I feel some trepidation weighing in on this.  Like Christina Hostetter, 
I still feel new to the profession and do not have a complete 
understanding of the history of NARA and SAA's involvement in demanding 
(or not demanding) accountability. 

Many of us are interested in NARA as citizens and funding for NHPRC as a 
means of funding our own projects.  However, in addition to finding time 
to learn about the history of these organizations, many of us have quite 
a few other things to learn about that have a more immediate impact on 
our collections.  The nature of the profession is such that many of us 
come to it from different areas of expertise, or even from different 
types of collections, and we continually try to educate ourselves about 
how to better care for our own repositories.  This leaves little time 
for other topics.

That said, I appreciate the dialog on the list as a means of learning 
about different takes on what has happened in the past, and what 
expectations other archivists have for the future. 

One thing I have been wondering about is NARA's claim of 
"independence."  (See 
http://www.archives.gov/about/history/anniversary/intro.html)  Please 
correct me if I'm wrong, but the President still proposes the budget for 
NARA, which is then voted on by Congress like all others.  That makes 
their position rather delicate, NARA is being funded by the same 
government it wishes to make accountable.  It doesn't seem that it can 
ever be truly independent. 

If the President is able to request NHPRC be cut from the budget every 
time he proposes one, and he is able to issue executive orders limiting 
the rights of citizens to obtain access to his records, how does it not 
then follow that others in the government, perhaps Congress, whose 
members may also not want to be held accountable for their actions, will 
agree to cut their funding, and gradually extend this practice to other 
portions of the agency?  Perhaps SAA is reluctant to be overly critical 
of NARA while it is in the midst of trying to argue for a better budget 
for them.

Linda Hocking
Curator of Library & Archives
Litchfield Historical Society
P.O. Box 385
Litchfield, CT 06759
860-567-4501
[log in to unmask]
http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org

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