Public Access Resource Center

This web site will be a resource center on the web on court-supported, and other programs which assist public access to the court system. The public access web site will be a sub web of the Justice Web Collaboratory web site and easily accessible to judges involved in judicial administration and to court administrative personnel.

The components of the web site could be as follows:

• On-Line directory of public access program profiles: In addition to contact information, location and hours, the directory could include detailed program profiles such as staffing, forms concept, supporting software and evaluation methods, current issues and barriers, service area, etc. Site visitors will be asked if they manage a public access program and, if yes, to update a current entry or to create an entry. The resulting data would be searchable by site users who could search data such as public access programs staffed by volunteers or programs staffed by local bar associations, or programs financed by the state judicial system.
  
  
• Case Study and Working Prototype: We will create a working prototype that would demonstrate how the Net could be used as a mechanism for distributing both legal information and legal forms on-line, with a demonstration of legal forms completion on-line, using a variety of interactive technologies. An actual demonstration, perhaps targeted in a particular state, will demonstrate the viability of creating a "legal Kiosk" on the World Wide Web, that could be sponsored and supported by a State's judicial system.
  
  
• Protected Public Access Discussion Group: There are a number of related issues such as administration, support, forms re-design, ethical issues, etc., that are prime topics for a protected discussion where court personnel could share experiences and ask questions of court personnel who have had experience in designing and administering public access support programs.
  
  
• Peer Support - Finding Help from Colleagues: An annotated list of field and support people interested in being listed as contacts for expertise/experience on public access support programs. The entries will be sortable by key topics, state, city or zip code.
  
  
• Materials Section: A library of white papers, results of evaluation research, frequently asked questions, procedural manuals, articles, and conference papers. Some documents would be reformatted for the Web in hypertext form (allowing web links to other resources) and others could be downloaded in their native format (after editing for change in the medium).
  
  
• What's New Section: Allowing users to check in and see what new materials have been posted and track new developments in the field.
  
  
• Calendar: A listing of upcoming conferences, and other events related to the development of court supported public access programs.
  
  
• A Search Screen: Allowing users to search by keyword any subject within the resource center.