FirstGov.gov-- the government’s first attempt to coordinate electronic information across federal agencies for public use -- has recently experienced a significant increase in the number of users. As a result of the demand for information since September 11, the FirstGov site received 7 million hits during the month of September, up from an average of 1 million hits per month since its beginning.

Leadership for the New Millennium: Delivering on Digital Progress and Prosperity is the third and final annual report from the U.S. Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce. The report is the Clinton-Gore Administration's compendium of its accomplishments towards moving from a National Information Infrastructure to a Framework for Global Electronic Commerce. The listing of initiatives and successes is impressive, but also telling with respect to gaps that continue to need addressing.

In a recent Hart-Teeter poll, respondents said greater "government accountability" was the most significant benefit that e-government could confer. This was chosen by a considerable margin, almost three times as often as was "convenient services." The second top priority according to the poll is "greater public access to information" (which is, of course, essential for greater government accountability). Majorities of adults expressed a favorable view of every e-government function tested.

A staggering amount of personal information is contained in federal court records, almost all of which is available to the public by federal law-- but relatively little of it available in electronic formats that promote greatest public accessibility, ease of use, and remote public access through online means. Locating information about, and within, the legal arena, therefore, can be a time-consuming task, requiring no small amount of digging among paper courthouse records in an attempt to piece together information to inform advocacy activity. You Get What You See(?)