The 10th Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero,
writes on his government blog,
writes on his government blog,
"Citizens have the right to see, examine, and learn from the records
that document the actions of their government."
In an unprecedented and low-profile move, on Nov. 28, 2011,
U.S. President Obama sent out a Memo to all executive department heads
with the goal to reform government records management.
The memo reads,
"Improving records management will improve performance
and promote openness and accountability (my italics)
by better documenting agency actions and decisions.
Records transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
provide the prism (my italics) through which future generations
will understand and learn from our actions and decisions."
Note the words "records transferred."
Will this mean there will be a silent censoring of records not transferred
as a "provided prism" lets outsiders only see certain items?
Prism is defined as a transparent body that disperses light.
Will government transparency become the limited clarity of a crystal prism,
with information scattered, irregular, or even vanished?
A prism is distorted transparency.
A prism is distorted transparency.
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| Post-Wikileaks plan for open U.S. government, dated 9/20/2011. The U.S. is part of the Open Government Partnership launched by 8 countries on 9/20/2011. Where was the NEWS on this? |
Of course, a well-kept electronic management of records
by any government is important for history.
While not electronic, the German Nazi records were so precise and well-kept
that historians have an important research tool of World War II,
(excepting those records destroyed as evidence by the Nazis themselves).
Which words will be written?
Which words and images will be kept?
What will be left for historians and citizens?
