REVIEW OF HISTORY ENTITLED THE OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE, 1951-1968

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T01497R000100080023-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 12, 2003
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: April 9, 1973
• Content Type: MF

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9 April 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: OCI Historical Officer
SUBJECT : Review of History Entitled "The Office
of Current Intelligence, 1951-1968"
1. The DDI Historical Officer has reviewed the
titled "The Office of Current Intelligence" by
has produced a thorough
study of the Office o current telligence, noting
the accretion of its responsibilities, the progress
of its efforts to improve its services, and the place
of OCI in the Agency and the Intelligence Community.
Because of the great variety of OCI's functions, the
history contains a number of parallel story lines,
but, nevertheless, the overall development of the
Office is clearly signalled.
2. This history is somewhat flawed by an
overdependence on documentation and by a structure
which tends to break up the continuity of the story.
In neither case, however, is the problem serious
enough to warrant major revision.
3. The biggest problem encountered by the
reviewer relates to the handling of the source
references.
a. The list of source references needs
considerable revision to bring this paper into
conformity with the Historical Staff format.
1) Data should be presented in the
following order: identification of document, date,
location, classification. (See Style Manual for
variants for various types of sources.)
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2) Maximum use of abbreviations is
encouraged, specially for dates, titles, office
designators, and classifications. The first volume
is the worst offender in this matter, but additional
shortening should be made in the later volumes.
4) The author's name is normally used
with op. cit. for clarity.
5) Job No. is usually cited for material
at the Records Center, with the depositor not given
(this is indicated by the Job No.).
6) Foreign words and abbreviations are
underlined as usual in source references.
b. A large number.of source references could
be deleted if a general statement were made at the
beginning that record copies of all OCI publications
(with the exception of a few tightly held items) are
available at the Records Center. The exceptions, where
pertinent, would then be the only ones cited.
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c. It is strongly recommended that the
file of documents not be retained as a permanent collection.
Because this position may turn out to be a transitory
one, regular Agency depositories would be preferable.
Those items which are unique copies could be turned
over for registration in the Historical Collection;
files such as that of the Production Staff could be
sent to the Records Center; and materials which are
part of the regular record of the Office (OCI Notices,
etc.) could be identified with their official repository.
d. Sourcing within the text also presents
some problems, especially in regard to consistency.
The preferred placement of a source reference is at
the end of the unit (phrase, sentence, or paragraph)
to which it applies. In many places in this manuscript,
the reference now appears at the end of the first
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sentence of the passage to which it applies; in other
instances, it appears at the end of a paragraph even
when there is intervening information not based on
the cited source.
e. There are occasional cases where the
source cited does not appear to fit the text. The
reviewer has attempted to note these, and suggests
that these cases be checked again to confirm that the
citation is a proper one.
f. The citation of source references drops
off dramatically in the last volume. Some attention
should be given to adding references in the final
portion of the paper,to document key developments and
to bring this section more nearly into conformity with
the rest of the history.
4. The front material should be typed according
to the Historical Staff format described in the Style
Manual. More importantly, headings and subheadings
should have the appropriate numbers when they appear
in the text. All figures should be cued into the text.
At present, Volumes II, III, and V. do not have any
list of figures or appendixes, while Volumes ?I and
IV are complete in this respect. Some suggestions
for revision of headings and subheadings have been
noted directly on the manuscript. In addition, the
reviewer suggests that an organizational chart be
provided to show the structure of the Office near
the end of the period covered by the history.
5. There are a number of instances where factual
information is updated to 1970, the original cut-off
date. The reviewer suggests that, where feasible,
this updating should be done as of 1972. The manu-
script also contains many notations of cross references;
these could be cut back considerably without serious
loss to the reader.
6. While this history contains a wealth of
information on various undertakings by OCI and its
analysts, there, are omissions. One activity which
warrants inclusion is the publication of books written
"on sabbatical". This could be added to the section
on'long-range research in Volume V. Other examples
may come to mind during the revision process.
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7. Near the end of Volume V, there is a
divergence between the topics listed in the Table of
Contents and the topics covered in the text. Further-
more, the history in its present version ends very
abruptly, without any conclusion to tie it together.
OCI is urged to rework and expand slightly the con-
cluding portion of this history.
8. For convenience in publication and binding
(the practical limit for a single volume is between
200 and 300 pages), Volume V should be divided. The
first two chapters and their list of sources will make
one standard-sized volume. The last chapter, together
with its list of sources -- renumbered -- and the
Chronology will be Volume VI. Senior
Editor, Historical Staff, will supply any needed guidance
on preparing the volumes for publication and on processing
the supporting Figures.
9. In addition to these general comments, the
DDI Historical Officer has made a detailed review of
the manuscript. Substantive comments are forwarded
as Attachment A, while editorial changes and routine
questions have been noted directly on the manuscript.
10. The Chief, Historical Staff, has also re-
viewed this manuscript. His memo containing both
general and specific comments is forwarded as Attach-
ment B.
11. The history should now be revised along
the lines suggested by the two reviewers. The DDI
Historical Officer is available to answer questions
or provide other help during the revision process.
When the revisions have been completed, a clean copy
of the paper should be prepared in OCI. It will then
be circulated for review by the DDI Historical Board.
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