CABLE ARCHIVES FILING SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00134R000200060009-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2004
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: December 3, 1963
• Content Type: MF

Approved Fo ?Release 2004/08/31 : CIA-RDP67-00134 000200060009-3
3 December 1963
SUBJECT : Cable Archives Filing System
1. From December 19+6 through December 1960 all cables were
filed alphabetically by station number on microfilm. Including
the 0SS period 20 years of cables are contained in three four-
drawer safes in the Cable Secretariat. It took me 15 minutes to
recover Reference No. 3 in you. 1i+ November note.
2. Starting January 1961 Cable Archives, then located in
Commo, commenced filing by IN number and DIR number. This was
continued after the Archives function was transferred to the Cable
Secretariat in December 1962. Cable Secretariat maintains a log
by station and approximate dates. It used to destroy these after
a period but since July 1963 these logs have been retained as an
approximate index for recovering requested cables.
3. References No. 1 and 2 in your 14 November note were not
requested for recovery because it was estimated that it would take
as much as an hour and a half to locate each one.
I+. The head archivist states that he receives requests for
recovery of cables, without the exact reference numbers, no more
than one a month. He recalls having received none since his trans-
fer to the Cable Secretariat a year ago. Apparently the more recent
cables can usually be identified readily. One could well argue
that the extremely low volume of business on the sort of cables
that you listed doesn't warrant a complicated index system. On
this point No. 2 man, expresses the
view that i the responsible desks don mafntain the files them-
selves, the burden is more properlyIa of DD/P in some sort of an
application of a~system than one to be placed on the Cable
Secretariat. From his point of view if a former chief of station,
or some such, wanted to recover some old administrative traffic,
the delay in recovery is not too great. Certain y wren we think of
the limited volume of business on this stuff there is merit in his
argument.
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5. As a matter of additional interest the Secretariat has
stopped microfilming files. This is based on recommendations of
the Records Management Staff and took effect in June. It is
supposed to save about $150,000 in microfilm costs over the next
15 years. One year's hard copy will be stored in the Secretariat
and the balance will be retired I Icables can
be retrieved "in 21l hours or less--one or two hours in an
emergency." At the time of the survey the Records Management
Staff study said "This time has been checked with the biggest user
of the reference service and he believes 24 hours would satisfy
the majority of requests."
6. While I personally would prefer the idea of a well-indexed
microfilm systemythe low level of business, its usual lack of
urgency, and the fact that retrieval is possible, if not
expeditious, would strike me as being adequate. My personal
inclination is to describe the function, note the recent changes
and pursue it no further.
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 C
4 ON-TR
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UNCLASSIF E
E
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIP
TO
NAME AND ADDRESS
DATE
INITIALS
I
S. n.
2
3
4
5
6
ACTION
DIRECT REPLY
PREPARE REPLY
APPROVAL
DISPATCH
RECOMMENDATION
COMMENT
FILE
RETURN
CONCURRENCE
INFORMATION
SIGNATURE
Remarks :
c s lit
IL A
FOLD H E TO RETURN TO SENDER
NE NO.
DATE
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237 Use previous editions
2-61 /
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1961 0-587282
 Ap
prAVNFlWhWRlaIrzWAA A?T
UNCLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIP
TO
NAME AND ADDRESS
DATE
NITIALS
1
2
3
4
5
6
ACTION
DIRECT REPLY
PREPARE REPLY
APPROVAL
DISPATCH
RECOMMENDATION
COMMENT
FILE
RETURN
CONCURRENCE
INFORMATION
SIGNATURE
Remarks :
'te~,'lvG~, .3 ve S tv cry.
0A S 0
jf
A c "apit e ' e.R ev a~
FOLD HERE TO RETURN TO SENDER
FROM: NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE NO.
DATE
An
n
-2
0
R
2
IFIED
CONFIDENTIAL
SECRET
FORM jo. 237 Use previous editions
(40)
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1961 0-587282
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NOTE TO: Mr. Breckinridge
14 November 1963
1. Tanned to visit Mr. Kermit
Roosevelt and sen a cable about this in late July
or early August of 1963. Can you find it?
2. In the latter part of April 1962 the Chief of Station wrote
a cable to ith regard to a possible assignment on
Istation
3. In the second week of June 1960 sent in
a cable reporting on the fourth series of national elections for the
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