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| Document Summary | - Report Published - |
House Document No. 25
PUBLICATION YEAR 1996 | |
| Document Title |
| Development of a Prototype to Provide Legislative Information Via the Internet |
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| Author |
| Division of Legislative Automated Systems; Department of Information Technology |
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| Enabling Authority |
| HJR 482 (1995) |
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| Executive Summary |
House Joint Resolution No. 482 (1995) requested the Department of Information Technology and the Division of Legislative Automated Systems, within their existing resources, to develop a prototype for providing access to the Legislative Information System through the Internet.
Several issues surfaced in the course of the prototype development. The list below relates to access to Legislative Information over the Internet. Perhaps as important, the items are relevant to any effort at providing current and accurate public information over the Internet. Several issues required short-term solutions, but appear suited to longer range technical or policy action. In those instances, the proposed actions are specifically addressed.
The first requirement of the prototype was choosing an appropriate client/server software environment. At the time and even more so today, the graphical browser available through a WWW-based environment is very attractive. Not only are non-traditional data types useable, but the presentation of stricken and italicized language for deleted and new bill language is very appealing. The downside of this choice is the degree to which a graphical interface requires faster network access and more expensive computer equipment. To the degree possible, the WWW prototype makes allowances for low-speed connections with text selections available in lieu of graphics. The second requirement was selection of a standard browser. Our choice was a particular commercial product called Netscape(R). Also still a good choice, tests with other browsers indicated a lack of overall conformity to standards among these products. |
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