Science.gov 10th Anniversary
Then and Now

Science.gov 1.0 was launched in December 2002, providing for the first time wide public access and a unified search of the government's vast stores of scientific and technical information

We'd love to know how Science.gov has helped you during the past decade. Email your feedback to scigovwebmanager@science.gov.

The following data shows the federal science portal's growth and evolution since its December 2002 launch:

Data charts federal science portal growth and evolution Page Views: FY2003: 751,180 FY2012: 34 million + Pages of R&D Results: 2002: unavailable, 2004: 47 million, 2012: 200 million+ Number of websites: at launch (2002): 90, 2004: 1,700+, Currently (2012): 2,100+ Number of Databases: At launch (2002): 18, 2004: 30, Currently (2012): 55

Science.gov Alliance Agencies
December 2012: 10
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Education
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of the Interior
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Science Foundation



Number of STI Organizations: 14
 FY2012: 13
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Transportation
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Library of Congress
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Archives and Records Administration
  • National Science Foundation
FY2012: 17

History

Science.gov 1.0 was launched in December 2002, providing for the first time wide public access and a unified search of the government's vast stores of scientific and technical information.

In May 2004 Version 2.0 was launched, introducing real-time relevancy ranking to government science retrieval. This technology, funded by the Department of Energy, helps citizens sort through the government's reservoirs of research and return results most likely to meet individual needs. An advanced search capability and other enhancements were added.

A free and convenient "Alert" service was released in February 2005, allowing citizens to receive e-mail alerts about the most current science developments in their areas of interest. Up to 25 relevant results from selected information sources can be delivered. Results are displayed in the Alert email and in a personalized Alert Archive, which stores six weeks of alerts results. In the Archive, past activity can be reviewed and Alert profiles edited.

Science.gov 3.0 took relevancy-ranked search to a higher level of precision. Launched in November 2005, Version 3.0 provided more refined search queries of federal science databases. In addition, greatly enhanced fielded searching and the extensive Boolean capabilities offer new search options for Science.gov users.

In February 2007, Science.gov 4.0 was launched, which allowed even further refinement of search queries. For the first time, patrons could search within their original results. The relevancy ranking algorithms became more sophisticated, with the date of the document priority-weighted for ranking purposes. A new feature allowed patrons to share search results via e-mail with colleagues and friends.

Science.gov 5.0 was launched in September 2008 and boasts several new and innovative features. Clustering, the grouping of results into meaningful topics, helps guide patrons to desired information. Science.gov results have also been enhanced by the addition of Wikipedia topics and EurekAlert items related to the search. Additionally, selected results can be emailed to colleagues and friends, and the overall look and feel has been updated.

More recently, enhanced features added include an aggregated Science News feed, also available on Twitter, a Science.gov widget for users' own web pages and an image search. Federal Regulations and Legislative databases have been added and a mobile version is now available. An app for Android is available through Google Play.

October 2012 marked a major update to Science.gov in honor of its 10th Anniversary. Besides sporting an updated look, the website added multimedia content such as videos, images and audio files. These are now automatically searched and are made available as an option to users. The underlying technology has been updated as well. A way to visualize your search results and the relationship between results has been added. Finally, those who would prefer to explore the site in Spanish now have the opportunity to do so with Ciencia.Science.gov. While Science.gov in its entirety has not been duplicated in Spanish, a streamlined version, including search results, is linked.

Happy 10th Anniversary Science.gov!