Archives Issues

A January 16 Associated Press article offers some figures on what NARA has collected and is sending to Lewisville, TX:

The Archives is in the process of moving President George W. Bush’s records to a storage facility in Lewisville, Texas, where they will be kept until his presidential library is built at the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas.

Also, read on eWeek.com that the “White House Promises to Produce Missing Emails.”

From the National Coalition for History, as well as other news alerts:

On January 7, 2009, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 35, the “Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009,” by an overwhelmingly bi-partisan vote of 359-58. H.R. 35 was chosen by the House leadership as the first piece of substantive legislation passed in 2009 as a symbol of government transparency.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Memorial’s St. Petersburg branch has been researching and documenting Stalin’s crimes for 20 years, building one of the world’s most complete archives of one of the darkest chapters in Russia’s history.

These archives are now in the hands of Russian police.

 

From PR Newswire:

On December 7, historian Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, submitted his resignation to the president, effective December 19, 2008. Professor Weinstein, who has Parkinson’s disease, cited health reasons for his decision. Deputy Archivist of the United States, Adrienne Thomas, will serve as Acting Archivist until a new Archivist is appointed, in accordance with the National Archives governing statute, 44 USC 2103(c).

Weinstein was nominated by President Bush on April 8, 2004, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 10, 2005. Under the National Archives statute there is no specific term of office and the position is not intended to change hands automatically with the election of a new president.

Check out the discussion about this topic and the current poll over at ArchivesNext

(thanks, Jordon!)

From the New York Times:

France has never been shy about promoting its culture, so few were surprised when it took a close interest in a new digital library intended to showcase Europe’s history, literature, arts and science.

But when the new site, called Europeana, begins life on Thursday, more than half of its two million items will come from just one of the 27 countries in the European Union: France.

So comprehensive is France’s cultural supremacy over this cyberspace outpost that other countries are having their own history written for them — in la langue de Moliere, of course.[…]

More about Europeana, including a video with an overview, is available on its website.

UPDATE: Oopsies!

From the New York Times:

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful. […]

I don’t normally add commentary to these posts, but I have to say I think this is an example of burying the lead.

I just returned from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference’s (abnormally balmy) Fall Meeting.  There was a handful of interesting talks that I’d like to post links to.  I’m in the process of contacting the presenters and asking that they mount their slides on their personal webspace or something like Slide Share.  Keep an eye out for additional information about some interesting talks, particularly regarding legal issues and documenting marginalized communities.

If you’re going to the MARAC Conference next month, you might want to attend the following session on Saturday, November 8:

S11. Legal issues Facing Archivists
Panelists will discuss the changes in the federal laws of FOIA,
HIPPA, and Copyright and their impact on working archivists.

Chair:
Joan Echtenkamp Klein, University of Virginia Health System

Speakers:
John Livornese, Veterans Affairs
Stephen E. Novak, Columbia University Medical Center
Kimberly Bonner, University of Maryland University College

For more information, consult the online program.

From wired.com:

Late Friday, the Senate passed the measure and sent it to the House, where it landed dead on arrival.

The act changes the rules and reduces and sometimes nullifies damages for infringing uses of so-called “orphaned” works as long as there was a “diligent” effort to locate the copyright owner. Orphaned creative works are those in which the copyright holder cannot be promptly located.

Here’s Peter Hirtle from earlier this year on the proposed legislation.

Excerpted from the SAA Online Newsletter for Tuesday, September 23:

One of the three 2008 Presidential debates between Senator John McCain
and Senator Barack Obama will be held on Tuesday, October 7, at
Belmont University in Nashville. Tom Brokaw, who will moderate the
town hall debate, will call on members of the audience for their
questions and also select questions submitted online. The Commission
on Presidential Debates is partnering with MySpace on a new website
[www.mydebates.org/] and you can submit questions beginning on
September 25. Where do the candidates stand on issues that are
important to archives and archivists?

Where do the candidates stand on funding for the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission? The National Endowment for the
Humanities Division of Preservation and Access? On the PAHR
(Preserving the American Historical Record) Bill?

(See http://archivists.org/advocacy/for more information.)

Other issues of importance to you as an archivist?