As With Past Presidential Libraries, Bush's Will Help Tailor His Legacy, Says Pitt Archives Expert

PITTSBURGH-With the American presidency now firmly in the hands of Barack Obama, George W. Bush will begin tending to his legacy-and if he's like every other president of the last 70 years, the task will be largely carried out from his presidential library, slated to open at Texas' Southern Methodist University in 2013.

Richard Cox, a University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences professor of archival studies and an expert on presidential libraries and archives, says that presidential libraries have largely served to tailor and preserve the legacy of their respective namesakes since the presidential library system started with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939.

Cox refers to presidential libraries as "America's Pyramids," the title of a 2002 paper he published in the journal Government Information Quarterly (available at www.sis.pitt.edu/~rcox/AmericasPyramids.pdf). In the paper, Cox writes that rather than serving as a reliable and convenient archive for the nation's top civil servants, the presidential library system is largely a collection of museums spread throughout the country. Some libraries serve as a center of notable post-presidential work, such as the Carter Center human rights agency based in President Jimmy Carter's library. But others have been involved in controversy over access to records and the portrayal of events, including the libraries of presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, and George H.W. Bush.

Cox suggests that the George W. Bush library could strain the continued existence of the presidential library system for two primary reasons. First, the unprecedented volume of electronic data and communication-particularly e-mails-will be challenging to both retrieve and archive. Secondly, the administration's well-known invocation of executive privilege could set the stage for controversy regarding public access to records once the library opens.

"I think this library will be a huge battleground for opening up presidential records in general, Cox said. "I'm hopeful that the controversy will persuade President Obama to end the presidential library system and have all presidential records centrally located in the National Archives."

A well-known archivist, Cox has worked at the New York State Archives and Records Administration, Alabama Department of Archives and History, and the Maryland Historical Society. He chaired the Society of American Archivists (SAA) committee that drafted new graduate archival education guidelines adopted by the SAA Council in 1988, served for four years as a member of the SAA's Committee on Education and Professional Development, and was a member of the society's governing council from 1986 to 1989. He served as the SAA's publications editor from 2002 to 2006. Cox edited the "American Archivist" from 1991 to 1995 and was editor of the "Records and Information Management Report," which provides in-depth discussions of topics vital to professional information managers, from 2001 to 2007. Since 1973, he has written numerous books and academic articles on archiving and information preservation. More information on Cox is available on his Pitt faculty page at www.sis.pitt.edu/~rcox/

Contact Richard Cox at 412-624-3245, rcox@sis.pitt.edu, or through Pitt news representative Morgan Kelly.

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