THE ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION (ERDA) AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR RECORDING RESULTS OF ITS DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B00236R000100050005-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 21, 2004
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 9, 1977
• Content Type: MF

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9 September 1977
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Information Systems Analysis Staff
STATINTL FROM:
Chief, Agency Archives and Records Center
SUBJECT: The Energy Research and Development Admin-
istration (ERDA) Automated System for
Recording Results of Its Declassification
Review
REFERENCE: My Memorandum Entitled "Meeting With Chief of
the Energy Research and Development Admin-
istration's Declassification Program," dated
26 August 1977
1. During our 25 August meeting with Mr. I.L. Cuchiara,
Chief A's Declassification Branch, he suggested to
STATINTL I land me a return visit to ERDA in order to learn
now his agency uses an automated system to record the results
of its declassification review. This system is under the pur-
view of Ms. Ester L. "Jill" Fllman, Chief of their Special
Projects Branch.
STATINTL 2. Yesterday, I of our Office of Data
Processing, and I visited Ms. Ellman in her office. She
quickly revealed that she was the bright, down-to-earth,
friendly and pragmatic person that Mr. Cuchiara had described.
Although ERDA's review program has been in existence many
years, it really got going, she noted, in 1971--about the same
time she "came aboard." Their Director, Mr. Charles Marshall,
was very PR-minded and supported a vigorous program. They
decided to review "everything right up to the present."
3. It quickly became apparent that ERDA's predecessor
organization, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), had no
uniform document indexing system. Offices had developed their
own systems. Some had devised no system and almost no one
kept records of memoranda, etc. Eventually, the AEC "gave up"
trying to keep a record of all. review actions and wound up
tabulating only those on Technical Reports.
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4. The AEC's first effort at tabulating Technical Reports
was completed on 31 December 1972, with the publication of the
Supplement to Indexes of Limited-Distribution Reports: Changes
of Classification printed from a typed compilation--t e first
step in the three-stage evolution of the now automated publi-
cation. It included such information as title, author, former
classification, new classification, etc. Subsequently, a 3"x5"
control card containing similar information was prepared on each
Technical Report at the time of its publication as a document
control measure.
5. The second stage of the Supplement's format took shape
31 December 1973, when it was photoprinted from xerox copies
o,* the 3"xS" cards shingled on the face of the copier. It
i cluded only those actions resulting in full declassification.
6. The final stage was adapted from AEC's Richland Field
Office which punched data similar to that typed on the 3"x5"
cards into a computer bank when the document came up for revATATINTL
The Supplement of July-August 1974 was printed from such data.
It included exempting as well as full declassification actions.
The application was simple and readily understood
7. I asked Ms. Ellman "who in CIA was on dissemination
for the Supplements?" She believes that, thus far, dissemination
had been entirely in-house. Although the Supplements are
UNCLASSIFIED--this is made possible by substituting "TITLE
CLASSIFIED" for sensitive title entries--it apparently had not
occured to ERDA that any other agency might have a use for the
Supplements. That may indeed be the case inasmuch as few
Technical Reports have gone outside their agency. I suggested,
nevertheless, that much work might be spared both agencies if
we could use the Supplements to declassify reports in our
possession already declassified. She said the Master Index
probably would be more useful and that she would discuss the
possibility of our using it with Mr. Cuchiara.
8. AEC's need for better document control prompted their
attempt to implement a data index system for all classified
documents that they would create after December 1973,, in com-
pliance with a provision of Executive Order 11652,9'which most
agencies were "wise enough to ignore!" AEC prepared an Index
Action Authorization Form AEC-790 (attached) and tried to apply
it. The best of intentions, however, could not capture the
identities of all documents being created. Nevertheless, a
modified. attempt continues at ERDA. Some smaller agencies have
implemented such indexes quite efficiently. The advantages for
declassification reviews are undeniable. For larger agencies,
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