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> There is a fine line between what one archivist or person might consider
> vexatious & what another might consider merely eccentric (or even normal!).
> Many genuine and respected researchers over the years have sailed
> dangerously close to this line and on occasion have even crossed it, whilst
> still retaining their public reputations. Likewise there have been those
> who have sought demonstrably to misrepresent or distort the evidence they
> have gathered but at least in the research room have given every other
> appearance of respectability.
>
> Appearance, behavior, intent all merge into the dangerous area of
> subjectively. Anyone who has ever worked behind the desk of a public
> library will know the vast range of character, capacity, logic, passion and
> personal hygene that requires information delivery. In libraries no user
> can be denied for any of these reasons. As information providers (albeit of
> a different type to librarians) we are obliged within the paramaters of
> relevant legislation to meet the requirements of researchers who are
> accredited as such by our institutions. If we deny that information to
> researchers for reasons other than those listed above then we add an
> editorial component to our role which in some cases could be interpreted as
> censorship. It is up to critics (in the widest sense of the word) of the
> completed project to decide on its worth or veracity, as Mr Irving has
> discovered to his cost. This is not an area where we should attempt to
> intervene, certainly below the institutional level.
>
> On the issue of vexatiousness, at least twice a year I was obliged to deal
> with a researcher who was a retired pilot. He insisted that the laws of
> physics were wrong & that the reasons given for an aircraft's ability to
> stay in the air were other than those accepted by the scientific community.
> He felt he could disprove the accepted laws but as yet had not discovered
> the true laws of flight. Not just a nuisance, but a real worry at holiday
> time while waiting on the runway!
>


--
Tim Raymond                             [log in to unmask]
Director,                               233 Votey
EM Computer Facility                    Burlington, Vt. 05405
The University of Vermont               (802) 656-0508