Mississippi State is one of the few universities to house presidential papers.

The Reagan documents would be the first presidential papers released under the act.

Until recently, many contemporary historians have been able to take access to presidential papers more or less for granted.

It holds the most precious early American Presidential papers in the nation.

Critics of the current system even argue that Presidential papers should be gathered at a single site in Washington.

But presidential libraries are much more than collections of presidential papers.

Administration officials said the order would provide an "orderly process" to help archivists handle requests for presidential papers.

Roosevelt's decision stemmed from his belief that Presidential papers were an important part of the national heritage and should be accessible to the public.

He was involved in negotiating the agreement with Nixon's lawyers for sharing ownership of his presidential papers and tapes.

The 1978 law defines Presidential papers as those created by the President or his staff that relate to their official duties.