There's no question the development of digital documentation - and Internet access to those documents - has greatly enhanced the public's ability to get all kinds of government information quickly and cheaply.

News media have certainly benefited, too. Information that journalists once would have made special trips to Albany or Washington to get is now available with a few key strokes. And because it's on the Internet, we often can get it without spending a dime on copies.

Open government advocates, such as news media organizations, have and will continue to push for more digitizing of government records because ultimately it speeds the flow of public information.

Court documents, for instance, still have a long way to go in most cases. While there's been some limited information available on local and state levels from courts, the best practice out there currently might be the federal court system, in which just about all documents can be obtained over the Internet. Even with that system, there's still a small fee to access them.

This push for increased electronic documentation, however, must come with a certain degree of caution over whether the technology used to create and store the information is easily accessible. Thankfully, there are some people in New York state government who are being forward-thinking in this matter.

This week the state Office for Technology issued a report, “A Strategy for Openness: Enhancing E-Records Access in New York State.” The report was put together as a result of legislation directing that a study be conducted and recommendations made for making sure electronic government records are preserved and made open to the public.

We've already seen examples of electronic records essentially being useless to the average resident because they do not have some piece of specialized software the state used to create them. That's a situation that needs to be fixed.

The report is lengthy, and some sections are too technical for most people (including me) to understand, but the underlying conclusion is that the Legislature needs to pass legislation that ensures openness. To do that, the study recommends lawmakers establish a state electronic records committee that will constantly evaluate, develop and implement policy.

The entire report can be found at www.oft.state.ny.us. Appropriately, it's offered in multiple formats, including Open Document Format, which the agency says is a first for the state.

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