Target Audience: Law librarians from all types of libraries whose patrons need access to declassified records for their research
Learning Outcomes:
1) Participants will be able to identify five challenges related to the federal government’s declassification policy and assess the effectiveness of the National Declassification Center in addressing these challenges.
2) Participants will be able to list effective strategies for locating and making use of newly declassified records to benefit their library users and contribute to a more open government.
The National Declassification Center (NDC), established by Executive Order in late 2009, has the vital task of preparing a revised backlog of approximately 385 million pages for public release by December 31, 2013. Many of these records are of great interest to legal researchers. NDC Director Sheryl Jasielum Shenberger will discuss the progress the NDC has made in addressing this growing backlog and prioritizing records for release, as well as the challenges that remain. Nate Jones, FOIA Coordinator for the National Security Archive, will assess the progress that the NDC has made from an outsider’s perspective, and Catherine Dunn, Government Relations Committee Chair and moderator of this session, will outline the sources available for accessing declassified documents and discuss how researchers can use them effectively.