RECORDS MANAGEMENT BOARD REPORT - JANUARY THRU JUNE 1970

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00099A000200100003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 9, 1999
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 10, 1970
• Content Type: MF

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10 JULY 1970
r MORANDUM FOR: Executive Director--Comptroller
THROUGH t Deputy Director for Support
SUBJECT s Records Management Board Report .. January thru June 1970
1. This report is primarily for your information but does contain
a recommendation for your approval in paragraph
2. The period covered by this report is for six months rather
than the usual quarterly reporting established two years age. Wo have
done this in order to include; progress on major items pending at the
time the quarter ended. Also this enables us to provide summary
statistics on progress made during the two years of effort devoted to
purging the Records Center holdings.
3. During this six-month reporting period Agency components
disposed of 10,000 cubic feet of material from the Records Center
and deposited 6,400 cubic feet. The effort to reduce the volura
on hand resulted in a net reduction of 3,600 feet in the past six
months. This latest rather significant reduction is primarily
attributed to purging the DDI supplemental distribution holdings.
4. Since the campaign to purge material from the Records Center
we have disposed of
began /if//Jj two years a.go/a total of 0,750 cubic feet.rh ?1z, l
The space gain has been offset by nQw accessions of
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some 32,600 feet.. The overall net gain was 8,150 cubic feet of
freed storage space. This can accomodate about eight months of new
accessions at the recent rate of records retirement. Although the
holdings review will continue as a regular part of the Records Program,
it appears that we have gained our maximum benefits from the Purge
Campaign because the Board members do not foresee any lar. ge:-size
% overall results of the purge
disposals for the near future. These /wtO4 (confirm earlier estimates
that in spite of concentrated efforts by all. components to reduce their
holdings in the Records Center the Agency requirement to augment its
storage capacity will continue. The purge was successful to the extent
that for the first time in th' history of the Agency we were able to
effect a significant net reduction in component records holdings at
the Center over a two-year period. Our emphatis will now be focused
improvement of records systems in the
offices,m careful screening of material scheduled for retiremcnt' and
miniaturization when it will serve a useful information handling or records
purpose in a particular component system.
5.
't`he Office of Logistics has primary action for the installation of
motorized shelving on the second floor of the Records Center and
temporary records storage facility.. That Office has contracted with
25X1 C the
25X1A
project. When completed the actions will result in an additional
38,000 cubic feet of storage capacity. Target dates for completion
are November 3.970 for th and April 1971 for the
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motorized shelving in the Records Center. The current status of
the project is that the'engineers are drafting detailed specifications
for bidding purposes.
February we received a final draft of the National Archives and Records
Services (NARS) regulation on Federal Microfilming Policies and
Procedures. Federal policy emphasized. that the microfilming of material
now in Records Centers to reduce storage space needs is prohibitively
expensive and not generally recommended. The payoff from microforms
is measured in a systems context after it has been established that
a microform system is actually appropriate. Microforms are an
appropriate tool if there are systems benefits to be derived such as
information processing improvements or greater speed,, efficiency,, and
accuracy than is available in the current paperwork operation or alternate
`
Savings of space ar
always subsidiary to
methods. u~ it\the systems considerations.
Even then the savings of office space
far outweighs the much later by-product of reduced Records Center volume,
Standards in the NARS regulation permit the microfilming of permanent
records and the destruction of the converted hard copy. This opportunity
related to such records
can be utilized as the mmazutm d systems/are developed.
7. In January the Office of Logistics completed an inventory of
microform use and equipment in the Agency. This data has been reviewed
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by the Records Board and our initial conclus-Yons are that there: is valid
justification for differences in the nine major microform systemd
identified in this survey. The include various reel films., minicard.,
25X1 A throe different aperture cards., two types of microfiche, M.nd
Computer Output Nicrofi]xn (COM). Within these nine major microform
systems there are approximately 55 microform applications in current
use and we are pleased to report that there is adequate compatibility
among the 55 applications within their respective microform systems.
8. Recurring breakthroughs in the microform technology regularly
open up new fields for its application in day-to-day paperwork, information
processing, and records keeping systems. But, microform systems are
information handling and records management
warranted only when they meet specific/ineeds. The Board members feel that
basic
because of abutmo.differences in the mission and functions of the various
Directorates the development of microform systems are best managed at the
Directorate level in order to be responsive to specific needs.
If the management of microform systems is to be
on an Agency basis it will require a specialized staff., competent
in microforms and sensitive to Directorate needs with an expertise exceeding
that in the Directorates;,, which they will accept and turn to for guidance.
In the meantime the Board members exchange information of microform plans
and developments in order to serve the best interests of Agency Management.
The members also find that technical limitations imposed to insure the
uniformity of component microform applications can be a liability.,
unless there are systems requirements for the component applications
to communicate with each other and to exchange data or information.
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The members have no objection to the contracting of consultant services
to study whether microforms would be useful in a context broader than
those identified by the individual Directorates, In the coming months
the Board will continue to examine the problems of records miniaturization
and compaction,
9o Since the major thrust of activity on the records purge has
been completed, the Board would like to discontinue quarterly reporting,
We recommend that the Records Management Board report to you on en
annual basis in the future with supplementary reports as conditions
may require,
25X1A
Chairman,
Records Management Board
The recommendation in Paragraph 9 above is
Approved, __ Date.
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