Hi all. my friend and colleague Erika Wayne asked me to post this announcement to GODORT since it is near and dear to govt documents librarians’ hearts. Thanks.

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We crafted a very short petition directed at the Administrative Office of the US Courts to improve PACER.

The petition is online here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/improve-PACER.

It reads:

We ask the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to improve PACER by enhancing the authenticity, usability and availability of the system.

We the undersigned, urge the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) to make the following changes to the PACER system:

For verification and reliability, the AO should digitally sign every document put into PACER using readily available technology.

PACER needs to be much more readily accessible if it is to be usable for research, education, and the practice of law. Improved accessibility includes both lowering the costs for using PACER and enhancing the web interfaces.

Depository libraries should also have free access to PACER.

Please sign the petition, comment on the ideas and share the petition with your friends and colleagues! I encourage you to sign the petition. And if you have any questions about it, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

Erika Wayne

e-mail: evwayne AT stanford DOT edu