A press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.: 

WASHINGTON--U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's Web site was selected as one of the top 10 Web sites in the U.S. Senate by the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington.

The Web site, www.coleman.senate.gov, was recognized with the Silver Mouse award from among 615 congressional Web sites that were evaluated, including all Senate and House members, committees, and official leadership sites. 

"As more and more Minnesotans turn to the Internet to get the information that matters to them, it is extremely important for elected representatives to keep pace and communicate with them via the Web," said Coleman. "From being the first member of Congress to post all travel on my Web site to responding to thousands of e-mail questions from my constituents, I have always strived to communicate with Minnesotans in a convenient, user-friendly way. I place great emphasis and importance on my official Senate Web site, and I'm proud to be recognized for this award."

The Gold Mouse report and awards are part of the Congressional Management Foundation's broader research project, "Connecting to Congress," funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. For this project CMF partnered with researchers from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, University of California-Riverside and Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress can use the Internet to improve communications with their constituents and to promote greater participation in the legislative process. 

"Sen. Coleman's Web site shows that he has identified the needs of his various constituencies and has developed easily accessible content that meets their needs online," said Beverly Bell, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation. "Sen. Coleman is to be congratulated for being among the best of the best web sites on Capitol Hill, and the Congressional Management Foundation is pleased to present Sen. Coleman with the 2006 Silver Mouse award."

Web sites were graded on how well they incorporate five basic building blocks that extensive research has identified as critical for effectiveness -- audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation. Using these building blocks, an evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners at Harvard, Ohio State, and the University of California-Riverside that would be fair and objective, while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a Web site. 

A full copy of the report, the "2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill," is available on the Congressional Management Foundation's Web site, www.cmfweb.org.