PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICALITY - FUNDING ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO WASHINGTON-STATE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

The allocation and recovery of costs related to electronic public acce ss to government information represent important and controversial pub lic policy issues. Policy makers must carefully balance the goal of wi despread public access by electronic means with the need to sustain th e infrastructure that makes such access possible. The paper argues tha t policies with the stated objective of promoting low-or no-cost elect ronic access, but which do not allow for adequate cost recovery, will retard the development of robust electronic public access systems. Bas ed on a case study in Washington State, the paper discusses the need t o distinguish between the content and delivery of government-held info rmation, to allow agencies to charge user fees as a cost-recovery alte rnative, and to employ safeguards which ensure that such fees do not i nhibit the goals of public access. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.