FCW.com's most popular for May

Yes, we do look at what you are reading... online, at least. (For those interested in privacy issues, we don't record any identifable information. Mostly just counts.)

I posted the April Web hits earlier.

Before I get to the most viewed stories, a word about the numbers. There are many stories that we cover because they are important, not just because they will spur Web hits. If we were only trolling for numbers, we would just do stories about Apple Computer, NASA and open source software. Editors are always doing a dance between what people want to read and what they need to know. I remember I was at a speech by Ted Koppel, the Nightline anchor and one of the people on my most respected list, who said that every time Nightline covered the O.J. Simson trial, it allowed him to cover some subject that would likely tank in the ratings -- an example from today's headlines is the ongoing crisis in Sudan. So there is some calculation involved.

Each week, Federal Computer Week covers stories that can be seen as dense. We always try to do it in a way that makes these subjects accessible and perhaps occationally even fun. But there also going to be stories about some new data reference model of the enterprise architecture that are just so important, they just have to be covered. Our goal is always to make those stories accessible as well.

So... these numbers are interesting because they illustrate what people are reading -- and that is very important. But they also are not the sole issue determining what we cover. Unfortunately all of this is more of an art than a science.

That being said, here is a look at May.

We often find that feds like to read about themselves and their employment. That was true over the past month. FCW.com's top three stories all involved federal workforce issues:

* CSC beats NASA workers for shared services [FCW.com, 5.17.2005]
* Air Force abuzz about Boston [FCW.com, May 24, 2005]
* Civilian personnel reform to be targeted [FCW.com, 6.1.2005]

The rest:

* E-mail near and far [Federal Computer Week, 5.9.2005]
* Chemical publisher goes after NIH [FCW.com, 5.27.2005]
* DOD mulls network coordination [Federal Computer Week, 5.23.2005]
* Base closings hit Army IT [FCW.com, 5.13.2005]
* DOD budget hits floor [FCW.com, 5.20.2005]
* Clinton tapes face destruction [FCW.com, 5.10.2005]
* GAO: Feds need to keep closer eye on IT contractors [FCW.com, 5.23.2005]
* Feds cram to meet ID deadlines [Federal Computer Week, May 30, 2005]
* Big buy planned for GIG-BE [FCW.com, May 18, 2005]
* Health IT contracts coming [FCW.com, May 13, 2005]
* Skinner slams DHS network [FCW.com, May 13, 2005]
* GAO uncovers wireless holes [FCW.com, 5.18, 2005]
* Eggers: Government 2.0 [Federal Computer Week, 5.16.2005]
* Pentagon to get GSA push [FCW.com, 5.20.2005]
* Feds find RFID uses [FCW.com, 5.31.2005]
* Kelman: The e-gov pulse [Federal Computer Week, 5.16.2005]
* Fugitive documents elude preservationists [Federal Computer Week, 5.9.2005]