Libraries are large and complex organizations. The communications made to Stanley Kurtz, National Review (NRO) contributing editor by staff of the University of Illinois – Chicago (UI-Chicago) about the availability of the requested collection, especially comments by a part-time graduate student, are not prima facie evidence of a coverup or conspiracy. Rather, the allegations provide evidence on the state of one specialized collection in a large library with millions of individual items that is not intimately known in its entirety at the initial points of public contact.
What is clear is that the National Review’s contributing editor’s comments and other stories in the press show that these writers are noticeably unfamiliar with how special collections in academic libraries operate.
Details here and here.
