COMBINING OF MAP LIBRARY WITH GRAPHIC MATERIALS DIVISION OF REFERENCE CENTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00274A000200120010-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: December 1, 1947
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized - Approv
RDP61-0027VA000200120010-2
1 December 1947
lEMORANDUM TO: Acting Chief, Reference Center, A & M
SUBJECT: Combining of leap Library with Graphic Materials
Division of Reference Center
1. The purpose of the Reference Center is to provide a Central
Index of intelligence source materials, including biographical, industr 1,
documentary and graphic materials. The Graphic Materials Division has been
charged with recording the identification, description, and present locat-
ion of all maps and allied publications, photographs, and motion picture
films known to have been catalogued. Information regarding available maps,
for example, will be supplied to qualified users in the form of a machine-
tabulated printed list of maps on any given area or subject, with signifi-
cant descriptive information regarding each map listed. Such a list will
provide, in convenient form, an exhaustive tabulation of intelligence in-
formation available in the form of maps on a given area or subject, inso-
far as the existence and availability of those maps has been recorded.
2. In many instances it will be desirable to have an actual
collection of ms readily accessible for reference, in addition to the
tabulated inorrmation. Many requests could be filled immediately, with a
minimum of time and effort, if such a collection of maps were immediately
available for reference in conjunction with, and supplementary to, the
machine record cards.
3. The former Division of Map Intelligence and Cartography of
the State Department has recently been incorporated into CIA. Included
in the former MI Division is a map library which contains an excellent
collection of maps, with particular emphasis on political, economic, soc-
iological, and similar maps. Obviously, this collection of specialized
maps represents an extremely valuable reference source.
4. It is felt that the activities of the Map Library of the
former Division of Map Intelligence and Cartography and those of t he Map
Section of the Graphic Materials Division of Reference Center are comp-
lementary to each other and that they should be combined in the interests
of a more complete and efficient single map reference unit within CIA.
Since both activities are definitely in the nature of reference units, it
would appear logical that the combined activity should be a part of the
Reference Center.
5. Such a combination would permit the continuation of all
activities now being conducted by the two units without the creation of
any additional personnel problem. The cataloging, filing and mainten-
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ance activities of the Map Library would continue, and the activities
of the Graphic Materials Division toward the building up of a central
card index of all known graphic intelligence materials would ewise
continue. These activities, although allied, do not constitute a dup-
lication of effort to any considerable extent, but rather are comple-
mentary to one another, since the Map Library concentrates on the pro-
cessing of actual e into their files, whereas the Graphic Materials
Division is co cornea with the recording of information regarding all
known maps, including not only those held by the MI Library., but also
those held by all other map libraries, both governmental and private.
6. The proposed combination would result in the advantage
of being able to go to one reference unit within CIA for all map in-
formation -- to actually examine those maps held by the library, and
to receive, if desired, a printed list describing all known maps on
the area and subject in question, with information as to the scale,
date, publisher, language, classification, type of reproduction, and
present holder of the maps and the procedure for obtaining copies of
them. Since the combined unit would be in the Reference Center, this
map information could readily be combined with similar machine records
information on biographical, industrial, documentary the user,, n it erggraphic
materials on the area in question to supply
form, a complete index-listing of all recorded intelligence informat-
ion pertinent to his particular problem.
25X1A9a
Graphic Materials Division.
Sanitized - Approved For Release; .C,1-RDP61-00274A000200120010-2