WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 -- Imagine sitting down at your computer to research a project with a looming deadline. You need access to published Government information and you need it fast. If you were holding a book volume, you could see where the information originated, who wrote it and when. In a digital world, how would you know for sure the document on your screen had not been altered since the author wrote it? You might also wonder when it was last updated. Today the U.S. Government Printing Office took a major step towards ensuring the American public has a one-stop site to access Government information that is authentic, version-controlled and permanently- available by announcing the selection of Harris Corporation to help develop a world-class Future Digital System. "This partnership represents the culmination of careful analysis and planning to specify our system requirements," said Public Printer Bruce James. "It marks a major milestone as GPO forges ahead to develop a robust and flexible digital platform that will provide permanent public access to information from all three Branches of the Federal Government." Harris, in collaboration with GPO, will work to ensure that the best technology available is used in the development of the system, which will also support all content within the scope of the Federal Depository Library Program and its more than 1,250 libraries around the country. "After forming a concept and vision for the system, we asked for feedback from industry experts before finalizing the requirements on GPO's future plans to provide open, quick access to Government information," said GPO's Chief Technical Officer Mike Wash. "If this was a process of building a house, I would say we have now selected the right general contractor to design a system to meet our needs in an environment that is moving from print to digital." Content will be entered into the system, authenticated and catalogued according to GPO selected metadata and standards. The variety of content will range from text and associated graphics to video, audio, and other forms of content that emerge. This wealth of information will be available for Web searching, Internet viewing, downloading and printing, and as document masters for conventional printing, on-demand printing, and other dissemination methods. "We are very proud to be selected for this transforming program that will digitally preserve and make accessible nearly every published Federal document since the birth of our nation," said Jeremy Wensinger, group president - Integrated Systems and Services, Harris Government Communications Systems Division.