LETTER TO (Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-00433A000100060043-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2002
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: January 15, 1970
• Content Type: LETTER

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15 January 1970
Attached hereto are the details supporting eight recommended
courses of action for the DDS to solve the Agency records storage
and service problems for the next ten years.
These options are developed on the premise that the Agency will
continue to use the Records Center to store Inactive Office Records.
These also provide for the volume of Agency records in storage to have
a net growth of 6,000 cubic feet per year.
The proposals set forth are:
1. Return to DDI its Supplemental Distribution Function.
(A reduction at the Records Center of 15,700 cubic feet.)
2. Reorganize the Agency Emergency Plans and Records.
(A reduction of about 3,000 cubic feet is probable.)
3. Establish an Agency Archive Function.
(A volume of about 24,000 cubic feet is involved.)
4. Install a Test Unit of Motorized Shelving in the Center.
(Gain 10,000 cubic feet of capacity by this first step.)
5. Institute a Massive Microfilming Program Agencywide.
(The foregoing four proposals can provide six or seven
years of lead time for this Program to get underway and
influence the volume of records in offices and storage.)
6. Install Motorized Shelving Throughout the Center.
(An overall capacity gain of 40,000 cubic feet is
possible via Motorized Shelving.)
7. Store Non-Sensitive Records in Federal Centers.
(Results here will depend upon the position of Security,
CI, and the Offices where records are identified for
transfer.)
8. Renovate Buildings at or Records Storage.
(Six buildings with 12 feasible alternatives provide for
capacities from 12,000 cubic feet to 35,000 cubic feet
at costs from $17.00 per foot to $31.76 per foot with
total costs ranging from $351,59+ to $8+2,500.)
The options are presented in their order nfl A~~r;~flr;,;+,r
C finis ra ion Officer
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Details supporting eight proposals
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RUC
AN ANALYSIS OF
EIGHT PROPOSALS FOR
RECORDS STORAGE: AND SERVICE
January 1970
RECORDS ADMIs ISTRATION/Wi
Room 702
Magazine Building
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Support Services Staff
Copg4`
SUBJECT : Eight Solutions to the Records Storage Problem
The Agency problem of records storage and servicing such records has
several possible solutions. Immediately below are eight options which sub-
divide the problem and propose various solutions and recommendations. The
options are presented in their order of feasibility, solution to the storage
problem, and my recommended priority:
SUBDIVIDE THE PROBLEM OF RECORDS VOLUME AND SERVICES AS FOLLOWS:
Types of Records Stored
Total Cubic Reference Service
Feet on Hand Actions During
Nov. 1, 1969 October 1969
1.
Inactive Office Records
65,170
6,356
2.
Supplemental Distribution Material
16,669
4,605
3.
Emergency Vital Records
9,127
143
4.
Agency Permanent Archives
8 3189
790
Total Storage and Service Problem
99,155 cu. ft.
11,894 Actions
OPTION #1
RETURN TO DDI ITS SUPPLEMENTAL DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION:
The 16,669 cubic feet of extra copies of Agency reports, maps, and publica-
tions are being stored at the request of and distribution is controlled by the
following components:
Components and Material
Cubic Feet
OBGI Reports
9,000
OBGI Maps
5,000
NPIC Reports
800
Other DDI Material
900
DDI Sub-Total 15,700
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Components and Material
DDS&T Reports 400
DDS Regulations 300
DDP Handbooks 100
ONE Reports 80
History Staff Guides 20
STATINTL
have no objection to such a transfer. Throughout the
year Records Center personnel and three summer employees periodically assist
this operation at Suitland. Similar summer employees and the DDI/Central
Reference Service personnel, (especially those in the Dissemination Division
and the Document Services Division who control this material) can provide such
additional support when necessary.
New storage space for the 15,700 cubic feet of Supplemental Distribution
Non-DDI Sub-Total
Total Supplemental Distribution
Material
goo
16.600
The component Officers do not feel any immediate or continuing concern
for these individual issuances stored for distribution. If the components
responsible for these publications also had to house and service them, the
pressure to justify the related space and personnel needs would prompt the
Officers to tighten their publication requirements and distribution controls.
This pressure would stimulate them to experiment more with new information
systems and media.
This publication function is the responsibility of the DDI and it is
recommended that the 15,700 cubic feet of DDI material be physically returned
to his custody and responsibility.
The two Records Center employees now at Suitland servicing these documents
could be transferred to the DDI with the distribution documents. Messrs.
documents, when in DDI possession, might be situated as follows:
a. Store within the DDI/SRS area 2,000 cubic feet of those items
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needed to satisfy the daily service requests. Use the TOP SECRET
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vault in Room G-H-0906, Headquarters. This space is assigned
to DDI/CRS/Acquisitions and Dissemination Division. The TOP
SECRET Archives formerly stored here were transferred to the
Records Center in mid-1968 and the shelves have since accumulated
thousands of unclassified library books. Security Officers
examined the area and agreed with me that this is unjustified
use of vault space. Such unclassified material should be stored
on shelves in open office space.
b. Store 5,000 cubic feet of OBGI maps near the OBGI/Map Division
which is the exclusive user of this collection. The Map Division
STATINTL in keeps copies of all maps in cabinets in its
offices to satisfy all daily requirements. The Division
replenishes its office supply of maps in multiples of fifty from
the main supply at Suitland. At present we are negotiating with
GSA for storage space
The acquisition of this space could be considered a transfer to
the Navy Area of existing GSA space at Suitland rather than as
the requisitioning of new GSA space.
c. The remaining 8,700 cubic feet of DDI Supplemental Distribution
A
TINTL
material could be stored in boxes at thel S,
oY
The CRS daily distribution supply in the G-H-0906 Vault at
Headquarters could be replenished from
periodically. STATINTL
d. The remaining 900 cubic feet of non-DDI material could continue
to be stored and serviced by the Records Center
alternative to this would be to return that material to each
Office concerned for its personal control. They could handle
the servicing but the floor space requirements for storage might
be a problem.
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e. A new development now being explored is the possibility of using
the Emergency Materials Building or the entire Suitland STATINTL
volume and to continue the operation and personnel there without
change. (See Option #2, below.)
Recommendation:
The return of Supplemental Distribution responsibility to the DDI should
take place whether the DDI material remains at Suitland, is moved to the Navy
Building, or is subdivided for storage and service in any of several other
possible locations. The non-DDI material should remain
but each STATINTL
responsible component should be specifically charged, in a memorandum from
the Executive Director-Comptroller, to justify the continued storage and volume.
The entire 16,669 cubic feet in this category is non-record material and its
existence or disposal is exclusively the decision of the responsible component.
OPTION #2
REORGANIZE THE AGENCY EMERGENCY PLANS AND RECORDS:
The 9,127 cubic feet of emergency Vital Records are from the following
components:
Components
Cubic Feet
DCI Area
161
DDI Offices
7,6+6
NPIC
3,350
OBGI
CRS
3,O.O
1,100
Others
156
DDP Offices
697
DDS Offices
297
DDS&T Offices
326
OCtSS 283
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Total Vital Records 9,127
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Vital Records are stored to reconstitute an office that has been
destroyed. Initially the destruction was anticipated to be from a war
condition; but has since been extended to include accidents, fire, water, or
riots. This interpretation would justify the 2,000 reels of OCS computer
tapes and 3,000 boxes of NPIC 9-inch wide films for which there are no
STATINTL computers or equipment
There are other collections among the 4,000
boxes of OBGI and CRS records that stretch the definition of Vital Records.
Some corrective action is underway (i.e. reducing several hundred cubic
feet of cables to microfilm). But., the premise of the emergency plan under
which this 9,000 cubic feet of Vital Records is stored must be re-examined
and new requirements announced. The new emergency plans should consider
various degrees of catastrophe and the time limits for responsive action with
related records, such as:
a. War-time evacuation of Headquarters to relocation site.
b. War-time, in place, hardened Headquarters site.
c. Accident, fire, flood, or riot damage with a few days or weeks
of recovery time.
d. Back-up, emergency storage of seldom-used material.
At present the 9,000 cubic feet of Vital Records cover all categories, and
some components have exaggerated the definition in order to provide for the
storage of some material not justified as emergency material. We believe
about 20% is not required and the remainder is intended for three types of
emergencies:
STATINTL a. If Oa hardened Headquarters facility is to be the war-time
relocation site the Agency can expect to have at least an
estimated 4,000 cubic feet of emergency Vital Records on hand.
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b. If a revised emergency plan intends to cope with reconstruction
following accidents or other non-war damage, then an estimated
3,000 cubic feet more of seldom-used records will be needed.
These may be stored in sealed boxes in the Federal Underground
Vaults at Neoshoe, Missouri. The retrieval of these records
can be accomplished within a few days depending upon the recovery
of new office space following the catastrophe or accident.
c. If the Agency's emergency plan is more precise and specific as to
the mission and function of each component, we certainly can revise
the existing Vital Records Schedules to reduce the 9,000 cubic
feet volume now on hand.
A review of the overall Agency Emergency Plan is underway and it could
STATINTL revise priorities
The Warehouse of Emergency Supplies and Furniture
STATINTL behind the Records Center night be emptied and so permit renovation for
storage of the distribution documents from Suitland. It is a faint possibility.
Recommendation:
Establish an Agency-wide panel to redefine the Agency's War-time Emergency
Plan as well as its Plan for continued operation following a fire, flood,
accident, or riot with a specific proposal as to the emergency mission and
function of each component. The results will provide more precise parameters '06k
for scheduling emergency Vital Records.
OPTION #3
ESTABLISH AN AGENCY ARCHIVES FUNCTION:
STATINTL A broad interpretation of
has permitted the Agency Records Officer
to take the initiative to identify and hold as Agency Archives some 9,000 cubic
feet of Agency documents and reports. Recently, some contributions for the
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Presidential Libraries were included. It is estimated that among the Inactive
Office Records in the Records Center there are another 15,000 cubic feet of
legal and historical records of enduring value that should be moved into the
Archives collection. These files from the Offices of Directors, Deputies,
and Office Heads, like those 5,000 cubic feet of files from the OSS, should
become the Agency's permanent Archives and not continue as the property of the
component that retired them to the Center. Unfortunately such components-kill
not relinquish those files until a formal Agency Archives is officially
established with professional Archivists and Historians in charge. Even then
the release of records will come slowly until the components can be assured of
some Directorate representation in Archives policy and that the "need to know"
compartmentation will be maintained. Finally, the security of the records from
human and environmental enemies will be equally important.
The Archives capacity should include:
Cubic Feet
Present Archives Collection
Historical Collection in Process
8,189
900
Sub-total Archives Today
9,088
Inactive Office Records of
Permanent Value
10,000
OSS Collection
5,000
Sub-total Office Collection
15,000
Initial Archives Total Volume
2+,089
Only about half of the 900-cubic-foot Historical Collection will eventually
become Archives. It is believed that the Archives Staff and Directorate
Archivists will find duplications and non-record material among the Office files.
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Consequently, it is estimated only half of the 15,000 cubic feet from Office
Collections will become Archival material. In short, today's Archive of
8,189 cubic feet will grow with 450 plus 7,500 cubic feet to about 16,150 in
ten years. Or to put it another way, the 2+,089 initial Archives workload
will be reduced in ten year to a 16,150-cubic-foot Archives collection.
However, by the end of that ten years another 10,000 to 15,000 cubic feet
of Office records will have been transferred from the Records Center into the
Archives for processing. Consequently, the capacity of the Agency Archives
should start at 25 to 30,000 cubic feet in order to provide storage and working
space. This certainly should suffice for 20 years and probably longer if the
Agency increases its use of microforms.
The initial Archives personnel requirements of eight will include an
Archivist and two assistants from the Records Center plus the four Directorate
representatives and a secretary.
Recommendation:
The storage location for 30,000 cubic feet of Archival records should be
provided for no ?along with the establishment of an Archives Function. This
action is inevitable and delay endangers the CIA reputation. There are two
storage possibilities which may be used:
a. Continue in the Records Center for two more years if the
15,000 feet of Supplemental Distribution is removed.
b. Move the Archives into renovated space ati
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OPTION #i
INSTALL A TEST UNIT OF MOTORIZED SHELVING IN THE RECORDS CENTER:
Although motorized shelving is known to work and will increase the storage
capacity by )+0%, its operation in the Records Center and its effects on production
and personnel needs are not known. An engineering survey indicates the floors,
electricity, alarms, and air conditioning will tolerate the additional load
throughout the Records Center.
Early proposals called for a complete installation of motorized shelving
in the Center. A total installation would increase to 111-6,000 cubic feet the
overall capacity at a cost of $860,000. If Options 1, 2, or 3 above are
implemented the installation of motorized shelving may be reduced proportionately
(i.e., #1 - 15,000; #2 - 5,000; and #3 - 24,000).
It is believed that if one-fourth of the Records Center is converted to
motorized shelving we shall have gained 10,000 cubic feet of new capacity at a
cost of $215,000. This plus the capacity life gained from #1, #2, or #3 will
permit more study of this high density shelving as a solution and to compare it
with the impact of the massive microfilming effort anticipated during the following
two to four years.
If no progress is made on the microfilming and other options are not
implemented, then this proposed Test Unit, although preferable, will have to be
replaced by Option #6, calling for a complete shelving installation throughout
the Center immediately.
OPTION #5
Nb~
INSTITUTE A MASSIVE MICROFILMING PROGRAM: ~Q(,A,
of
The Agency cannot continue its use of paper copy as the medium for its
information processing and records systems. Although there are several microform
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systems in use and the volume of magnetic tape steadily grows, the overwhelming
majority of Agency operations are geared to paper work. Most components show
very little inclination to look for a change. If some new technique arrives on
the scene the Officers may or may not adopt it depending upon the pressures
they face.- The military and AEC are adopting the use of microfiche for reports.
Many new microform systems are being offered and some of our Offices are studying
these independently.
The conversion of computer tapes to microfilm is a good first step, but is
comparatively little used. The newly promised device that can convert data in
the other direction (from microfilm to magnetic tape) is enomously significant.
It will be possible for documents on microfilm to be readable at computer speed.
Compatible systems will be vitally important at that time. The Agency must work
toward more microfilm systems to replace its paper systems at an accelerated
pace.
This proposal to such a massive microfilm program is costly in new equipment,
additional manpower, and procedural disruptions. Yet, if the Agency is to process
its information faster, produce its reports with greater speed and incisiveness,
and finally store its documentation in less space, we must go to automated
microform systems. We cannot continue to hope that someone, somewhere on a part-
time basis will complete the research and transition to this new technology.
Several zealous old timers experienced in yesterday's microforms are still
struggling to find time from their several duties to study tomorrow's microform
possibilities in their Components. An Agency microform system is not being
studied, and,the problem is too large, complex, and urgent to be approached on
a part-time basis.
10
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The first four options above are considered interim solutions to provide
a records storage capacity to meet the Agency's needs for six or seven years.
During this period the Agency must convert to a massive microform program.
Thus the Agency's operational systems and Office file capacities will improve
and benefit immediately, but a by-product will be that the Records Center
capacity will extend to at least ten years as microforms are retired instead
of voluminous hard copy, paper records.
OPTION #6
INSTALL MOTORIZED SHELVING THROUGHOUT THE CENTER:
As detailed in Option #4 above, the concept of increased storage density
is feasible at the Records Center. The Agency has seven installations of non-
motorized movable shelving wherein the floor space storage capacity was increased
up to 50% over normal library-type shelving. Two motorized units in DDP/RID and
DDI/NPIC proved equally beneficial. The high cost of such shelving is justified
when other less costly solutions, such as constructing more space, are not
available. In #4 above we propose motorized shelving for one-fourth or even
one-half the Records Center if other Options are implemented. If not, then we
must install this high density shelving throughout the Records Center. This
will increase the capacity 40% from 106,000 to 146,000 cubic feet at an
estimated cost of $860,000. More precise and current estimates are being sought
among three competitors. When DDS approves, official bids will be requested.
OPTION #7
D AT V-0 P r- C)
I
SENSITIVE RECORDS IN FEDERAL RECORDS CENTERS:
STORE NON-
A study by the Office of Security has found that the Federal Records Center
at Suitland may be used to store Agency records classified up through SECRET.
A list of 20,000 cubic feet of specific Office files (including Security Case
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Files, Medical Files, Finance Records, Folders from CI Staff, and others) has
been submitted for Security and CI review. Concurrence from them and the
Office concerned must be obtained prior to any transfer to the Suitland Records
Center. The State Department, Atomic Energy, and DIA store any and all types
of their records in Federal Records Centers. State and DIA have the GSA
employees service their retired records regardless of Security Classification.
Although such storage of Agency records is feasible, I look for years of
coordination before any Agency records are ever identified as non-sensitive
and are actually transferred to GSA custody and servicing in the Federal Records
Center system. I cannot recommend delaying the consideration of any other option
awaiting a release or concurrence from Security, CI, and the Office whose records
are proposed for transfer.
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The storage capacity can be increased by LO%o if motorized
shelving is used instead of standard metal library shelving.
However, the cost per capacity foot increases because standard
Federal Prison shelves cost $1 per cubic foot installed, and
today motorized shelving is $9 per cubic foot installed. A
comparison of the two shows these cost and capacity differences:
The total costs per cubic foot of capacity, not square foot of
floor space, is:
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Conclusions:
Like other Agency programs, the records storage and retrieval are
essential for the Agency to function at all, and the records and operations
are so interdependent that the efficiency and success of one influences the
other. The decision for solving the records storage problem must be made in
a total Agency context. Overall, the Records Center must provide service.
Its holdings are not dead and forgotten. Consequently, the solution must
provide for a proportion of some 500 references via two couriers every work
day and for more than 50 emergency, direct deliveries, after hours, per year.
These service requirements as well as the practicality of implementation were
especially important in my considering and organizing the foregoing Options.
I highly recommend:
a. Relocation of the Distribution Function because of the immediate
benefit at the Center and the likelihood of remedial action once
the DDI and the responsible Officers have the function.
b. The Motorized Shelving is the best, quickest, and least
disruptive solution, but the most expensive.
c. The remaining options are all feasible, but the unique problems
peculiar to this Agency will limit the degree to which we can
expect them to be considered, accepted, or implemented.
The Records Program, the Records Officers, and the Records Center Operation
can cope with conditions resulting from any storage and service Options the
Agency Management selects. I await your instructions on this important and
pressing problem.
CIA ecor s inis ra, ion Officer
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SEC`ET
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