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1 Public Availability of Diplomatic Archives 1 (1985)

handle is hein.intyb/puavdipar0001 and id is 1 raw text is: United States Department of State PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DIPLOMATIC ARCHIVES Historical Study INTRODUCTION Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs U.S. Department of State August 1985 Over the past 30 years the Office of the Historian has from time to time surveyed the public availability of diplomatic archives throughout the world and published its findings for the use of scholars and academic institutions. The most recent previous edition of this publication was 'Public Availability of Diplomatic Archives, October 1976. This 1985 updated version is based primarily on information received from American diplomatic posts abroad in 1984. Data on the archival practices of certain countries could not be obtained due to unsettled conditions or the absence of relations with the United States. Since official documentary publications are often invaluable guides to unpublished material, information is included on major ongoing national series that are based largely on previously-classified historical diplomatic documentation. In view of the fact that archival practices, regulations, and conditions of availability may change on short notice, individuals seeking access to diplomatic archives should write the appropriate government for current information in advance of a research trip. Important published works on archival sources include Daniel H. Thomas and Lynn M. Case, The New Guide to the Diplomatic Archives of Western Europe (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1975); Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the USSR: Moscow and Leningrad (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1972); and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Guide to the Archives of International Organizations vol. I, The United Nations' System (Paris: UNESCO, 1984). Archivum, published by the International Council on Archives (UNESCO) presents information on access to diplomatic archives. No. 28, 1982, contains texts of many national archival and declassification regulations then in force. Additional information on the diplomatic archives of various nations may be obtained from articles appearing from time to time in The American Archivist and the Newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Relations. A list of guides to archives and manuscript collections appears in Richard Dean Burns, Guide to American Foreign Relations Since 1700 (Santa Barbara, Calif. ABC Clio, 1983), pp. 30-32. This publication was prepared by Neal H. Petersen and reviewed by William Z. Slany. United States There is no legislative requirement for the declassification of Department of State and other foreign policy records after a fixed period of time. E.O. 12356, April 2, 1982, which governs classification, declassifica- tion, and the safeguarding of national security information, states that information should be declassi- fied or downgraded as soon as national security considerations permit. The archivist of the United States is charged with declassifying or downgrading material that has been accessioned into the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in accordance with systematic review guidelines provided by the originating agency. In the case of Department of State records, files through 1954 have been transferred to NARA. Material through 1949 has undergone declassification review and is open for research. Records for 1950-1954 are being reviewed and opened incre- mentally, with many files now available and the entire collection scheduled to have been processed by early 1986. In effect, the United States is opening its files after 28 to 32 years. In addition, U.S. foreign policy records for any period may be requested under the Freedom of Information Act and mandatory review procedures. Agencies, including the Department of State, are required to respond to legitimate requests for the release of documents or categories of documents that might

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