PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING A USIB COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION HANDLING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01139A000300140003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 27, 2001
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 7, 1967
• Content Type: MF

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CODIB-D-119
7 June 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 BOARD
COMMITTEE ON DOCUMENTATION
MEMORANDUM FOR: USIB Committee on Documentation
SUBJECT Proposal for Establishing a USIB Committee
on Information Handling
REFERENCE DIADR memorandum to Chairman USIB of
27 April 1967, circulated under cover of
USIB-D-39.1/2, 9 May 1967
66
1. The following background material is circulated herewith
to assist members in evaluating referent proposal:
TAB A: CODIB Background Notes
TAB B: Summary of Selected CODIB Actions
TAB C: CODIB Membership
2. Please feel free to call upon me or the CODIB Support 25X1A
Staff for any further assistance we may be to your principals
or yourselves.
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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The Committee on Documentation (CODIB) is one of 15
standing committees of the United States Intelligence Board
(USIB).
Our charter is set forth in DCID 1/4, which incorporates
by reference paras. 3b(2) and 6a(3) of NSCID 1.
We have defined "documentation" broadly to give the
Committee freedom of action to work on a wide range of
problems.
The thrust of the Committee's mission is to make better
use of information of intelligence value.
The functions in essence indicate the means by which
this objective is to be sought--improved communication--
through:
keeping each other informed about what's
going on;
. mutual assistance; and,
. common undertakings.
The Committee has from the beginning been the result of
a grass-roots need for collaboration in areas of mutual con-
cern. The Committee's work has thus been wide-ranging (see
TAB 0 for selected CODIB actions). A major effort was the
study of the community's information holdings and its channels
of communications, which attracted interest at the national
level. In a memorandum (7 Feb 64) to Messrs. McNamara and
McCone, Mr. McGeorge Bundy stated:
"We believe that the recent extensive study of
documentation and information handling within
the community, known as the [CODIB's] SCIPS
Study, gives an important access to methods of
evaluation, since for the first time a compre-
hensive and manageable survey of the articulation
of the intelligence product and circulation to
its users has been made."
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Until recent PFIAB initiatives, all actions taken by the
Committee were on the initiative of CODIB members.
The Committee reports to USIB through the USIB Executive
Secretary by submitting Annual Reports of its activity,
progress reports on special programs, and by submitting policy
and action papers for USIB approval at formal USIB meetings
or by vote memorandum.
In 1962, the DCI's Coordination Staff (predecessor to
NIPE) reviewed the USIB committee structure and concluded
that:
"The Committee on Documentation should be retained
since it supports USIB with respect to the coordi-
nation of important, complex, accelerating pro-
grams necessarily conducted by most USIB agencies
and influenced by similar programs in progress in
many non-USIB agencies. Moreover, it directly
supports USIB in carrying out approved JSG Recom-
mendation No. 40 relating to automatic data pro-
cessing systems." (USIB-D-27.1/18)
The Deputy for National Intelligence Programs Evaluation
is brought into the picture either at DCI direction, on his
own motion as a result of keeping informed through represen-
tation at CODIB meetings or receipt of information copies of
CODIB papers, or at Chairman CODIB's request.
All USIB member agencies are also members of CODIB. In
addition we have expanded participation to include parties
at interest whether or not represented on USIB or other
committees. Thus we have representation from DOD/DDR&E, the
National Science Foundation and Bureau of Standards. On the
other hand the AEC has not been active for some time.
Where representation selected from a component of one
agency leaves another interested component of that agency
without direct participation, we strive to compensate by
having the latter provide the alternate. Thus State INR
provides the member, and State O/MP Operations the alternate.
Members are urged to bring in interested components on
a selective basis. The AF member from ACSI may, for example,
bring in representation from SAC or FTD/AFSC.
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Our philosophy, as stated in our 1965 Annual Report
(USIB-D-39.3/9, page 8), and reiterated by DCI in the fore-
word of the CIA report of 4 March 1966 to the PFIAB/OST
Guidance and Evaluation Panel is:
to improve departmental information handling
systems;
to improve communication between systems
within departments, and between departmental
systems; and,
. to develop community-wide information networks.
We recognize and accept certain constraints upon what
can be accomplished by joint action because of:
the primary responsibility of USIB members to
their command channels for carrying out basic
departmental and service missions; and,
the impact of the NSC allocation of intelligence
collection and production responsibilities among
agencies upon supporting information processing
programs.
The machinery we have relied upon to tackle problems
reflects the demands of the time. Currently, it comprises:
the Committee itself
CODIB Support Staff
Subcommittee on Foreign Publications
Working Group on Remote Systems Input*
Working Group on Emergency Planning
Working Group on PFIAB Recommendation #1
(Education)*
* Note: USIB action complete and Task
Team discharged but implementation
being monitored by CODIB.
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Working Group on PFIAB Recommendation #2
(Community on-line system)
Subcommittee on Standardization
CODIB Task Teams:
I. Content Control*
II. Item Identification*
III. Foreign Publications*
IV. Installations*
V. Biographies
VI. Research & Development
VII. Analyst Communication
VIII. Photo Chip
IX. ADP Systems Library*
* Note: USIB action complete and Task
Team discharged but implementation
being monitored by CODIB.
Personnel assigned to CODIB tasks--except for four
professionals in the CODIB Support Staff--are drawn from the
ranks of analysts and operators who assume these tasks as
additional duty.
The weaknesses of CODIB are attributable to a number of
causes:
The interest of management in and the degree
of development of individual departmental
programs varies greatly among USIB member
agencies.
Responsibilities of individuals on CODIB vary
greatly. This affects their attitudes as
well as their ability to act effectively in
their own departments.
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Experience of members in information process-
ing is uneven.
CODIB assignments are in addition to other
duties and often are relegated low priority.
. Membership turnover is high.
The common denominator of CODIB agreement may
be so large as to negate the utility of the
solution.
CODIB has, on the other hand, certain elements of
strength:
CODIB's program is flexible and therefore
can concentrate on areas of genuine mutual
concern.
Each member discharges his departmental
responsibilities with greater cognizance of
and consideration for the activities of
others.
. Longevity of some membership lends stability.
CODIB subcommittees, working groups and its
Support Staff bring expertise to bear on the
problems addressed.
Securing participation of officials who have
departmental operating responsibilities gives
greater assurance of utility and acceptance
of results.
In practice, a review of the record indicates that,
CODIB's performance has been strongest in formulating USIB
policy statements, in obtaining acceptance among member
agencies of CODIB rulings on the application of policy to
specific situations, and in keeping its members informed on
important developments of professional interest.
We have had our greatest difficulties, and we have made
the least headway, when CODIB has concerned itself with
matters already the subject of controversy within a given
department. In other words, a committee such as CODIB cannot
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be successfully used to resolve at the community level
problems which members have failed to resolve internally for
themselves. Thus, for example, the particularly difficult
time CODIB has had in addressing the photo chip, or the
coordination of information processing R&D.
Between our successes and near failures, there lie a
number of other matters where CODIB performance has varied
from quite good to not so good. Our fact-finding surveys
have been good, though the time taken to make them has often
seemed inordinately long. The production of standards has
also been possible through our mechanism. We have been,
however, notably less successful in getting member agencies
to implement the standards and recommendations once developed.
The following references are selected to provide the
reader with minimal access to CODIB documentation and still
to obtain the flavor of the scope and nature of its activity.
a. CODIB charter - DCID 1/4 (New Series),
Committee on Documentation (CODIB),
23 Apr 65.
b. CODIB Support Staff: Mission and Functions,
CODIB-D-111/3, 30 Oct 64.
c. CODIB First Annual Report, CODIB-AR-1,
15 Jul 59.
d. Terms of Reference for Study of USIB
Information Processing Problems, USIB-D-39.7/1,
Final, CODIB-D-82/9, 11 Jul 61.
e. Report of CODIB's Staff for the Community
Information Processing Study (SCIPS),
USIB-D-39.7/5, 16 Mar 64.
f. CODIB Eighth Annual Report, CODIB-AR-8,
14 Oct 66.
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TAB B
SELECTED CODIB ACTIONS
I. USIB Policy Formulation
Allocation of collection, reference and production
responsibilities among community members. Approved
by USIB on 17 Dec 58 as DCID 1/9, and revised by USIB
in 1961 (CODIB-D-88).
Release of intelligence information to contractors,
resulting in uniform procedures, a much freer flow,
but better control (USIB- D-35.9/2, 10 Nov 59).
Reproduction and disclosure of intelligence materials,
resulting in the abrogation of the "third agency
rule" for much of intelligence among community members,
and incorporated in DCID 1/7: Control of Dissemination
and Use of Intelligence (USIB-D-39.4/1, 25 Aug 59).
Capturing information in machine language now, in
anticipation of inevitable future needs in controlling
indexes and reference collections (USIB-D-39.5/14).
ADP policy, in collaboration with SIGINT Committee,
for a central ADP system description file on SIGINT
systems (CODIB- D-94/6 SC; USIB-S-13.1/4, 24 May 63).
II. Rulings on USIB Policy Application
At DIA request, made a ruling on the application of
USIB policy on release of intelligence to Defense
Research Division of the Library of Congress, a DIA
contractor (CODIB-D-42/18, 22 July 65).
At AF request, made a ruling on the releasability of
the Intelligence Publications Index to RAND
(CODIB-M-85, Attachment 2, 20 Jan 67).
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III. Supporting USIB on PFIAB and Related Matters
Contributed a section to DCI's response to Mr. McGeorge
Bundy's request for a USIB report on U.S. foreign
intelligence objectives, specifically objective number
three (CODIB-D-107 series).
Coordinated community support to the Joint PFIAB-OST
Guidance and Evaluation [Knox] Panel during the course
of its extensive investigation of all information
handling activities of the intelligence community.
Prepared the USIB program and response to the President's
call for systems training of intelligence community
personnel (USIB-D-39.7/20, 16 Feb 67).
Inaugurated the Community On-line Intelligence System
(COINS) in response to the President's call for an
extension of NSA's time-sharing system to include a
community-wide experiment in a computer on-line,
common data base (USIB-D-39.7/11, 24 Sep 65;
USIB-D-39.7/18, 8 Sep 66).
IV. Joint Undertakings and Program Support
Development of community requirements for a machine-
language byproduct typewriter for use in overseas
installations, including resolution of the technical
problem of eliminating compromising electronic emana-
tions (USIB-D-39.5/5, 1 Mar 61; CODIB-D-85.2, 16 Jun 61).
Development of community communications links for
transmission of information by facsimile or some
similar means, which resulted in present Long Distance
Xerography (LDX) net between operations centers
(CODIB-D-63).
Plan for a biographic information network
(CODIB- D-82/14).
Joint funding arrangements for support of Library of
Congress indexes (Monthly Index of Russian Accessions;
East European Accessions Index; Calendar of Forthcoming
International Events), National Academy of Science
Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee and
machine translation projects (e.g. CODIB-D-56/1).
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V. Conducting Surveys
Made a comprehensive survey of the community's
information holdings, the channels used for exchanging
information, the media employed for publishing it, as
well as, the identification of originators and
recipients thereof (Staff for Community Information
Processing Study [SCIPS] USIB-D-39.7/5, 16 Mar 64).
Studied problems in analyst-to- analyst communications
(CODIB-D-111/1.7/5, 7 Apr 67).
Studied problems in coordination of research and
development in support of intelligence data handling
(CODIB-D-111/1.6/5, 30 Jan 67).
Examined the overall effectiveness of the community's
programs for procuring and processing foreign
publications and initiated action to increase the
effectiveness of these programs (CODIB-D-111/1.3/5,
20 Apr 66).
Examined the biographic systems of the community and
identified means for improving the storage, retrieval
and exchange of information from major name files
(CODIB-D-111/1.5/6, 17 Nov 66; T/V/R-l, 1 Feb 66).
VI. Establishing Guidelines for the Development of Systems
Formulated tentative criteria on compatibility, and
established the principle that "the impact of innovation
in any one information system on other systems in the
intelligence agencies is a matter of common concern"
(CODIB-D-26, 25 Feb 59).
Designed a common format for Information Reports which
was adopted by CIA and Army in FY 1959, and later
became essentially the community format with its
current usage by CIA and DIA (CODIB-AR-1, page 9,
15 Jul 59). See also the CODIB study of the common
format and related problems involving Foreign Service
Reporting (CODIB-D-78, 7 Mar 61).
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Reviewed and provided guidance on compatibility to
agencies developing major systems. These included
CIA's Project WALNUT (CODIB-D-33/2, 18 Jun 59),
AF/SAC/GE's 438L (CODIB-D-49, 30 Nov 59), CIA's and
AF's Minicard (CODIB-D-23/l, 30 Jun 60), Army's ACSI-
MATIC and community MT projects.
VII. Producing Standards, Common Index Codes and Bibliographic
Aids
Undertook a major revision of the Intelligence Subject
Code (and accompanying Area Code) and published it in
1960, since which date CODIB revisions have appeared
in 1962, 1964 and 1967, with ever widening use in the
community (CODIB-AR-2, page 10, 30 Jun 60). Arranged
for training of community personnel in use of code by
CIA.
Published the Union List of Intelligence Serial
Publications.
Adopted and collaborated in production by CIA of
Intelligence Publications Index (IPI), a monthly guide
to finished monographic and periodical intelligence
literature.
Produced the USIB Content Control Code for improving
dissemination and control of intelligence reports by
coding at source (USIB-D-39.7/21, 3 May 67).
Developed a plan, now being implemented, for a central
inventory and standard identification of intelligence
document titles (USIB-D-39.7/14, 17 Jan 66).
Developed uniform formats for the identification of
physical installations and geographic features to
facilitate processing and exchange of intelligence
and documents thereon (USIB-D-39.7/13, 5 Jan 66).
Studied feasibility of adopting a standard photo chip
for handling reconnaissance photography (CODIB-D-111/1.8/5,
6 Jan 67).
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VIII. Cooperation with Other Parts of Government
Affiliated with CODIB representation from the National
Science Foundation, the National Bureau of Standards
and Defense DDR&E.
Provided representation on BOB committees working on
information processing problems from overall Govern-
ment viewpoint.
Cooperated with COSATI, the Federal Council on Science
and Technology's Committee on Scientific and Technical
Information (CODIB-D-118/1, 1 Mar 67).
IX. Informing Members
Built special collection of automation literature
(CODIB-D-34), including announcements of recent
documentation literature (CODIB-M-13).
Arranged or sponsored briefings on systems, techniques,
equipment and field trips to see systems operating on
site e.g. planning CODIB attendance at IFIPS Congress
(CODIB-D-98/3); visit to Documentation, Inc.'s NASA
facility (CODIB-A-88); demonstration of machine
translation operation (CODIB-D-102).
Circulated information on CODIB-sponsored research
studies (CODIB-D-104, 27 Nov 62).
Published, as annexes to the annual report, a resume
by members of the information processing developments
in their respective agencies (e.g. CODIB-AR-8, Appendix
C, Sections 1 through 6).
Developed a plan, now being implemented, for establishing
and maintaining a library of descriptions of community
ADP systems (USIB-D-39.7/17, 17 Sep 66).
In support of its emergency planning activity
(CODIB-D-46/4), coordinated community intelligence
deposit programs, and informed members of the
dispersed locations of collections of finished
intelligence (CODIB-EP-D-2, 15 Feb 66).
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Prepare extensive minutes, progress reports and annual
reports designed to alert, inform and educate (see e.g.
CODIB-AR-8, 14 Oct 66).
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25X1A
25X1A
25X1A SECRETARY , DIA Chief, CODIB Support Staff
25X1A CIA Chief, CIA Information
Processing Staff
25X1A DIA Chief, Resources, Liaison
and Special Projects Group,
ADPS Center
STATE Mr. James A. McDevitt Director of the Executive
Staff, Bureau of Intelligence
and Research
DEFENSE Dr. Ruth Davis* Staff Assistant to the
Director, Intelligence and
Reconnaissance, DDR&E
ARMY Lt. Col. Raymond W. Kelley Chief, IDHS (Intelligence
Data Handling Systems)
Branch, Systems Development
Division, Director of
Surveillance and Reconnais-
sance
NAVY Capt. Wendell J. Furnas Commanding Officer, Naval
Intelligence Processing,
System Support Activity
AIR FORCE Col. Chester H. Morneau Chief, AFNINB (Intelligence
Data Handling Systems Group)
25X1 A NSA
Chief, P2, Systems
Applications Desk
* Until 22 April 1967. Matter of successor is under advisement.
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AGENCY NAME
AEC Dr. Charles H. Reichardt*
FBI Mr. William 0. Cregar
Technical Consultant
NBS Dr. Samuel N. Alexander
Special Agent, Liaison
Section
Associate Member
NSF Dr. Burton W. Adkinson
Director of Intelligence,
U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission
Senior Research Fellow,
National Bureau of Standards
Head, Office of Science
Information Service,
National Science Foundation
* AEC does not participate, but is kept informed.
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