Re: [ha-Safran] FW: Looking for advice re: confidential information in synagogue archives

Andrea Rapp Mon, 08 May 2017 17:48:46 -0700

You can include in your policy document, a statement that the archives are 
mainly for the use of the Board and Staff of the synagogue, and that permission 
of the senior rabbi may be needed by others who request access.   The issue of 
confidentiality came up when an adult adoptee searching for information on 
birth parents wanted to know if we had membership records on a certain person. 
This came up under my predecessor and prompted me to amend our policy.   As for 
records showing deceased members' financial debts and things like that, we 
would not keep them, what historical value would they have.Andrea Rapp, Isaac 
M. Wise Temple PS In November, the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati will 
have a weekend workshop for synagogue archivists.  Watch for it.

      From: Deena Schwimmer <[email protected]>
 To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> 
 Sent: Monday, May 8, 2017 5:02 PM
 Subject: [ha-Safran] FW: Looking for advice re: confidential information in 
synagogue archives

Hello, Diane, I think the work you reference may provide some general 
guidance on restricting material in archival collections in theAccess section. 
But I would also say that you are certainly within your rights as custodian of 
the records of your institution to restrict these materials if you have reason 
to believe their broad access may cause harm, even slight, to individuals in 
your community or inure to the detriment, even minimally, of your institution.  
While archivists’ best practices counsel an overall bent toward liberal access, 
your records are those of a private institution and you’re not under any moral 
or certainly any legal obligation to open them at all to the public.   Managing 
the restricted portion within the rest of the collection can sometimes be a bit 
of a headache, and what you’d do may depend on how much material you’re 
restricting. If there’s not too much, you can copy the restricted items and 
redact the identifying information on the copies and make these available.  If 
there’s too much material, you may not be able to do that, but you can put a 
placeholder in the folder(s) and catalog describing what’s been restricted in 
general terms.  Having said all of this, you may also want to note in the 
collection file/record somewhere that staff should review the restriction in XX 
years to see if it can be lifted (because we do strive for open access when we 
can).    Regards, Deena Schwimmer, Archivist Yeshiva University Archives       
From: Diane Wolf [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2017 4:47 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Looking for advice re: confidential information in 
synagogue archives    I have uncovered some very old (more than 75 years) bills 
for overdue synagogue fees.  These include the names and addresses of members 
in arrears, including some angry notes in response...  I can't assume that no 
one would care after all this time, as Wilmington (DE) has a number of families 
that have lived here for generations.  I know at least a few people descended 
from our synagogue founders who are current members.

Thanks to great advice from this group, I've read "Starting from Scratch: 
Creating the Synagogue Archives," and that has been a great help.  That 
document discusses the need for policy but doesn't offer any specific advice 
about how to handle confidential archival items.

I'd appreciate hearing from any one who has already tackled this issue.

Also, I hope to meet with other synagogue archivists at the AJL conference in 
June, so please let me know if you'll be there.

Thanks, as always,

Diane 

Diane Wolf 
Congregation Beth Shalom Librarian 
Wilmington DE 
[email protected]
http://www.bethshalomwilmington.org/library/

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Re: [ha-Safran] FW: Looking for advice re: confidential information in synagogue archives

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