The E-Government Act of 2002 calls for the U.S. Federal Government to enhance interoperability by adopting a common search standard. The Categorization of Government Information Workgroup has just finished the second version of their Statement of Requirements for Search Interoperability and are looking for comments and suggestions.

In English, the interoperability standards will provide a structure for information that, if adopted universally, will allow more efficient searching for information across agencies. The standards take into account metadata fields, search technology, and the role of information intermediaries (such as librarians).

Again, they're looking for comments to help refine the standards before delivery to the OMB.