[RP TownTalk] Town documents in electronic format

[Dwight Holmes]

Alice -- this is great news.  I would wait to hear from those familiar
with the actual workings to recommend specifics but I, for one, am all
in favor letting the sun shine in on governmental workings at every
level.  Let the default be that it's converted to PDF and made
available on the web - unless there is a specific reason not to.  The
more is made public the better as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks for moving this along!

Dwight Holmes


On 8/25/07, Alice Ewen Walker <alice at ewenwalker.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I wanted to share with members of the e-mail list a proposal I'm
> working on regarding electronic documents.  Making town documents
> available electronically will enable greater citizen participation as
> well as make our council more effective.
>
> Step one was a resolution to fix issues with the production of minutes
> of our council meetings.  The council passed this last month -- I'm
> attaching it for those who are interested in the details.
>
> Step two is to formulate a policy on
>
>    which documents the town should distribute in electronic form
>    which documents the town should archive in electronic form
>    which document formats to use
>
> The rule of thumb I'm proposing is that documents that are intended
> for an entire ward or any larger group should be made available in
> electronic form.  Also, documents that are distributed at council
> meetings should be available.
>
> As far as document formats go, it is pretty clear that PDF/A should be
> part of our solution, as it was designed for use by governments and
> has been adopted by the National Archives.
>
> I plan to introduce an electronic documents policy at the September
> council meeting.
>
> After that, there will be a few more steps to accomplish.  My ultimate
> vision is to have minutes, agendas, resolutions, etc posted on
> town-announce.
>
> Does anyone want to weigh in on which documents they would like to be
> able to access electronically?
>
> Alice
>
> --
> Alice Ewen Walker
> alice at ewenwalker.com
> (301)379-5303