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Question

 

Gramps,

Why is there a restricted section in the Church’ archives?

Andrew

 

Answer

 

Dear Andrew,

Probably the best way I can answer this is to quote directly from lds.org Access Policy:

The Church History Department stores its collections in facilities located around the world and is committed to making its collections available to the public through physical and electronic means without compromising those that are sacred, confidential, private, or otherwise restricted for legal, ethical, or religious reasons. Restrictions may be placed on items and collections by statutes or regulations, the creators or donors of the records, the Church’s ecclesiastical leaders, and Church History staff after careful review. The online catalog available to the public indicates restrictions for specific items and collections.

In administering access, the Church History Department follows these general definitions:

  • Sacred: Items that provide specific information about temple rites and ceremonies or other sacred matters that have not been officially approved for release. Sacred items may in some instances include privately produced records, published items, art, and artifacts
  • Private: Items containing information that is protected by applicable privacy laws.
  • Confidential: Records produced in the course of Church business that takes place in non-public settings. Confidential records are primarily found in official Church records and in privately created papers of General Authorities, Church officers, Church employees, ecclesiastical leaders, clerks, and others holding positions of trust.
  • Creator or donor defined: Restrictions imposed by item creators and/or donors during the accession or acquisition process.
  • Intellectual property: Items containing information owned by external parties and governed by national and international copyright laws. Copyright may place limitations on reproduction or publication of items in our collections.
  • Defamation: Items containing information known to defame a person as defined by law.
  • Physical characteristics: Items in need of special handling or conservation, items stored on obsolete media, and items of significant monetary value may be restricted temporarily or indefinitely. Reasonable efforts will be made to prepare publicly-accessible copies of these items.
  • Location: Items stored offsite, in cold storage, in a legal jurisdiction that prohibits trans-border sharing, or on display in an exhibit may not be immediately available for access. Reasonable efforts will be made to access the items or to prepare publicly accessible copies of these items.
  • Work in process: Items or collections that are being processed after acquisition or have been removed from storage for conservation, digitization, or display will not be accessible to researchers until the work process is completed.

 

Gramps

 

 

 

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