Similar stories of electronic nightmares are commonplace across the country. These confrontations result in lawsuits, legislative action and policy decisions, which reach widely varying conclusions in different states, cities and agencies. Reporters often struggle for access to database information. Cost dissuaded 38 percent of responding newspapers from seeking electronic records. Others report that electronic records access has improved since 1991.
Many questions frequently recur.
An increasing number of states now include electronic data in their definitions of what constitutes a public record. As government increasingly conducts its business electronically, access to computerized records becomes essential. The public must have access to electronic records or lose any meaningful way to oversee government activity. Yet agencies often resist opening their computerized records to requesters. The format in which data are released is often as critical as the disclosure itself.