And increasingly, federal forms and documents are available over the Internet. Sue Davidsen is the director of the Michigan Electronic Library, and teaches a course in government documents at the University of Michigan. Davidsen says the federal government is in the process of moving vast amounts of publications, statistics and services onto the Internet. This technological change has made it possible for groups and individuals to speak out to their elected representatives much more quickly than in the past. The text of most proposed federal legislation and regulatory action now appears on the Internet within 24 hours of publication.
Citizens can respond immediately by e-mail.
But there are limitations. For Internet On The Air, I'm Joan Silvi. The U.S.Department of the Treasury and the IRS publish The Digital Daily , an on-line information source about taxes, the IRS, and what it means for you. For government information sources, especially collections of historical interest, visit the Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Administration sites. For government statistics, particularly economic ones, check out the U.S. Census Bureau .