information online, a visit to FirstGov can be a real time-saver. December 26, 2002
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