I've received the couple of SAA recordings that I ordered.  Here's the 
quotation from Jim Hastings of NARA that I mentioned in my posting last 
week.  This is where he explains how archivists work objectively.  The 
transcript is near-verbatim and is my own; I did it during breakfast 
this a.m.:

Q:  With so many people involved, how do we ensure that politics is 
left out of the selection.  You mean the individual politics of the 
staff members?

ANSWER - JAMES J. HASTINGS, present NARA, Director of Access Programs; 
former director, Nixon materials project:

". . . in fact, back in the Nixon years, in the court cases pertaining 
to the Nixon materials, the Supreme Court said that the archivists in 
the National Archives have an unblemished record of impartiality.  And 
back when I worked with Nixon materials, people used to say, well, it 
must really be interesting, you get to listen to the Nixon tapes.  I 
said, yeah, for the first ten minutes, or so, and then, the rest of 
that, you're just applying what the rules are and what the standards 
are, and its -- .  I have not encountered in all the years I've been 
working in access to records anyone who was making a decision based on 
beliefs.  Because its just, well, first of all, it's wrong, it 
absolutely violates every ethical standard we have.  And secondly, you 
have both in the Libraries and in the Federal records, you have the 
laws that govern what is selected and what is decided.  And if you 
can't justify that -- you can't just say, I don't want to open this 
stuff, because it might hurt this person.  Or it might help this 
person.  That's not one of the factors."

SOURCE;  "The Role of the National Archives of the United States in 
Nominations to the Supreme Court:  Roberts & Alito," SAA, Convention 
Recordings, CD 2 of 2, Tracks 13, 14.

Nice answer, I liked that, it was well put!

Maarja Krusten (former NARA Nixon tapes archivist)

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