HISTORY OF OFFICE OF COLLECTION & DISSEMINATION

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP84-00951R000200200030-7
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
34
Document Creation Date: 
November 17, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 22, 2000
Sequence Number: 
30
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 1, 1952
Content Type: 
BH
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PDF icon CIA-RDP84-00951R000200200030-7.pdf1.28 MB
Body: 
ed For Rle 6(08/1f z C1DP84-00951 R000200200030-7 aSr4+w.~~$y ldiA'w`i6filPlA~~Bt~ /h%"1' Office f Collection & Disation ? Y OCD as presently constituted combines two separate and distinct types of operation under one roof. One is the maintaining of files of intolligenco material for reference by CIA and the IAC agencies; the other., the collecting, routingp coordinating and disseminating of intelligence material within CIA and to the IAC agencies. It is from the second of these, carried out by the Liaison Division (originally a separate office of Collection & Dissemination)., that the Office takes its name. OWN k LTheory and Origin of the Reference Center) The need for a reference system adequate to cope with the massive flow of incoming intelligence and for establishing contact with industrial leaders and other people in the U.S.who had or could obtain- information I? of value to intelligence were of primary import in 1916 to the newly organized CIG. However.. the reorganization - as envisaged by CIG Dir. 14,0 19 July 1946,.. did not at the moment extend to these problems. The State Departmazt's Reference. Division cared for some of CIG's needs 1 ! but hardly could have been considered a service of common concern., The Approved For jelease 2000/08/17: CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 Apprdved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA- 951 R000200200030-7 decision was made therefore in the fall of 1916 to establish a Reference Center within CI(* The concept of the Reference Center was to maintain intelligence files with two points in mind: 1. Avoidance of unnecessary duplication of the holdings of other agencies. 2. Cognizance and registration of material held by other agencies and non-government sources. The Reference Center, was temporarily placed in ORE for administra- tive support, 19 December 1946. it was to be the repository for all intelligence and intelligence information to be permanaatly filed by CTG, to maintain records of all ava fable intelligence sources, intelligence info oration and intelligence; to provide a reference library for CIG (and to establish, in coordination with OCa procedures for utilization of its materials and catalogues --=C by other agencies). To this end, the Reference Center was to include a Library and several registers for the handling of special types of intelligence such as biographic, industrial, and graphic information and a fcuet,'-- 'far _~, Approved For Release 2000/ IA-RDP84-009518000200200030-7 Approved For Release 2000/08/17.: CIA-RD -3- 951 R000200200030-7 contacts within the United States. All these, p:Lus a Central index for business machine operation and development were activated between 1 January and July, 19147. From the outset it was evident that the great volume of intelligence material flowing into GIG could not be indexed and cross-referenced by the slow cumbersome and space-consuming methods of standard library practice. The only possible solution was the use of business machines, whose techniques and capabilities could be applied to certain operations of indexing and locating material,' chiefly through the use of I] punch cards. These machines have their limitations, however, and the special requirements of the Reference Center had to be tailored to fit such limitations while the machines themselves had to be improved to fit the requirements. Both were done; the greater part of 19147 was devoted to the development of the Library's Intelligence Subject Code and the special codes of the individual registers. These have proven flexible enough to i zvitastand the changes and strains of four years' service. The Machine Division conducted experiments and research in machine techniques? whic2i IQ~~ Approved For Release 2000/08/1 : -FDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 .Apprbved For Release 2000/08/17 CIA-RD fti5f R000200200030-7 - 3a - UBITY 'Aria?, produced noteworthy results, particularly in the Intellofax system which reproduced text printed on IEi cards onto a continuous tape. With these machines doing their bit for the security of the United States, the Reference Center began to give real satisfaction to its custcaners in CIA. The material coming into CIA was far more than the personnel could handle, and large backlogs built up in the first two or three years. The individual divisions are treated 7---------improved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 Q A 1 scv -Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84- 9r5j.9'*0200200030-7 -4- 5 0 ~1TY g1 Fai MATJ0N separately in this works but the problem of too much material and too few people was common to all. In September 1947, the Reference Center which had been conceived as a support function, had grown to a sufficient size to branch off on its own has a service for the Agency as a whole. It had never been intended to have the Reference Center remain under ORE., where it was tending to become a reference service for that office alone. -Consequently the Reference Center was separated from the administrative support of ORE and set up as an office under r the Executive, AM. In May 1948, a major change in the organization took place. -, [Combining of Reference Center and OCD (old) To understand the background of this changes it is necessary to go back to the sunmer of 1946. General Vandenberg's first re-organiza- tion plans effective 20 July 1946 (CIG Dir. 14), provided for an office of Collection which was to act for DCI in collecting foreign intelli- genco and establish coordination with the various collection agencies to enable ORE to perform its functions, and.an office of Dissemination., oved For Release 2000/0 " :lA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 'Approved For Release 2000/08/17 CIA-RDP84-00~&1 R000200200030-7 lb71i ~3"ti~ d e7rl 011 which was responsible for dissemination of all intelligence to aa,thorized recipients. ORE, however,, was instructed by CIG Administrative order #12 (22 August 194.6) to "complete & publish" finished intelligence until O/D was adequately staffed, 10 September 194.68 0/C and O/D were combined into one Office of Collection & Dissemination (OCD (old)). This office was.organized in three branches: 1. Requirements - which contacted government agencies and was to know their needs. 2. Collection - which coordinated (and arranged field collection by agencies. 3. Dissemination - which distributed intelligence material throughout the government. There was also a Reading Center/ which inspected all incoming documents and routed them to the proper offices. From December, 1946 to the summer panel.. The opposition of State and the difficulty of reproduction in quantity held it up until June,, 1948 when Liaison Division began to exercise administrative and executive control over it. of 1948, OCD (old) led a straggle to set up an Interdepartmental Reading tiT PS ~' LOU Aproved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 .lima/11C- :zJ(r .. Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-O ,: 0200200030-7- -6- Organizationally., this was a workable set-up, but as time went on, the service end of the job tended to be swmped in procedure for pro- cedurets sake.. By Junes 1917, OCD (old) was handling a large volume of projects, some of which were of vast scope and magnitude. The office prided itself on the number of requests it received, all handled formally, and tended to stress quantity rather than quality. Early in 191i.8s the decision was made by=the=Director to abolish OCD (old) and merge it with the Reference Center. CIA General order #6, 3 May 19b8, consolidated OCD (old) the Reference Centers and Central Records Division of Services Branch, Administration and 1ianageruuant. A few weeks later, by CIA General order #7, 18 May 1918, the chief of the Reference Center was appointed Assistant Director for Collection & Dissanination and both Reference Center and Central Records were officially transferred to that Office. With this merger, two new n..actions were added to that of the Reference Canters giving OCD three major categories of operation: E Jy ~;, . improved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 -Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-009 0 200200030-7 RV 7, -7- Cl~k IT ~ ~u'?'a~f:~,~FJ'6i~~~ 1. Services of common concern; library and other reference registers. 2. Coordination of collection requests of CIA and other agencies. 3. Administrative. - the reception and dissem ation of docu- ments and reports. 7 The last function was absorbed by the CIA Library with the exception of messenger and courier service which was handled by the Administrative Staff; the second was that of OCD (old)., which was re-organized as the new Liaison Division. This Division was divided into four desks (branches) which coordinated Requirements,., Collection & Diss nation for the separate producer-consumer agencies. To complete the re-organization of 1948, the Contact Register,was moved to the Office of operations.. 28 August 19118. - -1 Since Reorganization of 1948D OCD is the servant of CIA; as the agency grew in sizes, as new offices were created, OCD had to grow to keep pace with then. Its workload in- creased from two directions; the ,mount of material. flowing into OCD to be processed and disseminated and the requests of other offices on the "Divisions of OCD for service. The rate in the anount of.document.ry 4 goved For Release 2000/08/1 GFDP8-009518000200200030-7 -Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 SEUTY Miii ' ate =u3ii 136iril material" flowing into OCD had shown a steady increase since 1947. In 1950s the rate of increase doubled. This was duo to several factors; 25X1A 25X1A the greatly expanded programs material from ^ and from 25X1A' 25X1A such POW interrogation programs as and . (Cf. Industrial ILLEGIB `Register). OCD has tried in the past two years to exercise greater electivity in the documents acquired frcun the 7AC agencies. Requests or information in 195D increased 56% over the previous year, and in ILLEGIB addition made to O CD was that Pf the Special Register, 21 June 1951, gash had been started in the previous year in ACT; and which wi':+ bo 1951 were 29% over those of 1950, reaching an average of 2,250 per month. Personnel figures for OCD have followed the general trend of in- crease in the agency. In December, 1950 the mail and Courier Service -and Central Records were removed frcen OCD and restored to Administrative Services. This accounted for the sizeable drop in personnel in that year and took away from OCD, two services which had functioned well under it, but which were not properly components of that office. The last prbweazim Re Ma - 1t8 i ~ WI !R3P84-0095.18000200200030-7 -Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP 40 9951 R000200200030-7 Early in April, 1952 most of the staff of OCD together with their accoutrements and impedimenta moved from quarters in M Building., across 26th Street to that was formerly known as the Riverside Stadium. This had been a roller-skating rink of no moan proportions. Important repairs and renovations were undertaken to make it suitable for its ch 1~ weighter duties, but these were at last accomplished. The job of resettlement on a single vast expanse of floor has been tremendous. the earlier stages., at least., certain of the defects of the new arrange- ments stand out as more noticeable than they may later become. But the wheels of the vast project which is OCD)have been kept turning with very little loss of time or efficiency. That this is so., is a tribute to the loyalty and, esprit do corps'of the men and women who compose it. rg" d2 as -------- proved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R000200200030-7 ILLEGIB roved Fob- Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-.00951 R000200200030-7 The CIA Library Since 1 January, 1947 the CIA Library has been serving the documentary intelligence needs of the organizational units in CIG-CIA. It began in the Reference Center under the administrative guidance of the Office of Reports and Estimates and was known as the Intelligence Documents Division. Later it was designated the Reference Center Library under the supervision of the Chief, Reference Centers Administration and Management. After the reorganization of 1 May, 1948 the nave was changed to the CIA Library, a Division of the Office of Collection and Dissemination. The Library is the Agencyts documentation center. Intelligence documents, books, periodicals, newspapers - practically all documentary information - arrive in the Library first for processing? before distri- bution. The ,ibraryts main job is to index this material, then,to make U 41I t it avai.able to requesters. In fulfilling this task, the Library was A first to apply centralized library methods to both the organization and distribution of intelligence information. It has sought not only to develop a well-organized collection of its own but also to uncover the 1-------Approved For Release 2000/08/17: CIA-RDPB4 6695i l O00 0200030-7 v.iw elall2tio-i:l1~~44 Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 RQOQ2QQ2 .0030-7 2 .. ti ;W 1% places where material is avai sblo elsewhere. The bibliographical controls for classified documents are the same to which an investigator is accustomed in more usual research. A concomitance to thorough referencing has been the element of speed. The intelligence analyst must get his information quickly, as well as be able to find it again. For this reason machine techniques have been applied to the search for information. Although machines can sort and collate rapidly., their success as searches is essentially based on the structure of the coding system used in processing the input. Faced with this problem in 1947, the Library examined existing classification schemes., both within and without the intelligence community; it tried to achieve inter-agency agreement on the adoption of a single plan, but finally was compelled to sot up a new code system especially adapted to its awn needs. This system, known as the Intelligence Subject Code' Ih? combines the most useful elements of methods obtain ,before 1947, with the arrangement of subjects known to suit the continuing needs of the Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CI P, 46 R000200200030-7 HS/HC- . Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : CIA-RDP84-00951 R0002002000304 _3- e. ..n Library users. This Coda and the machine index-distribution system are two notable contributions to intelligence research. ~r-am.~tb.e._sta~t~ha.users--of theMI,ibrary~~have been?,..acc~a:stcmed Ito-pr~mpt,arn}x.~sympathet,~ar~~er'v~:~ ~'""`to"'?~i ch-muoh~ons~.d~arat3~orc..,ia~b e7:n g continwu.sly.~,giuen. .That~.,tYe,4- .exvi.ce