The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has declassified and opened to the public approximately 180,000 pages of materials from the Nixon Presidential Materials Project. The documents, which formerly resided in National Security Council (NSC) Institutional Files, include NSC committee and intelligence files, as well as policy papers.

In other NARA news, the Truman Presidential Museum & Library announced last week the discovery of a handwritten diary, dating from 1947, with 42 entries by President Harry S. Truman. "This is probably the most important document the Truman Library has opened in 20 years," said Michael J. Devine, director of the library, which is in Independence, Mo, "Once again, in this diary, we are able to hear that strong personal voice that Truman almost always projected in his writing. We learn something new both about his presidency and about him as a person."

Truman writes about presidential ghosts in the White House, his early-morning ritual, the resignation of James F. Byrnes as secretary of state and appointment of George Marshall to succeed him, and his mother's death. You can see images and transcriptions of each diary entry on the Truman Library Web site, <www.trumanlibrary.org>.