Coming Soon to Your E-Reader: Government Documents

They're not going to put Amazon out of business, but the General Services Administration and the Government Printing Office have teamed up with the Google Book Partner Program to make the 100 most popular government publications available for free download to your desktop, laptop, e-reader or smartphone.

For decades, GPO and GSA have worked together to distribute government documents to the general public -- 800 million publications in the last 40 years, according to the agencies.

"Our market research confirms that 74 percent of the public wants government information both online and in printed form. We want to embrace the changing environment and provide important consumer-related information where people want to consume it -- on their computers, on their mobile devices, or on paper," said Dave McClure, GSA's associate administrator in the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies.