Google has partnered with Virginia and three other states to improve public access to their state government Web sites. The Mountain View, CA, company will work with states so that information in their government databases comes up during a Google search. Visitors to Virginia's state Web site will be able to use the portal to access all state government databases, according to Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's secretary of technology.

Virginia's agencies have databases with useful information on everything from the professional qualifications of doctors to a listing of all checks written by the government, Chopra said. The data was sometimes buried, however, and individuals needed to know in advance exactly where to look.

Because of tight budgets or political hurdles, states often don't invest in what is known in the industry as search engine optimization, according to Tom Lee, a senior software architect for D.C.-based EchoDitto, an Internet strategy firm.

"As a result, useful online services can be hard for citizens to find," said Lee. "For example, here in D.C., you can order a replacement recycling bin online, but you'd never know it from the first page of search results that 'Washington D.C. replacement recycling bin' turns up."

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Individual agencies within the participating states will have to update their databases with the software, so the project will take some time to implement, Chopra said. Twenty-seven agencies have signed up as early adopters.

"We're looking, step by step, at all the publicly available information, stuff that's sitting behind what I call 'closed walls', that the Googles and the Yahoos of the world can't sort through," Chopra said.

The information on the government Web sites has to follow strict privacy standards instituted by the government, so Chopra said individuals should not be worried about their personal information being more widely available.

"All we're doing is putting public information on steroids," Chopra said.

Melissa.Frederick@DCExaminer.com