COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION TASK TEAM 1 -- CONTENT CONTROL FINAL REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01139A000400060004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 25
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2005
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 15, 1967
• Content Type: REPORT

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CODIB-D-111/1.1/4
15 January 1967
U N I T E D S T A T E S I N T E L L I G E N C E B 0 A. R D
COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION
TASK TEAM I -- CONTENT CONTROL
FINAL REPORT
Group 1
S-E-C-R-E-T. Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification.
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CODIB-D-111/1.1/4
15 January 1967
U N I T E D S T A T E S I N T E L L I G E N C E B 0 A R D
COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION
TASK TEAM I - CONTENT CONTROL
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chairman, Committee on Documentation
SUBJECT: Transmittal of Task Team I Final Report
REFERENCE: CODIB-D-111/1.1/2, 30 October 1964
1. CODIB Task Team I - Content Control submits herewith its
final report and a proposed USIB Content Control Code for CODIB
consideration and approval. The substance of the Task Team's
Interim Report (T,/l/R-1, 3 January 1966) is incorporated into
this final report.
2. The Task Team performed all of its tasks and designed a
scheme which it believes satisfies all of the parameters as
stated in its Terms of Reference. Incremental implementation
should now proceed as recommended in this report.
3. The Chairman wishes to commend highly the members of the
Task Team for more than two years of dedicated endeavor in developing
this product. The members were:
NSA;
F
L;lA;l IDIA; Mr. Robert Whi and Mrs. Mary
Veilleux, Department of State, and CODIB Support
Chairman
Task Team I - Content Control
Group 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification.
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U N I T E D S T A T E S I N T E L L I G E N C E B 0 A R D
COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION
TASK TEAM I - CONTENT CONTROL
Final Report
Table of Contents
Chapter
Page
I. Introduction ..............................................
1
II. Major Publishers and Item Flow ............................
1
DIA .....................................................
2
CIA..... ................................................. .
2
NSA..... .....................
...........................
3
Department of State .....................................
3
III.
Characteristics of Present Dissemination Systems ...........
3
IV.
Review of Existing Codes ...................................
5
V.
Design and Development of a Content Control Scheme .........
10
VI.
Developmental Testing of the Content Control Scheme ........
16
VII.
The Proposed Content Control Code (CCC) [Discussion] .......
19
VIII.
Uses of the Proposed Content Control Code (CCC) ............
21
IX.
Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Economy .....................
23
X.
Implementation of the Content Control Code .................
25
XI.
Task Team Recommendations ..................................
27
1. Terms of Reference (CODIB-D-111/1.1/2)
2. Major Publishers and Distribution Points
3. Document Flow
4. Characteristics of Existing Area Codes
5. Characteristics of Existing Subject Codes
6. Area Content Control Design Characteristics
Proposed USIB Content Control Code
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I. Introduction
In accordance with its Terms of Rreference, Appendix 1, the
Content Control Team has completed-its assignment. It has:
1. identified the major publishers of intelligence
items and the primary distribution points through which
these items flow;
2. reviewed existing subject codes with special
emphasis on those used by analysts to express their
intelligence interests;
3. developed a tentative content control scheme,
conducted a series of design tests, and received comments
thereon from persons responsible for the production and
distribution of intelligence items;
4. completed the-design and development of the proposed
Content Control Code whos three. schedules for coding by
geographic-political area, by subject matter, and by
specifics of an identifying nature;
5. determined potential values and advantages of
implementing and maintaining the proposed Code;
6. estimated the type and amount of training
necessary for an individual to apply the Code to intelligence
items;
7. estimated the performance of the proposed system
in terms of_effectiveness, efficiency and economy;
8. recommended procedures for implementing and
monitoring content control code applications. The proposed
Content Control Code is attached to this report.
II. Major Publishers and Item Flow.
The Team first addressed itself to identifying the major
publishers of intelligence items and the primary distribution
points through which these items flow. Listings of the major
publishers and primary and secondary distribution points for
intelligence and information reports were compiled by the team
members for their respective agencies (see Appendix 2). Following
team review of these compilations, arrangements were made with DIA,
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h. National Intelligence Survey - NIS Areas
i. Names of Selected Major Political Areas of
the World (Board on Geographic Names)
2. Early in the deliberations it was noted that there
appear to exist two conceptuaL poles to which most of these area
structures gravitate. These poles represent, on one hand,
primary geographic orientation and on the other, primary political
orientation. However, none of the systems examined is exclusively
oriented one, way or the other. The systems achieve a middle
ground; between geographic and political orientation usually on
a case-by-case basis. It is interesting to note that where
geographic and political boundaries coincide the structures of
the systems are markedly compatible. There is an apparent
degree of compatibility approaching 50% among the systems
analyzed. However, problems of compatibility in structure appear
to arise in connection with the treatment of non-contiguous
political subdivisions, off-shore islands,-and island and island
group dependencies. Variations in nomenclature apparent in
existing systems seem to reflect the use of different authorita-
tive sources and different dates of information. Factors giving
rise to the decision to give an entity its own coding or to
treat it as a cross reference included under another coding
appear closely related to the purposes for which the particular
structure was initially designed. It is also indicative of a
need for subdivision of political entities below the country/
dependency level, at least in certain areas.
3. In summation, the area content control problem
is not one of simply agreeing upon a certain notation scheme,
but of agreeing upon the definition of each entry in the
structure itself. For example, should or should not the
coding for Italy include Sardinia, Sicily and Pantelleria?
Should the coded entry be the Mascarene Islands, or should this
geographic entity be divided along political lines and separate
codes be assigned to the French overseas territory, La Reunion
and the British Colony of Mauritius? Should Ecuador include the
Galapagos Islands or should the Galapagos Islands be made a
separate coded entry? In essence, should problems such as these
be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, or should some general
rule be developed and be followed in all cases? It is
apparent that the case-by-case basis is the most popular
solution and that on such a basis different decisions are
made by designers at different times. These differences are
frequently based on particular, current needs of the using
organization.
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4. The foregoing considerations demonstrated the
need for further study to determine whether geography or
political affiliation should be the primary consideration
in dealing with an area. For this purpose the Task Team
acquired and studied a number of authoritative sources as
follows:
a. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1963 Edition
with Yearbooks for 1964 and 1965.
b. National Geographic Atlas of the World, 1963.
c. Profiles of Newly Independent States.
Department of State Geographic Bulletin #1, Revisions
dated July 1964 and May 1965.
d. Status of the World's Nations, Department
of State Geographic Bulletin #20. Revisions dated
March, 1964 and May 1965.
e. Survey of the French Republic, Department
of State Geographic Bulletin #4 dated April, 1965.
f. United States and Outlying Areas, Department
of State Geographic Bulletin #5 dated April, 1965 and
Geographic Report #4 same title,dated February 7, 1963.
g. Portugal and Overseas Provinces, Department
of State Geographic Report #5 dated August 11, 1961.
h. Kingdom of the Netherlands, Department of
State Geographic Report #6, dated November 30, 1961.
i. Kingdom of Denmark, Department of State
Geographic Report #7 dated April 6, 1962.
j. The Spanish State, Department of State
Geographic Report #8 dated June 7, 1962.
k. Geographic Regions of Asia: South and East.
Reprinted from the Department of State Bulletin February 1,
1960 (Revised).
1. The Middle East, an Indefinable Region.
Reprinted from the Department of State Bulletin. Released
June, 1964.
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M. Names and Places in Latin America.
Reprinted from the Department of State Bulletin.
Released October, 1961.
Y:. Geographic Terminology of Europe.
Reprinted from Department of State Bulletin.
Undated.
o. Africa: Names and Concepts. Reprinted
from the Department'of State Bulletin. Undated.
Also, during these deliberations comments and guidance were
obtained from the Office of the Geographer, Department of State and
the Board on Geographic Names (BGN).
5. The Team considered many possibilities and studied
a number of existing subject codes, finally selecting three
established community codes for detailed study and comparison: the
ISC which is the USIB-sponsored classification scheme; the Department
of State's Classification Handbook which has a "content control" type
application; and. the Intelligence Publications Index (IPI), a
contrasting broad subject scheme. A draft content control code
prepared by the SCIPS Staff was also included in the detailed
comparison in order to'benefit from the earlier effort. DIA's
Statement of Intelligence Interest was studied with interest from a
functional viewpoint but was considered parallel to the ISC in
structure. The comparison showed that the four codes had a surprising
degree of similarity. The differences, however, provided grounds for
considerable discussion and ultimately led to the decision to design
a new code.
6. Attached as Appendix 5 is a reproduction of 6 charts
originally prepared as working aids for the Team. Chart #1 compares
the four subject codes at the chapter or primary heading level.
The other five charts compare the four codes at the secondary level;
that is, at the next level within each of five principal subject
headings.
7. The ISC is a scheme for indexing in some depth,
having about 5000 subject entries which may be combined with many
modifiers. The scheme is divided into seven principal chapters,
including the five common to the other schemes: POLITICS, SOCIAL and
CULTURAL, ECONOMICS, SCIENCE, and ARMED FORCES: and two unique
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categories: COMMODITIES/WEAPONS and TRANSPORTATION/COMMUNICATIONS.
The ISC is subdivided at the secondary level by some 50 broad
headings used only for organization: of the scheme and not for indexing.
B. The Department of State's Records Classification
Handbook scheme, as mentioned previously, provides the basis for
an official file system. The Handbook is subdivided into seven
principal groupings which, like the secondary headings of the ISC,
are used only for organization of the book itself. It is distinguished
from the other schemes principally by the combination of POLITICS and
DEFENSE and the separation of CULTURE and INFORMATION from SOCIAL.
Other parochial interests result in the two headings ADMIN and CONSULAR.
The scheme has 55 subject headings within the seven groupings mentioned
above.
9. The IPI is designed for the indexing of finished
intelligence and for this purpose has found it appropriate to have
INTELLIGENCE, COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT, MILITARY WEAPONS, and
GEOGRAPHY in addition to five others.for a total of nine primary
headings. There are 57 secondary headings.
10. The SCIPS preliminary content control scheme
shows a relationship to the IPI but has separated as primary headings
TRANSPORTATION and ATOMIC ENERGY, in addition to COMMUNICATIONS,
WEAPONS and GEOGRAPHY.
11. The four schemes reflect a consensus on the
division of information into the principal categories of POLITICS,
SOCIAL and CULTURAL, ECONOMICS, SCIENCE and ARMED FORCES, although
each has its own unique headings. However, the categories of
TRANSPORTATION and COMMUNICATION receive diverse treatment in the
four schemes. They are combined into one chapter of the ISC, are
both subsumed under ECONOMICS in the State scheme, are split into
separate main categories of the SCIPS scheme, while in the Intelli-
gency Publications Index, COMMUNICATIONS is a separate category and
TRANSPORTATION is subsumed under ECONOMICS.
12. The question of how to handle commodities
was even more difficult. COMMODITIES form a chapter of the ISC,
but fall under ECONOMICS in the State, SCIPS, and IPI schemes.
However, military weapons are separate main categories in the
SCIPS and IPI schemes, fall under POLITICAL and DEFENSE in the
State Code, and are grouped with the other commodities in the ISC.
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V. Design and Development of a Content Control Scheme.
The Terms of Reference, Appendix 1, contain a list of parameters
or characteristics which should be reflected in a content control
code. In this Section, each of these parameters is described in
terms of operating characteristics encountered in the community. The
method selected by the Team to satisfy each of these parameters is
discussed in detail below. With this background information in mind,
it is possible to evaluate the extent to which these parameters have
been met by the proposed Content Control Code.in its final form.
.1. The first parameter stated that the proposed Code should
encompass all subject areas germane to U. S. intelligence. In
an effort to ensure the satisfaction of this criterion the Team
reviewed the major existing area and subject codes used within
the intelligence community and made sure that the major elements
of each could be properly subsumed under a section of the Code.
The Team also recognized that analysts of the intelligence
community use several different approaches in organizing intel-
ligence information. For example, information may be organized
by geographic-political entities, by subject categories, and by
the names of persons, organizations and things. However, these
elements are treated differently by different analysts. Some
analysts may use area as a major category with subject headings
and names as minor subdivisions, others consider special subjects
such as Economics and Communications as major categories with
geographic areas and names of specifics being treated as minor
subdivisions. Therefore, it was decided that the Code should
be responsive to each of these three approaches. In this way
the contents of intelligence items can be represented in a
manner generally reflecting the needs of the greatest number
of users.
2. The second parameter stated that the proposed Code
should be applicable to material of all sources and classifi-
cations. The Task Team did riot restrict itself to any source or to
a,n y classification. However, no effort has been made to ferret
out all of those areas of the intelligence community which have
a need for content control- Instead, the Task Team has concen-
trated its effort on its third parameter which was to design a
scheme applicable to the bulk quantity of intelligence items.
3. Although the proposed Code as designed is considered
applicable to a wide range of intelligence items, the Team noted
that studies and intelligence summaries which usually have des--
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volving place names (which quite often appear in reporting),
and location (by geographic coordinates or other grid system).
6. However, many dissemination and retrieval requirements
are indicated in terms of geographic regions rather than by
specific countries and dependencies. There are also numerous
reports issued which may treat selectively on an entire region.
Instances were noted in existing systems where geographic
regions are defined differently in terms of countries and
dependencies involved. For example, Turkey and Cyprus might
be placed in Europe or in the Near East, the United Arab
Republic in Africa or in the Near East, the Soviet Union-in
Europq,in Asia, in both or in neither.
7. For the purposes of content control, it was considered
absolutely essential that aggregations such as these be defined
in an unambiguous manner. A trigraph coding was developed
which indicates the assigned World Region as its first character.
The second and third characters make up a unique digraph to
indicate specific countries or dependencies. Thus each World
Region is automatically definable in terms of the countries and
dependencies which comprise it. The countries and dependencies
themselves are defined in scope notes.
8. When political subdivisions of countries or dependencies
fall in World Regions different from the World Region in which
the bulk of their parent state falls, they are given the first
character coding of the World Region in which they fall. Thus,
the trigraph coding for the Azores, which is a first order
political subdivision of Portugal, is NPO since it lies 900-
1200 miles west of Lisbon in the Atlantic Ocean. The rest of
Portugal is trigraph coded, LPO indicating that it falls
geographically in Western Europe, Note that the second and third
characters are PO in both cases. Consequently when all of
Portugal is required, the first character can be ignored and
selection can be based on the second and third characters.
9. In identifying and defining subjects for content control
purposes, a hierarchical scheme was used for study and comparison
purposes and as a check on completeness of coverage. The subject
categories utlimately selected, although grouped into the
following 7 sections, stand independent of any subordination.
Section
1
- Government and Politics
Section
2
- Social Structure and Cultural Affairs
Section
3
- Science and Technology
Section
4
- Economics
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Section
5
- Transportation
Section
6
- Communications
Section
7
- Armed Forces
Much time and effort was spent in preparing scope notes and
appropriate cross references for each subject category. These
were considered of utmost importance in minimizing ambiguity of
interpretation and ensuring uniform application, of the codings.
10... Fourteen subject modifiers are provided in the
proposed Code. These modifiers allow additional specificity
when used in conjunction with the subject categories and keep
redundancy in subject categories to a minimum. One set of
modifiers is provided to indicate the status (research and
development, production, or use) of natural resources, materials,
commodities, equipment, and related installations;and an
additional modifier is included for import and export data. A
second set of eight modifiers is provided to indicate military
services. A single modifier is provided to indicate the
presence of order-of-battle data and a second single modifier
to indicate communist or communist-inspired activities in non-
communist countries.
11. Eight identifiers are included in the proposed Code
to flag the fact that proper names, addresses, equipment
designations, etc. appear in the text. These specific classes
of information can be of significant intelligence value and
often form the basis for organizing reference files and
registers.
12. The fifth parameter in the Teamts Terms of Reference
specified that application of the proposed Code should require
little index training. In addition to the relatively small
number of elements in each part of the code, each subject
element is represented by a mnemonic tetragraph and each
modifier and identifier with a single letter. Serious
consideration was also given to recommending a mnemonic
tetragraph for geographic areas but this suggestion was
reluctantly discarded because of the desire for compatibility
with government-wide standardization efforts and because of
the reluctance to discard the usefulness of the two-level
hierarchy which is a feature of the recommended trigraphic
geographic-political coding.
13. The proposed Code contains general and specific
instructions for applying the codings together with examples
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thereof. The scope notes appearing in the various schedules are
very specific in directing the coder to the appropriate geographic-
political entity or subject category. An alphabetical index of
subjects, modifiers, and identifiers is provided to bridge the
language barrier that frequently exists between specialized subject
matter and the generalized statements of a coding system. A
conscientious effort was made to identify all potentially ambiguous
entries and provide sufficient clarification to achieve consistent
application.
14. The proposed Code is adaptable to machine processing
(parameter 6). It does not mix alphabetic and numeric characters.
It uses standard characters to separate the various parts and
elements of the notations and is therefore suitable for a variety
of orderings.
15. The Task Team believes that the proposed Code is
practicable to maintain (parameter 7).
a. Each geographic-political entity is based on one
of five criteria which are relatively easy to apply.
Separate codes have been established for:
1. Sovereign states, quasi-independent states,
neutral zones between states.
2. Political subdivisions of states which fall
in World Regions other than the region to which their
capital is assigned. (The second and third characters
of the notation are those of their sovereign state).
3. Dependencies of states including islands
and is-Land groups. (Where an island or island group
is divided politically, this division is respected
and multiple notations assigned accordingly).
4. Water areas and international waterways.
5,. Extraterrestrial bodies.
Careful adherence to these criteria prevents the code from
degenerating into an unbalanced and overlapping set of entities
chosen. in an ad hoc manner to meet transient demands.
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b. In defining the subject categories, the Team sought
to establish the elements on a uniformly generic level which
would give equal treatment to the specialties of the several
agencies involved. It is anticipated that future changes will
be largely improvements in scope notes, cross references and
index entries but not in the elements themselves. Efforts to
make the code more specific: by' increasing the number of entries
should be resisted.
16. The last parameter in the Terms of Reference stated that
provision be made for maintenance and control of the Code. This
requirement is covered in Section XI, Recommendation 6.
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APPENDIX 3
DOCUMENT FLOW
(Information as of January 1965)
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APPENDIX 4
CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTING AREA CODES
(Information as of January 1965)
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APPENDIX 5
CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTING SUBJECT CODES
(Information as of January 1965)
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This appendix is a reproduction of briefing charts originally
prepared for the internal use of the Task Team. The purpose of these
charts was to reflect the similarities of the schemes studied as well
as to suggest the subjects which would require special consideration.
The first chart compares the four schemes at the "chapter" level.
The other five charts compare the schemes at principal subject headings
within the five most common chapters: Politics, Social and Cultural,
Science, Economics, Armed Forces. The primary subject headings for
each scheme appear in capital letters. Lower case entries indicate
that the subject is subsumed in that scheme under the heading which is
indicated by a line number in parentheses.
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AREA CONTENT CONTROL SCHEME DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS
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