Copyright restrictions may present a serious limitation in this case. Material that is distributed to a small number of persons on a one time basis may not be available to be placed in a public access site that may be accessed by an unlimited number of people. Copyright statements should be included on all pages of this material. Most importantly, the source of the material should formally approve of its use in this way. Much material prepared for use by nonprofit organizations is written for reasons other than a profit motive.
Most authors welcome the opportunity for wider distribution of their work.
Agencies may also feel that the costs of preparing material will be more difficult to recover if it is given away online. If the point of a program is to get material to people, it would seem inappropriate to restrict access by charging for it. In most cases, organizations have charged for documents only enough to cover the cost of materials and distribution. These costs would no longer apply. Organizations may need to stipulate to funding sources that material will reach a certain size audience - and one that will be larger if the material is unrestricted.