OU administrators and Alden Library officials received a formal visit Friday from the Guatemalan ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador Pedro Miguel Lamport visited Alden's display of Guatemalan artifacts, books and photos.

Alden is the official depository for the country's literature and documents.

The display includes documents and artifacts OU President Robert Glidden brought back from Guatemala in September.

The library will continue to receive Guatemalan documents, said Josep Rota, OU director of international studies.

"The agreement with Guatemala will help in preserving, documenting and digitizing the documents," Rota said.

As the official depository of Guatemala, Alden receives free copies of academic and government documents. In return, Alden publicizes the documents availability, primarily through the Computer Library Center, an international library cataloging directory.

Glidden said he sees the agreement with Guatemala as an opportunity to attract scholars and looks forward to building a cooperative, cultural exchange.

"In a sense, being the official depository of these documents is only the beginning of what I think will be a cooperative, fruitful exchange," he said.