I wrote last week about a national effort called Sunshine Week that promotes open government. This week, I'd like to share some information about a state agency that has a similar mission.

Journalists in New York state have long relied on the Department of State's Committee on Open Government as an ally in the effort to keep government officials at all levels honest. Most importantly, this committee has the experts to help us navigate the complex world of open meetings and freedom of information laws.

But it's important to note that this agency does not exist solely for the news media. It's there for anyone, and I can personally attest to the tremendous effort the people in that office make to respond to all inquiries.

I just took a look through the committee's most recent annual report, and found some encouraging information.

It appears that the public increasingly is becoming aware of the committee's services, and taking steps to use them.

Take growth of the committee Web site, http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/coogwww.html. In 2007, the site recorded nearly 2.5 million hits, an increase of 40 percent over the previous year. Four years ago, the site had 122,000 hits.

That means plenty of people are going to the site to gather information about open government. The committee noted that about 60 percent of those hits came during non-business hours, which means they likely came from people conducting research related to their private lives.

A big part of the committee's work involves researching questions and issuing advisory opinions, which can be a great tool in convincing government officials to open a specific meeting or release a specific document. Last year, out of 800 written opinions, 597 were done for members of the public, by far the largest percentage of any group (the other groups are local government officials, members of news media, state agency officials and state legislators).

The public also contributed 1,916 telephone inquiries to the committee, trailing only local government officials for the highest total in that category.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the committee's site, I encourage you to do so. And if you have a question or concern, do not hesitate to make an inquiry. You can e-mail the committee through the Web site, or you can call at (518) 474-2518, fax at (518) 474-1927 or send a letter to Committee on Open Government, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12231.

Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's column appears Saturdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net