THE WEBBING OF BRITISH LOCAL-GOVERNMENT

The use of information and communication technologies by governments t o facilitate the exchange of information with the public, and, increas ingly, the electronic delivery of services, is a topic of much debate and development throughout the world. At the end of 1995, there were a bout 40 local authority World Wide Web sites, most of which fell below the standards of design and content associated with the majority of c ommercial and academic sites. Now there are over 300 local authority s ites-some better than many commercial or academic ones in terms of des ign and features. Is this simply a case of jumping on the digital band wagon or is it something more? This article discusses the main finding s from a research project aimed at exploring the 'Webbing' of local go vernment in Britain.