Articles

Researchers, Archivists, and the Access Challenge of the FBI Records in the National Archives

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Abstract

Making available to researchers relatively recent Federal investigatory records is an access challenge to both archivists and researchers. In this article the author discusses the specific challenges involved with the investigative case files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the National Archives. These challenges relate to the difficulties faced by those attempting to understand the records themselves; by researchers knowing what to ask for and being able to decipher what they receive; and by archivists in deciding what information must be withheld from researchers, particularly as it relates to questions of privacy and information about and supplied by informants and confidential sources.

How to Cite:

Bradsher, J. G., (1986) “Researchers, Archivists, and the Access Challenge of the FBI Records in the National Archives”, Archival Issues 11(2), 95–110. doi: https://doi.org//archivalissues.10526