ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Widening access to the Dead Sea Scrolls

By William A. Moffett

Director Huntington Library

The purpose of America’s great research libraries is to support the pursuit of truth: not merely to collect and preserve information, but to make it accessible to those who want it, and to do so in as free and unfettered a way as we can. Nothing could be more an- tithetical to that mission than the conduct of those who have controlled access to the Dead Sea Scrolls for the past forty years. The Huntington Library’s traditional independence and unusual resources enabled it to play a sudden and decisive role in bringing the long and sorry saga of secrecy and exclusivity to an end—to commit what The New York Times would call “a just and valuable act,” what an Omaha editor described as “hitting a home run for intellectual freedom.”

In undertaking to stand up to the Scrolls cartel, we knew we ran some considerable risks, and those who have hailed the step we took said it required courage. But given the commitment made to the donor who gave us the photo- graphs of the scrolls, given the clear policy of open access established long ago by the trustees, and given their resolute commitment to principle, we really had no other choice. In the end we simply reaffirmed our basic mission, our reason for being here.

William A. Moffett

Photo credit: Star News

At one time it was not uncommon for research libraries, including the Huntington, to restrict access to research materials, especially original materials, and to grant exclusive permission to a single scholar to edit or publish such materials. To justify such restrictions it was held that granting of exclusive permission avoided duplication of effort in identical projects and tended to assure that only qualified individuals undertook editorial tasks. Such thinking underlay the set of regulations laid down in 1938 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the use of Harvard’s archives and of other manuscripts in all branches of the university, and which for a long time was held up as a model for other repositories.

One of the admitted drawbacks was that the practice often delayed the appearance of materials in print, and discouraged legitimate scholars from undertaking impor- tant projects. Indeed, some scholars staked out claims to manuscripts which were never developed.

Thirty years ago American re- search libraries began adopting a far more open approach. Exclusive ac- cess became the exception. The trust- ees of the Folger Shakespeare Li- brary, for example, passed a resolu- tion declaring all its holdings to be in the public domain and freely avail- able to any scholar requiring their use. As director Louis B. Wright put it: “We make no effort to protect anybody’s [exclusive] right to edit a document. In my opinion that is the way it ought to be. I have never believed that a research library should undertake to police its documents. Any such effort leads inevitably to trouble. Furthermore, I doubt whether a tax exempt institu- tion could support any policy of exclusion if the case were ever taken to court. Some of the universities which try to preserve documents for the use of their graduate students are in constant hot water and have made many enemies.. ..I advise complete free- dom of access.” [Letterto Herbert Schulz, April 20, 1967.]

By that time the Huntington Library had already widened access to its holdings, and in 1967 its trustees officially established a far-reaching policy totally eliminating restrictive practices in the study, publication, and reproduction of its rare books, manuscripts, and art objects, except in cases where the terms of a gift limited the use of the material, or “for other compelling cause.” [Minutes of meeting, August 18, 1967.1

That policy has been consistently applied in succeeding years to the thousands of scholars who have drawn on the Huntington’s fabled resources, as well as commercial and educational enterprises that have used its materials.

It is that same principle which is embedded in ACRL’s and the Society of American Archivists’ 1979 “Joint Statement on Access to Original Research Materials:”

“A repository should not deny access to materials to any person or persons, nor grant privileged or exclusive use of materials to any person or person, nor conceal the existence of any body of material from any researcher, unless required to do so by law, donor, or purchase stipulations.”

Am I wrong in thinking that most of us simply accept that statement as a commonplace? Do any of us still contend with restrictions that mimic the Dead Sea Scrolls scandal? I sincerely hope not. But should any librarian or archivist find himself or herself in the position we found ourselves in at the Huntington this year, I trust that person will take heart from our experience. Be resolute! Take arms against even a sea of troubles—and by opposing, end them.