Interesting that this should come up just now. I've just finished a review of the ASC Guidelines for Institutional Database Policies for _SPECTRA_, I recommend you get a copy. I agree that we have an obligation to protect the privacy of of individuals and restrict access to some data, but the data user should realize that an object/specimen based database is by definition a work in progress. To deny access on the grounds that the data becomes dated quickly is foolish. By extention, you would never publish books or articles because of the stale information they would contain in the 1-4 years they take to get into traditional print. The Canadian Heritage Information Network has been compiling databases for 25 years now, and no one seems to have suffered to greatly from the public accessibility of a few million records. (I rarely say anything good about CHIN, but they were major data providers before the PC revolution - unfortunately technology seems to be locking them into a mainframe mind set). Again I agree that databases created for internal or research purposes should be treated differently then collections based data, but this too was the arguement used to deny access to the Qumran scrolls for decades. Legitimate researchers and students should be given access to everything but work in progress, and all primate data should have a stature of limitations for its release (say 3 years for full disclosure - if you can't complete a publications within that time...). I realize that there are intellectual property rights issues here as well, and I think all institutions should develop clear guidelines and policies for staff. As we finally come to realize that data has a real world value we need to come to grips with this issue before we launch into electronic value added services or products. I don't mean to sound like a flame, but I feel strongly on this issue. To deny access to anything but the most sensitive data is akin to any other form of censorship of information. Richard Gerrard Registrar Toronto Historical Board [log in to unmask]