[SIGCIS-Members] query update: de/classification at govt archives re sci/tech

[Sharon Traweek]

Hi
My sincerely thanks to all who have responded to my query Monday 
concerning research on the history of de/classification processes pursued 
by historians, archivists, etc. [See below.]

I have been aware of and impressed by the scholars who are conducting 
research on cold war science and engineering fields/projects and in so 
doing have worked to open previously re/classified government documents on 
their topics of interest. I also have been aware of and impressed by the 
archivists, historians, lawyers, engineers, and scientists who have 
persisted in opening previously classified government documents. I teach 
about their work and the relevant organizations.

I have been looking for historical surveys, reviews, and analyses of these 
research processes during the last twenty years, at least, in the US, as 
well as other countries, such as China, France, Germany, India, Iran, 
Italy, Japan, Korea, Soviet Union, Sweden, UK, etc, where sci/tech 
research & development would have been strongly shaped by the cold war.

I was taught long ago that for 50 years [early 40s to early 90s] about 50% 
of the S&T workforce with 50% of national R&D funding worked on 
clandestine projects in the US and the former Soviet Union. I try to teach 
students how historians have been investigating that half of our topic and 
its relationship with the other half. I use various examples from the work 
of historians and archivists; I would like to include surveys, reviews, 
and analyses of these process.

Sincerely,
Sharon Traweek, UCLA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:39:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Sharon Traweek <traweek at history.ucla.edu>
To: members at sigcis.org
Subject: de/classification of US government archives re sci/technology
Hi,
I would appreciate references to any scholarly studies focused specifically on 
the opening of US cold war government archives of classified  [secret] research 
in the sciences and engineering fields. I have searched for a review article on 
this topic, including the changing US government strategies for 
de/classification, but have not found one. That is, I am looking for research 
on the history of the de/classification process at US government archives 1945 
to the present and public access to such materials concerning science and 
technology. I am aware of passages on this topic distributed in various 
histories of particular cold war sciences and technologies and in some 
histories and legal studies of the US Freedom of Information Act of 1966 and 
the relevant Presidential Executive Orders [12958/13292/13526] on this topic 
issued since 1995.
Cordially,
Sharon Traweek, UCLA