MACHINE RECORDS OF PER ABSTRACTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00274A000100230023-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 1, 2000
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: July 30, 1953
• Content Type: MF

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30 July 1953
MEMORANDUM FCR: Chief, Plans and Programs Staff
1. The objective and the method. The Personnel Planning Staff 25X1 Aga
is preparing, under the supervision of Mr. a complete
set of coded IBM cards based on extant Personnel Evaluation Reports.
These cards are to be so coded that a series of machine runs could
produce the information shown on Attachment A. The object is to
obviate the necessity of leafing through perhaps thousands of files,
active and inactive, in order to determine which individuals possess
certain capabilities, desires, or qualifications.
2. Information indicated by the machine runs would be only
sketchy at first. For example, in Item D of Attachment A, only those
categories indicated could be represented by a machine run. However,
in Item E, a coding system is capable of showing 99 separate and distinct
fields of work. Item J, as another example, can show, under "Training",
any course in TR(S) and TR(G) recommended on the PER of any individual.
3. Current status of the Project. As of this date only 3500 PER's
have been coded. The two men who were engaged in the work have left
it, and work is proceeding at the rate of 150 per day. Mr. - 25X1A9a
expects, nevertheless, that the entire backlog of departmental PER's
will be completed by the end of this summer. As the PER's come in from
the field, they will be coded and incorporated into the system. Because
of the present lack of these reports from the field, Mr. expects25X1A9a
that a machine run a year from now will prove infinitely more valuable
than a run at the present time.
4. As the methods exist now, it is possible to code only one
recommended course per individual. If a supervisor, for example, should
recommend more than one course on a PER, this type of information could
not be recorded. Experience so far has shown, however, that the big
problem is to make supervisors recommend courses of training concretely
and by name, or even to make them recommend training at all when needed.
5. Usefulness of the system to TR(S). Attachment B shows the code
key for TR S courses, the numbers of which would appear in the fourth
slot under Item J on Attachment A. It is possible to make a machine
run of these code numbers alone, thus effectively showing the number
of individuals recommended for each course thereon listed. Subject to
the qualification presented in paragraph #4 above, such a run once each
year could help this office in projecting its training load, budget
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estimates, and the necessary frequency of training courses.
6. Recommendations. At'the end of the summer, when the coding
of departmental PER's will probably be completed, TR(S) should ask for
a machine run on Item J of Attachment A. It is the opinion of the under-
signed that, while a cmachine run sooner than that would produce very
little, a run at that time might produce figures which would at least
be of historical interest to our successors in this office. What
training has actually been recommended could be seen at a glance, and
it would give us some indication of where we stand in future planning.
This office should also request that we be informed as soon as the
field PER's are coded, and an additional run on Item J should be
requested at that time. After that, a yearly or semi-annual run should
be made.
25X1A9a
7. In the meantime, a glance at Attachment B will show that the
list is somewhat obsolete, principally because of its inclusion of
Phase IV. The inclusion of TSS courses is necessary, whether or not
these courses have now been transferred; their appearance with TR(S)
courses in this list is only for the sake of convenience, since many
PER's have already been coded. This office should make recommendations
to Mr. directly concerning inclusions and exclusions of courses
in order to bring the list more up to date. One specific recommendation
should be the inclusion of the BIC/SUP, listed as a separate course,
in place of Phase IV. In the opinion of the undersigned many super-
visors are likely to consider it as a unit and recommend it as much.
25X1A9a
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Approved For Release 2000/08/22 : CIA-RDP61-00274A000100230023-7