LIST OF KEY DOCUMENTS FOR AGENCY ANNUAL REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01762A001100040004-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2000
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 16, 1973
• Content Type: MF

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.1.6 January 1973
EM0RA2 DUM FOR:
Members of the. Records Management Board
SUBJECT
List of Key Documents for Agency Annual Report
REFERENCES
a.
b.
Memorandum from Executive Director-Comptroller
to Deputy Directors dated 26 May 1972,
Subject: Information Control--Archives,
History, and Records
Memorandum from Executive Director-Comptroller
to Deputy Directors dated 3 July 1972,
Subject: Agency Annual Report
1. This memorandum provides supplemental guidance as to what
documents and files should be included in each component's submission,
plus additional background information on the relationship of the key
documents lists to the Agency's Archives and History programs.
Legal Requirement for Archives
2. in recognition of the obligation of a democratic government
to give an accounting of its performance to the citizenry, Congress has
enacted legislation to ensure that records no longer useful for admini-
strative or operational purposes not be destroyed until they had been
,appraised for possible historical interest and research value.
3. The basic law governing the disposition of government records
Lis the Federal Records Act of 1950 (PI, 81-754), -which requires the head
of each agency to "cause to be made and preserved records containing
adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions,-Poli-
cies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency
and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal
and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected
by the agency's activities." This law places the function of issuing
records disposal regulations under the Administrator of General Services
and empowers him to inspect the records of any Federal agency and to
obtain disposal reports from them.
4. The Central Intelligence Agency occupies a privileged and some-
what unique position with respect to the Federal records prograri. The
National Security Act of 1947 (PL 80-253) charges the Director of Central
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Int~~:LLi en ca with r.esoonsibility for protecting _LntelllgOnc sources
and methods from unauthorized disclosure, and' in view of th:iss, the
Agency was speci._fica-11y-sxem ed from PL 81-754. The Agency's Leal
Staff re~z-deed .
an opinion in October 1950, however, that it was the
desire of Congressi that the Agency adhere to the provisions of PL 81-
754 to the extent possible without jeopardizing sensitive intelligence
'methods and sources. Consequently, the Agency maintains a separate
storage facility for semicurr2nt and noncurrent records, but adheres
closely to the policies, procedures, and standards promulgated by the
National Archives and Records Service (Z,,RS), General Services Admini-
stration.
5. NARS publishes guidelines from time to time- in the form oc
General Records Schedules, which deal with the clispositior Of certain
types of records common to many governi:tenta.l organizations. Permissive
in character, they are designed, i.e., to throw further light on the
0
categories of records which must be retained indefinitely or must he
considered for retention. Additional guidance can be obtained from
A:6 through the submission of specific requests for disposal authority
(Standard Form 115).
3.fechanism for Idnriti- v--ina and Controlling R=cords of Archival Value
6. Records Control Schedules, prepared for each major component,
are employed by the Agency to stipulate the various retention periods
the Records Control Schedule by identifying record types which should
be preserved for their historical value and for r1j, co ,one
, .. a
s
i
n
hi
g f
les w
t W.
ch are believed to meet the stated criteria. 0.
5- e
7. Records which must be retained indefinitely tend to fall i
t
n
o
two g=eneral classes--those which must be preserved on an across-the-
'-t?oarcl basis and those where the Agency is to be selective. Retention
of such records as Agency regulations, finished intelligence Wipub lics,.ions,
disseminated-information reports
and published ma
s
b
h
l
n
p
is
ot
al
-i
ciusive
2M mandatory. Al.l such items must be preserved and procedures have` taaen
or will be developed to provide for their orderly retirement to Archives.
For some categories of records, however, the ultimate disposition of
specific documents, file units, films, and other record media is-
-depen-dant upon an appraisal of their worth. Most subject files and project
files would seem tot fa=within this class. -
8. It is Agency policy that the Archives should consist of a
relatively small and manageable body of essential--re_..
-_co-_rded e.,perience.
Tine screening of the great -
quan'L1tleS oF"records which hmust be appraised
before destruction can be authorized is, of course, a monumental task
but not an impossible one if the work is decentralized and performed on
an annual basis. The preparation of the key documents list is therefore
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in one f:ieu e a :first-st'eq rev e.w. of Agency records, pinpointing those
which orovice evic'm-c:' of the or`;'ariz Lion, l: unctions, policies, deci-
s .ons, procedures, op rations, or of er Agency aCtiV'1tie5 eVIZfentlal
ialue) , or are of enduring interest because of the informational value
of the data contained therein.
_-lation to Aryency I-j i s to r
the achievements and programs cited in each component s narrative con-
tr.ibution to the annual report. But beyond this, e suture needs of
't gorncy histar ans in identifying and locating source materials for the
preparation of even t-oriented'his tories should also be anticipated and,
insofar as possible, accommodated.
list, in this sense, serves as a Source oibliograohy for the annual cam-
9 . Agency histories prepared in the past have, for the most part,
been the history of specific components. The emphasis is to be shifted
to event-oriented, rather than organization-orlante(i ~LStories, suture
histories will therefore deal with important Agency activities and oper-
ations, analyzing,' the ways in which the various elements of the Agency
worked to ether to produce the overall contribution to the operation in
question. the new version or the annual rcoorc is designed to suffice
as an annual update to the sundry component histories The key document
Selection of Key Documents
10. Ti-a-_ _term "documents" should be construed to broadly encompass
recorded information, usually textual, in any format. Rather than in-
dividual?d~,cuments, it may be appropriate in many instances to include
entire file unit folders (subject, proiect,'contract , etc.). Other
record mdin materials may also merit inclusion (e.g., photographic
film, briefing displays).
11. Storage of record materials under the prescribed environmental
conditions is costly, and the Idfger the accumulation the more difficult
it b=ecomes to arrange, inventory, and retrieve. Insofar as it is con-
sistent with Government-wide policies and guidelines, it is the goal of
the Agency to limit its archival holding to the "cream of the crow`` --
the tru] s iffcant and precedent-mating materials ;AIZS e.:perience
indicates that only 2-5 per cent of all records of the Federal Government
is of such enduring value as to merit preservation.) To qualify as
"significant," the topics treated by the documents should have had a
substantial irl~ ct on-foreign policy initiatives and objectives, repre-
serlted technological breakthroughs or intelligence coups, or had - marked
efCect on component activities, missions, or employment of resources..
The lmoortance may have derived from the sheer magnitude (human and
material resources) of the undertaking, or because it drastically altered
the way things are done (new collection systems), or because it reflected
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a major shift in ritission emphasis (task team activities). Failures and
abort?d Projects, if they wer oE crib al imoOrt~InCe or rep r`e_sented
iimalor commitments of resources, should be documell,ted aion,, with the
successes. 1 ~
12. Once i~ .h , aetermned TJn I, gs, trends, and- clevelop
meats hav been important enough to warrant mention in the annual renort-
an , by itension, worthy of doe:umenting in the Agency Archives--
remains of selecting the particular docurimerts, file units, etc. , needed
to aderLuately describe and explain than. Generally sneaking, priority
should be accorded documents of general scope over documents of partic-
ular scope. Careful consideration should be given to records which deal
with broad policies and procedures, sumraari... of experiences and actions,
overall d"irectinrr"and major phases of programs, principal trends, and
similar -matters of broad functional significance or historical interest.
To be complete enough to satisfy the needs of historical researchers--
Agency historians and, perhaps at some distant time in the future, private
-researchers --the documentation should explain, at the minimums why an
action Jess taken preliminary planni.nexecutive ~Leci lion ooints and
authority, implementation steps, progress reports, and post mortems, if
any. .~ _.._
13. It would serve no worthwhile purpose to suggest the number of
key documents appropriate for any particular component's contribution.
The length of a component'q list could be expected to vary widely from
year to year in direct relationship to its activities. It is antlerate ,
however, that the fiighar thi component- is i.n the Agency command hierarchy,
the larger the percentage of its records that would meet the criteria
established for key documents.
14.? The following topics--the list is merely suggestive and is by
no means intended to be exhaustive--might be expected to appear in annual
.report contributions and thereby require coverage in the key document
section:
- ADP planning and implementation
R&D breakthrous,ns
Internal reorganizations
Covert action projects
Budget trends
Shifts in coverage or emphasis (subject, area)
Establishment and accomplishments of task forces
Responses to major new requirements (targets, functions)
Planned or implemented changes in collection, processing,
or production
Major improvements in efficiency and productivity of on-
going activities
Spacial, nondisseminated studies prepared in response to
requests from high-level policymakers
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n
lutellig?ncFe coups
L':npact o :Local deveelonments on overseas ouerations
Major rev-i.sions of agreements and procedures in the
support area
Changes in relationships within the intelligence
community, with Coneys, with the Executive Office
of the President
'-tiremenc to Archives
15. Components are urged to ensure that key documents and file
units identified in the annual report are rlagea for deDos--;t in the
A;?,'_r'icy Archives for permanent retention once they have become non-
current. Thera are certain techniques successfully employed by other
agencies which you may wish to consider for adoption. r~.rnon,, these are:
the use of special colored file folders for materials deemed of archival
value; the.r:arking of each file folder, whether it contains permanent or
temporary records, with disposition instructions; and the stcra?e of per-
manent records in separate safe or file cabinet drawers, with appropriate
labels on the drawers.
16. ?Men, as is frequently the case, a single file folder contains
both documents of enduring value and others of only transitory interest,
)an effort should be made to purge nonpermanent records from the mile
prior to its retirement to Agency Archives. This tasCan be simplified
if the practice is followed of filing permanent records on one side of
the folder and temporary records on the other. On-6 agency (TVA) uses a
system of dual folders for file units, one for permanent records and one
for nonpermanent records.
17. Per -,nanent_ retention records, whether they are individual docu-
ments or file units, should, whenever possible, consist of clean origi-
nals. Microfilm copies, verified for completeness and accuracy, are
equally acceptable-indeed, in the case of bulky files, preferred.
(Federal Property Management Regulations, Subchapter B, Subpart 101-11.5
should be consulted for microfilm standards for permanent records.)
18. The timing of the transfer of per-anent records to the custody
of the Agency Archives should be governed by the component's reference
requirerents. While in current use, they should, of course, be retained
by the component, and not transferred to Archives until such time as
they become noncurrent. If the records are not in active use but it is
probable that the component will have occasion to consult them, it is
advisable to deposit them in the Agency Records Center, which is better
equipped to provide reference service than is Archives, as an inter-
mediate step, scheduling them for transfer to Archives at:. a later date.
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19. or si.)ecific guidance on questions not cov?recl in this paper,
addressaes ars referred to the Historical Staff, extension 2521, or the
Agency Archivist, eKtansion 5615.
!STQTINTL
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T EX'ENSION NO,
DATE
OFFrCER'S
INITIALS
7 February 1973
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw o line across column af)er ouch comment.)
Maybe the five. of us can
get together some day next
week and talk about this
paper.
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4a +? I' E