TENTATIVE PROPOSALS AS TO RECORDS TO BE INCLUDED IN AUTOMATED INDEX TO RELEASED DOCUMENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP93B01194R001700200001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 22, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 16, 1976
• Content Type: MEMO

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MEMORANDUM FOR DISCUSSION
FROM :
Information and Privacy Staff
SUBJECT: Tentative Proposals as to Records To Be Included in
Automated Index to Released Documents
,16 SEP 1976
1. Purpose of Index
There is general agreement on the need for the Agency to
develop a system for recording the declassification and/or
release, in whole or in part, of records of CIA origin. At
the minimum, the system should give users the capability to:.
a. List in orderly sequence declassified CIA records to
facilitate compliance with the "holder notification"
requirements of the National Security Council Direc-
tive (II.E.) implementing Executive Order 11652.
b. Do lookups, either from a terminal or by means of
machine listings, to determine whether specific docu-
ments have been previously released.
c. Search for previously released records pertaining to
a historical event, a foreign area, an organization,
an individual, a project, or any other topic which
might be the subject of a future request.
d. Determine where copies of previously released records
may be. obtained.
e. Compile listings of released records for the perusal
of members of the public, which, according to some
authorities, is a requirement of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2).
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2. Assumptions
In various meetings where the need for an index was
discussed, spokesmen for other Agency components stressed
their desire that the data base be all-inclusive, covering
"information" (e.g., disclosures found in the reports of
the various groups which investigated the CIA) as well as
documents released to members of the public by the Agency
in administering the Freedom of Information Act, the Pri-
vacy Act, and Executive Order 11652. No component, however,
has volunteered to maintain the index or to contribute sub-
stantial resources toward its maintenance. We are proceeding,
therefore, under the following assumptions and constraints:
a. Maintenance of the data base (i.e., selection of
records, indexing, data input and verification,
etc.) will be the responsibility of the Information
and Privacy Staff, with systems support provided by
the Office of Data Processing. The Central Refer-
ence Service will be asked to assist in devising -a
standardized scheme for recording bibliographic
citations, which is complicated by the diverse
nature of the items to be indexed.
b. No additional manpower will be added to the Informa-
tion and Privacy Staff, thereby limiting the coverage
of the index to what can be accomplished with the -
manpower currently available. (Indeed, the on-board
strength of the Staff may be reduced during the coming
months.)
c. With rare exceptions, the file coverage will be
confined to records released pursuant to Executive
Order 11652, the Freedom of Information Act, and,
very selectively, the Privacy Act. Any program to
develop a capability for retrieving data concerning
other categories of information releases (e.g.,
information disclosed in the Church and Rockefeller
Committee reports, documents or information included
in the Pentagon Papers, records released in the
course of litigation, press releases, etc.) will
result in a separate, but hopefully compatible,
? system(s).
d. The system design should be such as to permit future
expansion with respect to scope of coverage and data
elements indexed.
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e. Inputting of records into the existing DECAL system
should be continued in the interim, with the expecta-
tion, that this file will be converted to the new
record format as soon as a new index .system is opera-
tional.
5. It would be desirable to retroactively index, on a
time-available basis, all significant CIA records
released since 19 February 1975, the date that the
amended Freedom of Information Act took effect.
The information retrieval capabilities represented by
the IPS subject case files and the automated log now
under development should be taken into account in the
design and scope of the proposed index to released
records.
3. Subject Matter Coverage
Whenever a request is received which duplicates, or is very
similar to, one previously processed, we must be able to identify
the earlier request(s) and locate all relevant files. By so
doing, we would be able to avoid redundant searches and reviews,
and also ensure that we did not deny information to one requester
which had already been released to another. At the risk of over-
simplification, it can be said that any 'of the broad areas listed .
below could be the subject of repeated requests, and therefore
responsive records released should be indexed or retrievable.- -
through some other system:
a. Reporting and analysis on any foreign intelligence topic.
b. Information maintained by the Agency on U.S. domestic
organizations and institutions.
c. Information pertaining to the Agency mission, functions,
organization, history, etc.
d. Information on programs (such as drug experimentation)
widely regarded as extralegal or falling outside the
Agency charter.
e. Information concerning Agency covert action programs.
f. Information on public figures (U.S. or foreign; living
or dead).
g. Information on topics of proven interest (such as UFOs
or the JFK assassination).
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4. Records to be Excluded from Index
Unindexed material will nonetheless be subject to a measure
of control. With regard to those records released to the public
in connection with FOIA, PA, and EO requests, the IPS case files
contain lists of records denied or released in their entirety, -
plus actual copies of all records released in sanitized form.
Moreover, documentation in these files identifies the compon:-rits
holding the records not physically included in the folders. Re-
trieval, however, is now limited to retrieval by name of requester
or case number (supplemented, of course, by the recollections of
individuals who worked on the requests). Indexed material, on
the other hand, will be retrievable by any combination of attri-
butes (document number, document title, keywords, area code,
publication date, original requester, originator, sanitized or
declassified, ad inf.).
The Information and Privacy Staff currently maintains a
manual log for all FOIA, PA, and EO requests. The Office of
Data Processing has under development an automated logging
system to replace the manual log. One of the capabilities of
the automated log will be that it will be possible to search
the "subject" field, probably through keywords. If this system
is implemented, the automated log would thus enable us to
identify previous requests for records on named projects,
organizations, individuals, etc.--assuming that the search
topics had been keyworded--and examine the relevant case files _
to determine what has been released.
It is. proposed that the following categories of records--
some of which are seldom involved in request responses anyway--
not be indexed:
a. Open source materials.
b. Unclassified records, unless released in segregated
form.PP tar HS
AJS-C/Ds, et.),,
c. Records originated by other agencies, even though they
may contain information derived from CIA reports or
concern CIA activities or personnel.
d. Unclassified maps, reference aids, intelligence studies,
translations of foreign broadcasts and press items,
etc., released to the public through the facilities
DOCEX/LC, NTIS/Commerce, or the GPO.
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e. Speeches, Congressional testimony, press releases, and
similar materials not involved in requests from the
public.
f. Records declassified as a result of the 30-year declas-
sification review program. /W..(1 c5I-Sst)
g. Records which, if released to anyone other than the
original requester, would constitute an invasion of
personal privacy.
5. Records to be Included in Index
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Subject to the exclusions listed above, all records released
pursuant to FOIA, EO, and PA requests from the public will be
considered for indexing. It is anticipated that all CIA records
released in connection with EO (mandatory classification review)
requests will be indexed; that a large percentage, but not all,
of the CIA records released in connection with FOIA requests will
be indexed; and that very few of the CIA records released in con-
nection with PA requests will be indexed. It will be the respon-
sibility of the IPS case officer to review all releases, identify
the records which meet the criteria for inclusion in the file,
and set aside copies for indexing.
It is expected that the types of CIA records listed below
will be among the items indexed:
a. Intelligence information reports and cables (FIRs,
00-Bs, TDFIRs, TDFIRDEs, PIRs, etc.).
b. Finished intelligence (intelligence memoranda and
reports, situation reports, current intelligence
daily and weekly periodical issuances, biographic
reports, STIRs, NISs, NIEs, SNIEs, etc.). The
system should be designed to accommodate draft
versions, as well as the final disseminated versions
of certain of these series, and, of course, the
nomenclature has undergone change.
c. Typescript monographs--usually in the form of memo- '
randa--which received limited dissemination.
d. Reference aids.
e. Staff studies and related policy, management, investi-
gative, or operational papers.
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f. Correspondence. (Transmittal letters and memoranda
containing no substantive information would not be
indexed, however, unless released in sanitized form.)
g. Staff cables. C(a7'e(ei. is"tieRaue
h. Agency administrative issuances such as notices,
? regulations, directives, handbooks, etc.
i. Maps.
j. Photographs and motion picture films.
k. Agency histories.
1. Certain computer listings.
m. Forms.
6. Other Options Under Consideration
It has been suggested that it might be desirable to
design the index system so as to accommodate references to
"files" as well as individual documents. This option would
be followed in instances where a large number of records
has been released, many of which would not meet our standards
for inclusion in the-index (e.g., newsclippings or FBIS items).
Examples would be the "Rosenberg documents" and the "Kennedy
assassination" documents. A variation of this approach would
be to index selectively individual documents judged to be of
general interest, in addition to indexing the "file" as a
separate entry. If the Staff's plans for an automated los
materialize, however, the file entry approach?EHUUTff?b?d?unnec-
essary since the log would afford us the same retrieval capa-
bility.
Another suggestion is that we explore the possibility of
contracting out the tasks of document indexing and data input
preparation. There would seem to be no security problems,
and this option would greatly ameliorate the manpower problem.
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