Collection Content

“..While the voxgov platform was first released in 2014, it includes retrospective materials gathered since at least 2002 (the developers indicate that some materials date back to twenty years prior to launch). As new source entities and resource types are added, the developers seek to “include all associated available archives so they remain complete.” But specific data was not available to CRL on the full extent of pre-2002 material to be added, largely because meaningful data is difficult to obtain before the harvesting is done.” Some legislative documentation currently indexed by the resource in fact dates back earlier than the 1990s.”

 

Delivery

“…The proprietary platform developed for voxgov is impressive, combining complex features with a fairly intuitive display. Keyword searches in a simple box prompt suggested terms and phrases. The advanced search page is also fairly intuitive, and employs Boolean operators as well as allowing application of many of the database’s filter elements prior to searching. There is a “my voxgov” login tool allowing the user to save search strings and otherwise track various subjects or congressional figures in the news.”

 

Strengths & Weaknesses

“…This database is a tool to both view and analyze ephemeral information scattered in various government-produced media outlets, while aggregating, indexing and archiving it on one platform. While it just launched in 2014, the developers have been collecting content over ten years. The sophisticated and elegant interface offers powerful filtering and analysis of results, which will require continued commitment of search and indexing resources to maintain at the current level as the universe of new and archived content potentially expands exponentially over time. The developers report that the indexing and search engine selected for development of voxgov has solid potential for “indexing scalability.”

Read more – CRL review of voxgov