I know it isn't really analogous but I can't imagine a parent walking into a school's administrative office and removing a file on his or her child. The file belong to the school, not to the individual whose activities are chronicled in them. I'm surprised the artist thought that she could do this. I'm not sure that Dean's online directory, phone book analogy applies. People do remove numbers from directories but it usually is by paying extra to have an "unpublished, unlisted" telephone number. The file that Emily mentioned sounds as if it covers public, not private, information. So I don't see how any privacy laws would apply. If the file contains clippings and show cards, these are items in the public domain. It sounds as if the artist is trying to have it both ways. But the only way to avoid being written about (becoming the subject of news clippings) is to find a line of work that doesn't involve the type of contact with the public that an artist has. Or not exhibit in the shows. So I don't see how a lawyer could insist that clippings not be compiled. For example, if any of you wanted to copy and print out Seymour Hersh's 1992 article on "Nixon's Last Cover-up" in the New Yorker which mentions me in several places, I don't see how I could prevent you from creating a subject file. Or putting in any file you create the article that Richard Cox wrote about the Archives which quotes from a coouple of my postings. Actually, I wouldn't care if you did that. So, I'm left scratching my head over why the artist is so insistent about trying to control what seems to be information in the public domain that readily is available. Just my 2 cents worth. Maarja A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>