WEB WATCH

Welfare reform on the Web ...

HUDSON COUNTY, N.J. recently launched the county's new one-stop career system on the Internet.

"The World Wide Web page is just one tool in our integrated system of ensuring Hudson County residents are prepared in the high-tech, high-skill jobs of the 21st Century economy," said County Executive Robert Janiszewski.

The county Workforce Investment Board has established 17 sites (funded with more than $300,000 in state grants) throughout the county equipped with 42 personal computers that can access the site <www.wib.digink.com>.

Most "networked" counties
Matrix Information & Directory Services of Austin, Texas, has compiled a list of the Top 10 "networked" counties (those that have more computers hooked up to the Internet or support multiple people, machine and locations). They are:

1. San Mateo County, Calif.
2. Santa Clara County, Calif.
3. Fairfax County, Va.
4. Washtenaw County, Mich.
5. St. Louis City, Mo.
6. Middlesex County, Mass.
7. Travis County, Texas
8. San Francisco County, Calif.
9. Hennepin County, Minn.
10. Fulton County, Ga.

For more details, see <http://mids.org/press/counties.html>.

Halloween is just a click away ...
Looking for some ghostly ideas to add to your Web site? Perhaps your community would like to get the word out about its haunted houses or ghost tours. You might get some ideas at <http://www.libertynet.org/~e-state/>, where you'll find information about Halloween tours of an abandoned state prison in Philadelphia and other haunted tours around the town.

Or if you'd like to advertise your community's events on a national database of Halloween haunts, go to <http://www.usacitylink.com/boo/house.html>. Happy haunting!

The AC Jury Commission wants YOU.....to browse its Web site
The Allegheny County Jury Commission in Pennsylvania is reaching out to local residents at <www.acba.org/jury>. Included on the site are a sample juror questionnaire and a walk-through tour of the jury service process, including maps of where criminal and civil jurors should report to a list of places to eat for those residents not familiar with Pittsburgh's downtown.

In addition, Web surfers can learn about the Jury Commission's most recent initiatives, as well as brush up on jury terminology and the history behind the modern-day judicial system. The site is supported and maintained by the county bar association at no expense to local taxpayers.

Meetings 101
Are your meetings getting bogged down by people who ramble on and never get to the point? Are there too many people confused by parliamentary procedures? Look no further than <http://parli.com>. You'll find answers and you'll also find access to a free report titled: "How to Make Your Meetings Run More Smoothly."

Global Information Infrastructure Awards ... enter by Nov. 24
The Global Information Infrastructure Awards (GII) are looking for entries for its third annual contest. Entries for the competition (formerly the National Information Infrastructure awards), will be judged by 200 industry leaders in 11 categories, including government, community, education, commerce, public access, children, arts and entertainment and health. Entries will be accepted through Nov. 24.

For more information, to view past award winners or to fill out an on-line entry form, go to <http://www.gii.com/index.html>. The awards are sponsored by Softbank Forums, a media company.

An Apple a day ...
The last edition of Web Watch pointed out how teachers in your counties could get $1,000 mini-grants from Compaq. We would now like to point out that teachers in your counties can also access information about Apple Computers at a variety of sites, including Apple Education <http://www.education.apple.com/>, and information targeted toward kindergarten through 12th grade <http://ed.info.apple.com/education/> and higher education <http://hed.info.apple.com/>.

Thanks to Jeff Jotz, communications director, Hudson County, N.J. for the tip!

And closer to home...
Have you been looking for information about a specific topic covered in County News or other NACo publications? Finding it is easy at the NACo Web site. Go to <www.naco.org> and scroll down to "Search." Click on it and plug in a word or phrase for the issue you are interested in and it should list all of the articles written about the topic. Just click on the article and you'll have it on your computer screen in seconds.

Last week's Web Watch noted "the new look for the NACo Web site." We should have noted that we were referring to a pilot site and not the current NACo Web site. The pilot address is: <www.naco.org/newtest.htm>.

The current site's address is: <www.naco.org>.

We'd still like your comments and suggestions on how to improve the pilot site. Just e-mail them to Susan Kim, NACo graphic designer, at <skim@naco.org>. Thanks!

(Web Watch is compiled by Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writer. If you've got some news or any ideas about what you'd like to read in the column, e-mail it to: <mbarton@naco.org>.)

(Web Watch is compiled by Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writer.)