This concept would be terrific "if" no one took advantage of it- no evil motives, id theft or personal information high jacking- then it would be good, but we live in a world of greedy , irresponsible and nasty people that just want to hurt someone- so it just doesn't lend it self to mass exposure. While this might not work for us as title examiners, it can be , as you say, something to assist or help the masses in a general manner-for information that they might otherwise be able to acquire easily. Then again, part of the basis for SOT is to provide a wide range of available sources of title persons that could or would help someone out in this manner- I certainly would think that would be a very charitable way to let the general public know what it is we do and it would not need to be something we charge a fee to do either- They only want a copy or an easement plat- that will not break any of us to just get it and give it.
I too , enjoy the on line systems, and all of the counties I presently perform title work in are on line- I am limited to the amount of "fees" I can afford as to how many I access- that in itself is a big chunk of money every year to fork out, especially with the down turn of the market. My whole data base and computer set up is geared to that process-no more mobile offices that we worked with over 10 years ago- no more unreadable faxes with their terrible resolution-no more driving and having to pay out for all that gas, and everything is easily retrievable, if and when, the phone call comes in asking a question. It just lends itself to a much higher degree of quality that could never be attained with the old systems. 
And that's just the way I see it- many on here have a different view- and that's OK too, but I don't have to deal with all of their problems either-just as they don't get to enjoy the many benefits I have with the on line systems now.
Steve Meinecke