Document storage meets social media\u2014with potentially positive effects for government transparency. At Scribd<\/a> [don\u2019t ask us how to pronounce it], you can upload and store large documents, avoid the burden of hosting huge files on your own website, and top it all off with a layer of social connectivity.<\/p>\n Scribd also allows you to research existing documents, download them, add them to your personal account and interact with other readers via commenting, ranking and sharing. All documents are indexed during the upload process, which makes them easier to find on Google and other search engines.<\/p>\n A click on the Scribd site yields links to a vast library of print materials, from business reports, recipes and polls, to how-to guides and spreadsheets. Topics range from a daycare newsletter, to a PowerPoint presentation on treating glaucoma, to the 1992 Dallas Cowboys playbook! Scribd\u2019s technology enables the reader\/uploader to maintain th<\/a>e original format of the document, so you see graphics, page formats and images as they were intended.<\/p>\n Scribd also features magazine articles and books. The service has struck deals with several major book publishers to publish content online. According to Wikipedia, these include Random House, Simon & Schuster, Workman Publishing Company, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Thomas Nelson, and Manning Publications. But before we unequivocally endorse the service, it should be noted that some uploads have been controversial, with some writers and publishers claiming copyright violations and forcing some \u201ctakedowns.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, if Scribd\u2019s convenient, accessible format were to become widely adopted in government circles, the potential could be an enormous boon to transparency.<\/p>\n