Sure the temperature is rising in D.C. but it’s like Christmas morning for public policy geeks when groups like the non-profit Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) launch something like PolicyArchive.org.

CGS says that the site is the “largest online repository of public policy research in the world.” And it’s all at your fingertips for free! Before the launch of this, online policy research could be quite burdensome, requiring the researcher to navigate through multiple Web sites that use various formats. CGS’ goal is to change all that by collecting policy papers from a “wide range of nonprofit, educational, governmental, private and international think tanks and research organizations” on 306 subtopics. The site currently has available 12,000 policy documents from over 220 think tanks, policy shops and other research organizations. A full listing of contributing sources can be found here.

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Poor John. He can’t quite get over his late night work habits. (Before he came to Sunlight to direct our Open House Project he worked a day job and indulged his fascination with politics between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM).

Last night at 2 AM he sent this email:

I just finished reading the latest CRS report from August 26th on Congress and the Internet, linked in the latest Open House Project report, and was delighted to find that Sunlight and the Open House Project are specifically cited by Walter Oleszek (senior government analyst for CRS) for our work in promoting citizen access.

That it was Oleszek’s report was particularly satisfying for me, since reading several of his introductory books on Congress (Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, and Congress and Its Members) is what got me quasi proficient enough to get started.

John has some more extensive thoughts this morning.

Too funny things. We wouldn’t have known of this report if it hadn’t appeared on OpenCRS.org (a Sunlight grantee.) And it was Oleszek’s early books that educated me too. (Makes you wonder how many other people learned what they know about Congress from him too!)

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Just before I left town for a two-week break, Sunlight announced its first round of grants for 2007, totaling just over $200,000. On my return, I realized that we hadn't posted anything about them — other than a press release — and so our readers might have missed the news. We are staying the course in terms of the kind of investments were are making with the money going to organizations that are using new "Web 2.0" technology to further the organization's mission of putting information into citizens' hands to increase transparency in Congress. We believe that our grantees are on the cutting edge of work that will open up our legislative branch.

The first grant of $140,000 to the Center for Media and Democracy, is to support the second year of the joint Sunlight Foundation/Center wiki on Congress - Congresspedia. The second year's work is building on the highly successful first year and will focus on growing and developing the community of Congresspedia users and editors and increasing the user-friendliness of the wiki.

The second grant of $55,000 will support the Center for Democracy and Technology's Open CRS project, to use the Internet to promote the distribution of Congressional Research Service reports to the public. This grant will allow CDT to make some major technical upgrades to the site to ensure complete and timely access to CRS reports, develop new features and functions, and launch a campaign to promote the site's availability and attract new partners.

The third, and final grant of this round, was for $22,000 to Taxpayers for Common Sense allow them to develop a comprehensive plan to integrate and advance the use of the Internet and related technologies into their overall work. This work will include an initial assessment and planning process to redesign TCS organizational web presence and online outreach, communication, and constituency development strategies.

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