REPORT ON FEDERAL RECORDS CONFERENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00402R000100170006-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2006
• Sequence Number: 6
• Content Type: MF

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Information Processing Staff, O/PPB
Information Processing Coordinators
SUBJECT : Report on Federal Records Conference
1. At the Eighth Annual Federal Records Management Officers
Conference last week papers were presented on the following infor-
mation which I believe may be of interest to you.
a. UNICON--690: (Unidensity Coherent Light Data Proces-
sing System is operational and the first will be de-
livered this fall.) This Laser Mass Memory System
developed by Precision Instruments Company, Palo Alto,
California, provides the capability of permanently
recording and reproducing more than a trillion bits
of digital data under computer control. This compares
with some 5,600 reels of tape, on line. It has a data
transfer rate of 500,000 bytes per second. The new
permanent recording process employs a laser to vapor-
ize minute (4 x 3 micron) holes in the metallic sur-
face of changeable recording strips mounted on two in-
dependent read/write drums. The system's 400 data
strips (4.75" x 31.25") are in 18 removable packs.
Each data strip has 2.9 billion bits. Besides the la-
ser Recording Unit the system includes a Recorder Con-
trol Unit with a hardware and software interface to
the user's computers. (Cost: about $750,000.)
b. Sylvania--LF-500: Instrumentation Recorder using a
laser optical system on 8 mm photographic film (instead
of magnetic heads and oxide tapes) permanently records
180,000 bits per inch on 36 channels at a rate of over
ten million bits per second. The LF-500 has 2,000 feet
of film on a 10 1/2 inch reel providing information
storage in one tenth the space required by other sys-
tems.
c. Magnavox Corporation--Visual Reproduction of Magnetic
Tapes: Although still a laboratory process the Magnavox
engineers have reproduced magnetic tapes through opti-
cal systems. Further, thru their signal enhancement
they have visually reproduced degaussed and degraded
 Approver, RI~ 2.QQQ/12/15 : CIA RDP7,3-00402R000100170006-0
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magnetic tape data.
d. Bell Laboratories--Holography: Other developments still
in the laboratories are the ultra sonic deflection of
light beams and the high density optical photo storage
of 100 million bits per second with storage of one bil-
lion per square inch.
e. Newell Industries--Tape Winding: The damaging effects of
humidity and temperature changes are eliminated for long-
stored tapes by the high compression magnetic tape wind-
ing process of the Newell Industry.
f. National Archives--Tape Life: Recent research by National
Archives among magnetic tape producers and users has de-
termined a general agreement that magnetic tape is not an
Archival storage media. They found the tape's useful life
to range between ten and fifteen years, at which time the
error, rate averages 87 per tape with a high of 200 drop-
outs on some tapes in the survey. National Archives ex-
pects to announce ten to twelve years as a safe life ex-
pectancy for magnetic tape files.
g. Federal Records Management: The necessity and objectives
of continuing Federal inventories of magnetic tapes was
explained and the general need for better documentation
and scheduled preservation or disposition of tape files
was stressed. A recent paper by Yale Professor Richard
Ruggles on "Preservation of Machine Readable Records"
was referenced. A copy was obtained for Agency IPC's.
Additional copies may be obtained from the Agency Records
Management Officer.
2. The Records Management Conference with the Theme of "Data
Compaction" emphasized storage and retrieval systems rather than data
processing and also presented several papers on microfilming systems
and technology. These included: Microfilm Equipment Selection Cri-
teria, Computer Output Microfilm (COM) Systems, Social Security's new
provision of Microfiche files in its field offices, the National Cash
Register's super microfiche, the 150 to 1."PCMI", plus other develop-
ments in microform technology.
 3. We have some additional information here and can identify
the people who made the presentations if you are interested in pur-
suing any of these systems further. r`
Information Processing
Coordinator, DD/S
Attachments
Professor Ruggles' Paper