Salutations and Comments

["Karen E. Browne" <Karen_Browne@nmenv.state.nm.us>]

Good afternoon everyone-

I am pleased to join in the EPA On-line dialogue 
regarding environmental information as it relates to
location and accessibility.

First let me introduce myself, I am an environmental
outreach intern for the Surface Water Quality Bureau of the
New Mexico Environment Department.  Saludos from the Land of
Enchantment!!  I am participating in this dialogue to
learn more about where to access environmental information.
Much of my job is disseminating information to the general
public, and one of my greatest challenges is locating current
environmental information in the form of research reports,
recent (within the last two years or less) data relating to 
environmental status, and translating the information.  Many
of the people that I reach out to are not technically proficient
and do not wish to be tutored in technology.  I think many of us
forget that all of us are in this transition phase of technology.
There are some that do well with the internet, that can mold it
and direct it to exactly where they want to go.  Then there's 
those that are like me - if you know what you're looking for and
generally where to find it, you're golden.  Most the the time
spent on-line is sifting through sites and realizing that the
information being offered is not at all what you desire.  Then 
there's the third class who haven't seen it, don't want to learn
how to use it, but need the information.

There is another issue that no one has touched on yet: QUALITY OF 
INFORMATION RETREIVED.  I know that this is a sticky topic.
I mean my goodness, how would we begin to even identify the
standards of quality information?  And how would we apply it
to the internet?  Where if you have a domain name you can place
any type of information you want on-line for EVERYONE to see.

Regarding Steve Curwood's comments and questions, quantity of
information is an issue that we must address.  As is accessibility.
It is easy to be overwhelmed with information on a general
search of the web, and if you know where it is you can reach it.
But what about the general public who doesn't know how?  They
just have a question they want answered.  Many get frustrated
with the abundance of information retreived on-line and before
they are finished sifting through it, they give-up.  It really
takes a lot of time to search a topic on-line.  It's not like
the encyclopedia - one source, one story.

I would like to see the government (federal, state, county, and
local) reach out to their public.  Share with them your 
information on-line, at the library, on the radio, in whatever
their medium is.  I think people do have a lot of environmental
concerns and can not find the information they seek.  Many 
are not aware of changes to environmental regulations or laws.
Who actually reads the Federal Register on a regular basis?  Not
John Q. Public - and isn't he our target audience?

p.s.  What is a "TRI site?"  We do not all have the same 
vocabulary, so please spell out acronyms the first time you
use them in your messages.  It's like writing a bookreport.  
Even though you know we know what they are, spell it out
anyway - just to be sure.