THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82M00097R001400120003-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 14, 2005
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 30, 1961
• Content Type: MF

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USIB-D-40. 3/3
30 June 1961
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
MEMORANDUM FOR THE UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
SUBJECT: Third Annual Report of Committee on Procurement
of Foreign Publications
Attached is the Third Annual Report of the Committee on
Procurement of Foreign Publications.. This matter will be placed
on the agenda of an early Intelligence Board meeting (probably that
of 18 July), for noting.
25X1
Executive Secretary
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6 July 1961
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chairman, United States Intelligence Board
SUBJECT : Annual Report of the USIB Committee on Procurement
of Foreign Publications
1. The Third Annual Report of the USIB Committee on Procurement
of Foreign Publications is submitted herewith.
2. Reference is made to USIB-M-160 of 20 June 1961, paragraph 5,
wherein Dr. Kent, reporting on his recent trip to Latin America, "alluded
to the general problem of collecting information about Communist China and
expressed the view that additional efforts in such Free World areas as Latin
America might produce useful new intelligence materials. " It was reported
further that the Board concurred generally in this view and that the possi-
bilities of improving collection for any additional available data on Communist
China will be checked.
3. I wish to invite the Board's attention to the fact that the Committee
on the Procurement of Foreign Publications (PROCIB) has considered the
availability of Communist Chinese publications a top priority item in its
deliberations during the past eighteen months. Specifically, the following
are called to your attention:
a. PROCIB Second Annual Report. On 2 June 1960 we
reported to the Board that all the world-wide resources available
are being. checked and expanded to ensure as complete coverage
as is possible.
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2
b. Field Trips. Under PROCIB auspices, survey trips have
b.e:en, made to see what Communist Chinese publications are available
not only in Latin America but also in Western Europe and Africa,
south of the Sahara.
4. In spite of all these efforts, however, there has been a serious drop
off in what Communist Chinese publications we have been able to procure
(cf. PROCIB Third Annual Report, paragraph III. A). Another important
problem (cf. PROCIB Third Annual Report, paragraph III. B) is the procure-
ment of Soviet military and scientific and technical publications of military
application (doctrine, policy, planning, capabilities and objectives).
25X1
Chairman, Committee on Procurement
of
Foreign Publications
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USIB-D-40, 3/3
Final *
1 August 1961
UNITED STATES INTELLIGENCE BOARD
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS
THIRD ANNUAL REPORT
I. AUTHORITY
This report reflects the major activities of the Committee on Procurement of
Foreign Publications for the Fiscal Year 1961 as authorized and directed by DCID 2/5
dated 26 June 1959.
II. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
I II * I Min A 111 t1.,r..g11.~w1wM~
A. General Availability of Foreign Publications. The volume of books and
monographs received by the CIA Library from Moscow has doubled this fiscal year:
51, 000 volumes representing 13, 084 titles. Receipt of Soviet newspapers remained
fairly stable; periodical titles showed and increase of about twenty-five titles,
including nine Soviet military journals denied for subscription in previous years,
The total number of serial titles being received is slightly in excess of one
thousand individual titles, A Want List of Soviet items critically needed has been
compiled on behalf of the Committee and distributed for action, Chinese Communist
publications are considered separately in paragraph III a, below.
Receipts from the countries of Eastern Europe remained fairly stable. The
reopening of the U, S, Legation at Sofia has eased the need of procuring regular
Bulgarian publications through secondary channels.
*11Tot d, as amended, by USIB of ?. August 1961 (USIB-M-166, item 9),
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Publication receipts from the Free World remained constant. Key posts in
this area, particularly London, Paris, Berlin, Cairo, New Delhi, Tokyo, and
the military commands around the world, continued to provide special support
to the collection of Sino-Soviet bloc publications.
B. Moscow Single Fund. For Fiscal Year 1961, a single fund
for the procurement of publications through U. S. Embassy Moscow was established
with the following agencies participating- State, CIA, NSA, USIA, Library of
Congress, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Labor, Army
Map-, Service, and the National Library of Medicine. The program has permitted
greater flexibility in reporting by the Publications Procurement Officer and has
released him from fiscal reporting burdens, making him more available for
actual procurement. Although the program has relieved this fiscal reporting
burden at Moscow, the burden has been transferred to the Washington receiving end.
C. Full-Time, Regional Publications Procurement Officer for Latin America.
The Committee, recognizing the increasing importance of systematic coverage
of Latin American publications procurement, urged and formally endorsed to the
State Department the appointment of a full-time, regional Publications Procurement
Officer for that area. The State Department is planning such a position in its
Fiscal Year 1962 budget. In the meantime, concerted measures have been taken
to stimulate procurement in Latin America through existing facilities. The
Coordinator in the CIA Library Acquisitions Branch for this area, is being sent
25X1
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on a 90 day tour of selected posts in Latin America, beginning mid-June, 1961.
This tour will follow up on matters initiated by similar action in the spring of 1960.
D. Graphics Procurement. In the absence of any formal USIB coordinating
mechanism in 1958, PROCIB recognized that published graphic materials were
in fact a special case of publications procurement. It therefore assumed
coordination and procurement responsibilities in this area. During Fiscal Year
1961, Foreign Service and military personnel in the field were engaged in the
graphics procurement program both from published materials and actual photogra-
phy, resulting in the procurement of about 40, 000 photographs for the CIA Graphics
Register alone.
E. Use of Foreign Currencies Available Under Public Law 480. The 85th
Congress amended Public Law 480 to permit the use of available foreign currencies
for programs involving the procurement, processing, translation, etc. of foreign
publications in certain countries. PROCIB has continued to work closely with the
two agencies responsible for the program- the National Science Foundation and the
Library of Congress. The former has translation programs underway in Israeli Poland
and Yugoslavia. The Library of Congress has submitted budgets recently for
procurement programs in India, Pakistan and the United Arab Republic, as
recommended by the Advisory Committee on PL 480 to the Librarian of Congress,
of which the Chairman of PROCIB is a member.
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F. National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation representatives
have participated actively in the work of the Committee by providing timely
information which resulted in action on such items as visits to Sovbloc countries by
U. S, scientists, international conferences, availability of publications in certain
foreign scientific academies, symposia, and various exchange programs between
the U. S. and foreign scientific institutions.
G. Field Trips. The Coordinator for the Near East and Africa in the CIA
Library Acquisitions Branch was assigned 4 months temporary duty in Cairo to
enable the regular Publications Procurement Officer there to make an extensive
trip to procure publications from his area of responsibility. The assignment was
part of the program to have as many area coordinators as possible gain field
experience.
In March, 1961, the Curator of the CIA Historical Intelligence Collection,
attended the Second International Conference on the History of Resistance in Milan,
Italy. During the course of his travel in Western Europe, he undertook general
book buying, with special emphasis on possible sources of Chinese Communist
materials. Clarification of microfilming requirements of Chicom materials by
Scandinavian countries, and the identification of new potential sources of such
publications were two major accomplishments of his travel. These assets have
not yet been tested.
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The Army representative made a field trip to Germany, the Netherlands and
England. PROCIB representatives were contacted prior to the trip, with a debriefing
on the results following.
H. Cooperative Funding Projects for the Library of Congress Accessions Indexes.
Funds were committed by the Atomic Energy Commission, Central Intelligence Agency,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation
to continue to finance during Fiscal Year 1961 the Library of Congress Russian and
East European Accessions Indexes. During the past year certain changes had to be
made in the Monthly Index of Russian Accessions to accommodate the rising pro-
duction costs. Late in Fiscal Year 1961 the programs were being reviewed by the
National Science Foundation and the Central Intelligence Agency to determine the
size and scope of activities for Fiscal Year 1962. The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration and the Atomic Energy Commission have indicated they will
not be able to support the program financially in Fiscal Year 1962. The Committee
on Documentation (CODIB) has completed a community-wide survey on this subject
which has been reported to the USIB and will not be repeated here. (See CODIB-
D-84/1, 1 June 1961; )
1. Publications Procurement Officer Activities. The position of the Regional
Publications Procurement Officer at New Delhi was dropped by the State Department
in February with the endorsement of PROCIB. The small number of special or
classified requirements justified the change. Routine publication procurement will
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be handled by a local employee under the supervision of the Geographic Attache.
The areas of responsibility of the several Regional Publications Procurement Officers
were defined by the State Department in an instruction to all posts. Most of the
Regional Publications Procurement Officers have made surveytrips for procurement
of publications in their areas of responsibility.
III. MAJOR PROBLEMS (not necessarily in order of priority)
A. Procurement of Chinese Communist Publications. The embargo placed on
the export of publications by the Chinese Communists in October, 1959, continues
to remain in effect. In spite of the fact that all sources available to PROCIB
participating agencies, both overt and covert, have been mobilized to ensure the
best possible coverage for the procurement of Chinese Communist publications, CIA
Library receipts have dropped as follows:
25X1
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The Publications Procurement Officers at Hong Kong, Moscow, Berlin and Tokyo,
in that order, have made significant contributions to the program. The British,
Dutch and Swedish governments have provided particularly effective support to the
procurement of Chinese Communist publications. Negotiations are in process with
the Foreign Ministries of Denmark and India to determine their willingness to
render similar assistance.
A listing of essential titles was compiled to reflect the needs of both the Exploitation
and the Procurement Committees, and forwarded for field action.
A world-wide survey to develop additional channels to acquire these publications
has uncovered potential sources in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. The
scientific and technical libraries in these countries, under an exchange program
called the Scandia Plan, maintain a cooperative exchange of publications with the
National Library of Peking and the Academia Sinica; A reproduction program is
under way at these repositories to obtain microfilm copies of Chinese Communist
scientific and technical journals held by them and unavailable in the U. S.
25X1
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Several programs have been implemented to develop and maintain close ties
with the U. S. academic world. To support the National Science Foundation
Symposium on the Sciences in Communist China, 158, 472 pages of the journals in
this area were furnished on film to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for
coordinated distribution tothe participating scientists. The National Library of
Medicine and the Department of Agriculture Library also cooperated in the scheme,
by this exchange enriching their own collections as well as making their holdings
more widely available. Listings of unique holdings of these journals have been
issued.
Special assistance by use of pouching facilities is being provided for the orderly
shipment of microfilm copies of the Chinese Communist newspapers, periodicals
and clipping file of the Union Research Institute, Hong Kong, to the Midwest Inter-
Library Center in Chicago. Continuing contact was maintained with the Committee
on American Library Resources on the Far East, which has recently published a
listing of the Chinese Communist journals held in major libraries of the U. S., U. K.,
Japan, and elsewhere.
B. Procurement of USSR Military and Related Publications. The Committee
believes that the unavailability of many Soviet military and scientific and technical
publications of military application (doctrine, policy, planning, capabilities and
objectives) continues to be a serious deficiency.
C. Procurement of Cuban Publications. The cessation of U. S. -Cuban
diplomatic relations necessitated extraordinary procurement action. All Latin
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American and other selected Foreign Service posts were asked to make special
effort to procure available Cuban publications. As unique items were received,
copies were made available to interested U. S. agencies, together with periodic
lists of receipts.
D. Interagency Clandestine Collection Priorities Committee (IPC). PROCIB
requested assistance from the IPC in the procurement of the Chinese Communist
Liberation Army News (Chieh-fang Chun Pao) over a year ago, with no success
to date from this source.
E. Bulgarian Military Serial Publications. U. S. Embassy, Sofia, has been
denied subscriptions to forty military and technical serial titles for 1961. Alternate
sources are being explored.
F. Russian Book List. To report the books procured and the expenditures
incurred for the items through the Moscow Single Fund program, a Russian Book
List is being prepared regularly and issued to participants in the program. The
great increase in volume of book receipts from Moscow requires that the need
for the Russian Book List be carefully reviewed. Preparation of the List
necessitates the use of more manpower than can be afforded.
IV. MAJOR OBJECTIVES
The Committee will:
A. Continue to take vigorous action on special problems such as those
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associated with the procurement of certain Soviet publications of military and
scientific and technical publications of military application, Chinese Communist and
Cuban publications;
B. Anticipate and keep current on any major developments in the availability
of publications world-wide;
C. Ensure that all facilities available to the U. S. Government, whether overt
or covert, are brought into play for the procurement of publications urgently needed;
D. Participate in major symposia, or meetings involving the acquisition and
availability of foreign publications, which have a direct relationship to PROCIB
activities;
E. Recommend to the State Department that the biennial conference of
Publications Procurement Officers be heldiduring Fiscal Year 1962, and further
urge that the military services and other pertinent publication procurement
activities send representatives;
F. Continue to meet with collectors, both in the field and on their home leave;
G. Ensure that as many publications as possible are turned over to our
national libraries so that the U. S. scholoarly world has them ,more readily available
to assist the intelligence community in the appraisal of foreign science and
technology;
H. Act in an advisory capacity to academic institutions in the U. S. requesting
procurement information that can be made available;
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1. Coordinate PROCIB activities with those of the USIB Committees on
Documentation, and Exploitation of Foreign Language Publications; and
J. Establish the means and schedule for regular reporting by members
concerning the scope and product of their procurement programs, including
exchanges.
25X1
Chairman, Committee on Procurement
of
Foreign Publications
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