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Re: Access and Allies



I think I've mentioned our former Manuscripts Librarian, the one who
looked down her nose at you over her reading glasses and wore her
hair in an honest-to-goodness bun.  She wanted the collection
restricted to "serious" researchers.  When we pressed her on how
to define this, especially in a state institution where access to all
researchers is mandated by law, she hedged.  It turned out it really
meant people she personally approved of, and especially *not* that
guy whose great grand-papa had insulted her great grand-papa
back in 1893!

One option is to accept it with the provision that each and every
patron who wishes to use it has to get written approval from the
donor.  I've seen this shake them out of it when they realized that
would mean people calling them up all the time, or knocking on
their doors at all hours.

As Dean pointed out, another option is to just say thanks but no
thanks; maybe that will shake the donor's resolve to restrict it.  If it
doesn't, I'd say sorry, no can do; I think you'd be setting the
Nameless Archivist up for all kinds of problems down the road.

Private institutions don't have these kinds of problems (sigh!); they
can just say "I don't like the cut of your jib, bub, so there's the
door!"  But then they don't get wonderful support from the state
legislature like public ones do.  (that was a joke too!)




Roy Webb, C.A.
Multimedia Archivist
Special Collections
J. Willard Marriott Library
295 South 1500 East
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112
(801) 585-3073  //  fax (801) 585-3976
rwebb@library.utah.edu

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