REPORT ON AGENCY DOCUMENT STORAGE AND HANDLING PROBLEMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88G00186R001001280008-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: June 7, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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CONFIDENTIAL
. ~~b ~ `~
7 June 1985
MEMORANDUM FOR: See Distribution
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Report on Agency Document Storage and Handling
1. Attached is a copy of our task force report on Agency
Document Storage and Handling Problems which was forwarded to the
Executive Director on 6 June 1985.
2. I want to thank each of you for your cooperation and help
in preparing this report. Although we were in disagreement on
many issues, I think it does reflect our collective views. I'm
sure we all learned something for our efforts.
3. It was a pleasure working with each of you, and again
thanks for your help.
Chairman, p Ica e
Attachment:
As stated
Distributio
1
DI/MPS/R M rono
UNCLASSIFIED WHEN CL BY SIGNER
REMOVED FROM ATTACHMENT DECL OAOR
CONFIDENTIAL
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AGENCY DOCUMENT STORAGE APID HANDLING PROBLEMS
This report was prepared in response to a rec~uirer~ent
set forth try the F;xecutive Director in March 1985.
Agency Task Force
Chaired By
DI/Office of P]anagement, Planning, anc] Services
THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL IN THE
AGGREGATE-INDIVIDUAL PORTIONS ARE UNCLASSIFIED/
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY EXCEPT AS h]ARKED
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C O N F I D E N T I A L
TABLE OF CON`!'ENTS
Para Subject Page
1. Executive Summary ............................................... 1
2. Background ...................................................... 2
3. Problem Area ................................................... 2
a. Space
U. Retrieval
c. Dissemination/Transmission
d. Manpower
e. Quality of Paper or Microfilm
f. Compartmentation/Security
g. Non-Textual Data
h. Archiving/Retention
i. Backup
4. Observations/Recommendations .................................... 5
a. Prioritize Problems
b. Use Commercial Technola~y
c. Invest in Agency Specific Requirement
d. Exploit a Range of Technology
e. Accelerate Retention of Data in Electronic Form
5. Overview of Headquarters Area Document Holdings ................. 7
6. SamUle of Headcuarters Area Hard Copy Collections ............... 8
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C O N F I D E N T I A L
AGENCY DOCUMEbi' STORAGE AND HAIIDLING PROBLEMS
This paper responds to a request by the Executive Director for an
assessment of document storage and handling problems throughout the
Agency. It was prepared by an interdirectorate task force, headed by the
DI Office of Management, Planning, and Services.
The Annual Records Inventory for FY 1984 shows that hard copy records
occupy 244,780 cut~ic feet of space at Headquarters--the equivalent of
30,580 four-drawer safes. Included in this total are large, frequently
used files such as those in the Offices of Personnel, Security, Medical
Services, and Finance as well as smaller collections such as those in the
DI Arms Control Intelligence Staff and the Office of Legislative Liaison.
The task force found that regardless of the size, age, composition, or use
of any given file, the proi~lems associated with information retrieval were
consistently cited as the single most significant issue that needs to be
addressed. Those offices that have large paper holdings also face severe
input problems, ranging from a lack of clerical support to long delays in
receipt of hard copy to overwhE~lming backlogs in processing. Another
frequently mentioned problem was lack of space, resulting in the need to
Purge potentially valuable information on a periodic basis.
In weighing the trade-offs between using new technology to optimize
retrieval, automate input to the extent possible, or reduce the physical
size of a file, the issue of the intelligence value of the collection and
the way in whict, the data are used to answer intelligence questions must
be weighed very carefully. It may or may not be prudent to implement one
technology that will result in space savings for a large collection at the
expense?of neglecting retrieval capabilities for a small collection that
would significantly enhance intelligence production. It would appear from
the task force survey that there are many offices that have similar
information handling problems that could be solved by the application of
common technology. However, a solution that addresses tl~e requirements of
one collection may not necessarily be applicable to other collections
without modification, nor should it be "force fit" because of resource
constraints.
After reviewing tY,e record holdings of 19 document collections in offices
that had over two-thirds of the Agency's total hard copy records, the task
force determined that the Agency should:
a. Prioritize Problems: Document collections that would benefit from
automation need to be identified, the basic requirements established,
and each ranked on a cost versus benefits basis.
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b. Exploit a Range of Technologies: There are numerous technological
advances available for improving the handling and management of
document collections. The Agency should use the technology that best
meets the specific collection's requirements.
c. Use Commercial Technology ~,lhere Possible: The Agency should
invest in product development when it appears probable that commercial
development will not satisfy our needs. TY,e conversion of poor
quality and foreign language materials as well as applications
requiring high density storage are exariples of areas for Agency
investment.
d. Accelerate Retention of Data in Electronic Form: Maintaining
documents in their original electronic form eliminates the need for
conversion, reduces storage space, and offers an improved retrieval
capability.
In early March 1985, the Executive Director tasked the DI Office of
Management, Planning, and Services to head an interdirectorate task force
to assess Agency-wide mass storage requirements to determine the
applicability of optical disk storage and retrieval technology. the
purpose of this undertaking was to assist senior Agency managers in
determining the extent to which we should underwrite development or invest
in this technology. Two milestones were established for the task force:
an interim briefing to the Information Systems Hoard on 26 April 1985 and
a final report to the Executive Director in June.
Following the interim briefing, the task force was redirected to pursue a
somewhat more realistic goal of identifying existing document storage and
handling problems throughout the Agency, including the Records Center.
This was accomplished by interviewing representatives from a cross section
of offices who could provide information on a variety of data storage and
handling problems. This paper highlights the task force findings,
provides some general observations about future trends based on extensive
group discussions, and summarizes the results of our office interviews.
Although many components of the Agency have developed systems to improve
information handling (e.g., ALLSTAR and SAFE), problems associated with
the storage and handling of documents continue to result in costly, time
consuming, and labor intensive practices. The task force identified the
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following to be the most prevalent problems with hard copy collections
today:
? We are running out of space and paper takes up more space than any
other commonly used storage media (2,000 pages per cubic foot). The
following illustrates the storage capacity of five types of media:
1 cu. ft. 8 1/2 x 11 in. paper
2,000 pages
100 ft. reel microfilm (x24)
2,500 pages
1/2 i-1. digital tape
3,600 pages
~~inchester 5 1/4 in. disk
10,000 pages
12 in. optical disk
52,000 pages
? Ttre number of people and machines in a finite amount of space is
growing. As a result, paper collections that were not a space problem
a few years ago are today.
? The filing and retrieval of paper and microforr~r are labor intensive
functions.
? The possibility of misfiling or losing hard copy is very high.
? ~?~ithout an accurate index, the chance of missing or overlooking
important information is also high.
? Many requests require a response on an immediate or tune sensitive
basis.
? Many hard copy collections are not colocated with the users making
it time consuming to access the data.
? Filing or processing backlogs often prevent the most current
information from being available.
? Documents in hard copy files can be accessed by only one user at a
time.
? Mixed media files (paper/microform/electronic) are the most
difficult and time consuming for users to retrieve and use.
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c. DISSEMINATION/TRANSMISSION
? Paper and microform are generally dependent on manual (courier
system) dissemination.
? Paper and microform generally require duplication by the
sender/originator if there is more than one recipient. Hard copy
collections with high dissemination requirements, such as the Office
of Personnel Applicant Files, involve extensive duplication.
? A slow dissemination capability often leads to duplicate file: in
several locations. Duplicate files, such as component personnel soft
files, provide users faster access, but add to the space problem.
? The time and effort required to file; retrieve, duplicate, and
purge hard copy is enormous and the costs per year are in the millions
of dollars.
? Clericals are, and will continue to be, difficult to recruit and
retain.
e. QUALITY OF PAPER OR MICROFORM
? Depending o~i source and age, many hard copy documents are difficult
or impossible to duplicate or convert. Currently there is no
commercially available technology capable of handling this problem.
f. COMPARTMFNTATION/SECURITY
? There is a reluctance to automate highly compartmented systems on
central mainframes.
? Coded magnetic media is currently easier to alter without detection
than paper or microform. Optical digital data disk is the most
difficult, but is not currently available in any Agency system.
g , tJON-TEXTUAL DATA
(Annotations, Signatures, Graphs, Pictures, Nonstandard Type)
? Most paper files contain information that cannot be easily captured
in electronic form, such as handwritten correspondence, notations,
graphs, charts, over-sized engineering drawings, pictures, etc. Paper
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and microform are the only currently available media used in the
Agency to ;maintain these types of data. In addition, there is no
other media available to handle special fonts, such as those
associated with stamped classification markings anti foreign languages.
h. ARCHIVING/RETEr]~~IOPI
? Most office automation systems do not have the storage capability
to provide for the long-term retention of documents, therefore, the
record copy is eventually paper or microform.
? Agency destruction/archival policies are in effect for all paper
and microform documents, but since document-based "record copy"
electronic systems do not exist in the Agency:
(a) Agency guidelines and policies for maintaining record copies in
electronic form also do not exist and
(b) no Agency proposals for electronic archiving have been submitted
to the P~ational Archives and Records Administration.
? Paper (especially acid-free) is the most stable storage medium to
maintain over a long period of time (50 to 100 years or more) followed
by microform; magnetic is tY~e least stable. All are expensive to
restore once deterioration has progressed. The archival capability of
the optical digital data disk is unknown but is in excess of ten years.
? Host hard copy collections have little or no backup because of
space limitations and the lack of manpower to duplicate and update the
files.
4. OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIOPIS
While there is clearly a lack of consensus among members of the task force
about many issues related to information storage and handling problems, we
are able to make the following observations and recommendations:
a. Prioritize Problems
Although the task force survey of existing hard copy holdings did not
include all Agency offices, it is apparent that there are many areas
that would benefit from automation. Not all of these applications
involve large paper holdings, and many have special requirements that
need to be more clearly defined before resource decisions are made.
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It is clear that some offices share common problems--a difficulty in
accessing existing data, the need for better indexing or a full text
retrospective search capability, a lack of space for file growth, a
shortage of clerical support to maintain files, etc. One approach to
developing an investment strategy for resolving our "paper problems"
would be to aggregate the requirements of those applications that
could benefit from common technological solutions, identify
applications that have special or unique needs, and then prioritize
the results. This would lead to the identification of a number of
offices that would benefit from the implementation of similar
technological solutions and at the same time allow us to address those
unique areas that may otherwise go unnoticed.
b. Use Commercial Technology
The Agency has a long history of technological innovation which has
greatly benefited the Agency and its customers. However, when our
unique developments have been followed by comparable commercial ones,
we gave been forced to continue to support expensive, non-standard
implementations. Since the current level. of commercial innovation
directed toward document handling is quite high and costs are rapidly
declining, it would be prudent to adopt Aclency-specific solutions only
in those cases where it is evident that the Agency's problems are
unique.
c. Invest in Agency-Specific Requirements
Clot all of our hard copy problems can be solved by using commercial
technology. Tt~e poor quality of some of our old, but highly valuable
documents precludes conversion to digital form using currently
available optical character readers. Similarly, foreign language
materials will continue to be received in large quantities and these
cannot presently be scanned with commercially available equipment.
Investments to improve the quality of older documents and in research
to enhance optical readiny and scanning equipment are appropriate.
d. Exploit a Range of Technology
The wide range of hard copy problems we face implies a review of a
wide range of technological solutions. For example, converting some
holdings to microform could reduce space requirements, and creating an
automated index to a hard copy file could improve accessibility.
However, in evaluating these kinds of options many factors need to be
taken into account, such as the tradeoff between space savings (e.g.,
microform) and data accessibility (e.g., availability of microform
readers and analyst willingness to use them). In each case the cost
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C O N F I D E N T I A L
of the improvement must be weighed against expected benefits.
e. Accelerate Retention of Data in Electronic Form
The benefits of textually coded information with respect to
information retrieval are so overwhelming as to dictate that every
effort be made to "capture" existing electrical information in its
coded form. Although a significant portion of incoming information is
currently received in electronic form, it is disseminated in hard
copy. Similarly, internal correspondence is generated on word
processing equipment, but is typically distributed and stored in paper
form. As we move toward greater use of automation, we should look at
solutions that will allow us to maintain and manipulate data in its
coded form.
On the otY,er Band, retaining electricals in digital form will not
solve all of the information handling problems we face now or in the
future. While the volume of electrical traffic has grown perhaps
ten-fold over the past decade, there has not been a corresponding
decrease in hard copy receipts. A significant amount of data will
continue to be received as hard copy (open source publications,
externally generated raw and finished intelligence, photographs, maps
and charts, etc.). In conjunction with our efforts to eliminate paper
copies of electrical messages, we should continue to pursue mechanisms
such as the evaluation of commercial scanning equipment or the
development of custo~~~ize~3 equipment to capture and convert this
important data.
5. CNERVIE4J OF HEADQUARTERS AREA DOCUt~NT HOLDINGS
Based on the 1984 Annual Records Inventory, the following chart indicates
the amount of space (in cubic feet) occupied by paper files at
Headquarters:
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In an effort to understand trends in the growth of paper, the task force
reviewed year end statistics for the past five years. Although the growth
rate appears to be flat for that period of time, there are several factors
that need to be addressed to understand the apparent lack of growth in our
paper holdings. First, because of space limitations, offices have had to
adopt a "zero growth" policy on some types of files, such as analyst
working files. While this approach has helped with the space problem, it
has created a potentially more serious problem in that the material that
is purged could be valuable and its destruction could represent a
significant intelligence loss. Second, many analysts use the Records
Center for "secondary" storage which also helps with the space problem at
Headquarters, but adds to the space and retrieval problems at the Records
Center. The 1984 Annual Records Inventory reveals that nearly 17,000
cubic feet of material--most of it hard copy--has been added to the
Rewrds Center since 1980. Finally, many offices have converted older
materials to microform. This again helps the physical space problem but
in reality causes retrieval problems for the users of this data because of
the cumbersome nature of the media.
6. SAN~LE OF HEADQUARTERS AREA HARD COPY CGLLECTIONS
Information on the various problems associated with hard copy holdings was
obtained by reviewing a broad range of file collections. In most
instances a task force member spoke directly with the collection users;
often, however, the aggregate knowledge of the task force was sufficient
to answer the relevant questions and the time consuming interview process
was avoided. While being far from exhaustive, it is believed the
collections cover most, if not all, of the Agency's major paper or
microform-related problems. Lack of space was one of the most frequent
complaints of the users of paper collections and, to put this aspect of
the collections into perspective, they have been grouped according to
their relative size -- small, medium, or large -- and are listed under
those groupings by directorate and component.
a. Collections Under 1,000 Cubic Feet at Headquarters
(Less Than 125 Four-Drawer Safes):
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