Governor Tim Kaine announced Monday a partnership between Virginia and Google Inc. that will, ostensibly, make it easier for citizens to find information on Virginia’s state government Web sites. That seems like a step in the right direction — especially given how shrouded government information seems to be on a national level these days.

On a local level, I think this county is to be commended for its openness. Government needs to be transparent on all levels, and while transparency might be an overstatement, Goochland is doing pretty well. Some county departments could be a little more forthcoming with information, but when requested and sought, information is readily available. It’s easy to criticize supervisors and county staff for making unpopular decisions, but at least they don’t try to hide what they’re doing.

The Web will be an increasingly significant method of obtaining information and I hope the county will strive to make information easily available to Goochlanders on the Internet. The current Web site is a good start.

But like most things, getting the information you are entitled to as a citizen could be a lot easier. And while it’s not necessarily the county or its departments’ responsibility to make obtaining information a simple process, maybe they should do it anyway. It could help gain some more trust.