Information micro-practices in Texas rural courts: methods and issues for e-government

This paper reports on an empirical study of the information behavior of governmental actors in rural Texas courts. The study used multiple data collection and data analysis methods to produce a rich, thick description of the participants’ behavior which is contextualized and used to identify important challenges to e-government. The paper argues that moving beyond the silo-based approach to reporting and information technology implementation that characterizes the current policy environment can be done only with a strong and detailed understanding of governmental actors’ job responsibilities and their information and communication patterns. Doing so is important to achieving the vision of e-government.