March 9th is the deadline for telling ShowUsTheData.org what unclassified government information you would like to see go online. This includes information, documents or data that you know exists–on paper or in government computers and databases–that would be of value to the public if posted and regularly updated on an agency’s Web site, but for whatever reason remain offline.

If you haven’t visited lately, go take a look, more than 150 documents have been requested and more than 1,100 votes cast. We’re very excited about the participation in this survey; but we want even more! Have you voted? What government information do you want to be able to get online?

Right now, Congressional Research Service reports have received the most votes. The first time we asked for suggestions, CRS reports were the clear winner of the “Most Wanted” title, so we’re excited to see that the public still wants to get these reports directly from the government.

Information about bailout funding is a close second. The public is clearly interested in keeping track of the money the government has given the banks; lucky for us, the stimulus bill has transparency built in at Recovery.gov. Other documents in the top “Most Wanted” category include information about how the Patriot Act is being used and why torture was allowed; an exhaustive list of Congressional votes; and free access to public court records.

It’s not too late to have an impact on the Show Us The Data poll and our report for Sunshine Week, either by submitting a new government document or voting for one already posted on the Web site. Do you know of unclassified federal documents or databases that aren’t freely available to the public online? Let Show Us the Data know today.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 3:22 pm and is filed under CDT, Open Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.