I wasn’t even aware they had closed it, but the Army reopened their Reimer Digital Library to the public a month after it decided to close it behind a firewall.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) filed a FOIA request for all of the library’s contents and then posted these documents to the FAS website!
The FAS Secrecy News blog documented the experience on the following blog posts:
Army Blocks Public Access to Digital Library
Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library
Army Will Restore Access to Online Library Within 2 Weeks
The Reimer Digital Library is Back
Thank goodness for organizations like the FAS who are keeping tabs on and taking a stand on disturbing occurrences like this. Be sure to check out the FAS Project on Government Secrecy website and blog.
It gives me the chills to think how many other resources are “closed” or simply vanish without our knowledge. I’ve been working as a Government Documents Librarian for a little over a year and I’ve only read about restricted access…but I dread the day I have to actually experience it. At least I feel more prepared after reading about the FOIA request filing procedures and I know where to get support if I have questions (yes, I’m talking about you, my fellow FGI readers!).
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