Knjižnica ali arhiv?

Gostujoče pero – Elisabeth Simon

Nemška bibliotekarka, avtorica in založnica Elisabeth Simon se je udeležila mednarodne konference ABDOS, ki je bila od 30. maja do 2. junija v Ljubljani na Ekonomski fakulteti, organizirala pa jo je Centralna ekonomska knjižnica. V času njenega obiska je nastal prispevek o ameriških predsedniških knjižnicah, ki ga objavljamo tokrat.

 

Presidential Libraries - not Archives

Each president of the Unites States is supposed to found his own presidential library. Books represent a smaller part of the collection only, predominantly it contains his notes, diaries and correspondence. In the very popular framework of the discussion concerning the right and the possibilities of access to public and adminstrative information the way papers and other sources were handled in such a library is not without interest. Security of the entire collection and classified material which may be personal set rules of access. Due to security reasons materials are stored in closed files and can only be accessed according to a certain rather strict procedure. Resources which are closed because of personal reasons may only be accessed with the permission of the director, but not the papers classified for national security reasons.

In Europe these libraries would generally be called archives and the focus on access and digitisation is in the forefront of discussions. Being called libraries shows the rather different scope of libraries and archives in the USA. Their main purpose is to ensure general access to information and resources hence these institutions are called libraries, their mission is to maintain the rich collections of unique material and to ensure different ways of accessing them. The presidential libraries are a good example of difficulties which do not arise due to technical problems but those of private data and public access.

Question: How could have Wiki Leak got its material?