Sharing sources

I received an email this morning from an historian in Ireland I had contacted about some sources she had used in chapter she had written. I was hoping that she would be willing to share some transcripts of interviews she had conducted with Irish veterans of the First World War. I had tried to contact this person previous, outlining my project in broad terms, but never heard back from her. This most recent message garnered a response. She politely told me, in not so many words, that my subject was too close to hers (admittedly her published works have been influential, why else would I contact her?), and since she was now working on her PhD she "cannot make available recordings and other materials which I have assembled for my PhD." She added, "Should you wish to avoid duplication in our two studies, you might consider concentrating on the cultural consequences of the Great War in Ireland. Music seems a particularly rich vein." ARGH! That's exactly what I'm trying/intending to do. I looked at an abstract of her project and she's concerned with the politics of Great War memory in Ireland. Granted, politics are never far from ANY subject in Irish history, but I only care about them insofar as they shape the trajectory of Irish history in general. I don't want to study politics intensively. Other folks I have contacted have been more than willing to provide suggestions and offer help, but I was really hoping that this person, who is probably one of the most learned on the subject, would fall into that category. I must admit I'm pretty bummed about this.

I sent back a polite email, thanking her for her time, explaining, briefly, I was interested in the cultural aspect, and that, perhaps, we could be of help to each other in the future. No reason to slam the door closed, eh?

On the one hand I get it. The dissertation is a big project and nobody wants their work copied. In that regard, some sources may need to be protected to ensure the uniqueness and the integrity of a project. On the other hand, it seems detrimental to furthering an aspect of history. Perhaps that's a bit idealistic, but the few people who study the Great War in Ireland understand that it's not your typical brand of Irish history. To study it means committing one's work to exposing people to an aspect of the past written out of the history books, generally. Dissertations must be unique pieces of research, but no two projects will ever be exactly the same, even if they use (some of) the same sources. In that regard, the unwillingness to share material seems a bit myopic. If it were something that I could go back and find at an archive, that would be one thing, and, perhaps, because these are interviews she personally conducted there is a personal stake to be had in how they're used and who uses them. But unless the interviewees specified that no one else should use them, that seems a bit selfish (to me at least).

A former colleague of mine at Loyola once told me, to paraphase, there are two types of Irish historians, those that are friendly and willing to do whatever they can to help you, and those who are bastards. Based on a single email I cannot put the subject of this post firmly into the latter category because of the caveats already mentioned. But it seems that the dial certainly was nudged in that direction a little bit (but to her credit she was polite, and, on the surface, made a valid argument).

This begs the question: should people in the same field be expected to share sources? Where does one draw the line with sharing sources? How should requests for information by colleagues be handled?