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(Fwd) Critique of CIA Records Management



Something of interest to archivists and records managers which
was originally posted to the govdoc-l list.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:              Tue, 4 Apr 2000 09:03:37 -0400
Send reply to:          Discussion of Government Document Issues <GOVDOC-L@lists.psu.edu>
From:                   Steven Aftergood <saftergood@igc.org>
Subject:                Critique of CIA Records Management
To:                     GOVDOC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

The Central Intelligence Agency has "serious shortcomings" in its records
management program, according to a new report by the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA).

The report calls for transfer of CIA's records to the National Archives
sooner than the current 50 year period.  "With the end of the Cold War and
the U.S. Government's commitment to openness, CIA retention of permanent
files for 50 years is no longer appropriate," the report said.

Moreover, CIA record collections must be transferred intact, contrary to
current CIA practice.  "Transferring records by series is essential if NARA
is to achieve proper intellectual control over its permanent holdings and
also to meet the needs of researchers who want access to coherent blocks of
organizational records, not artificially-created collections."

The report contains a wealth of detail on various deviations from good
archival practice, as well as information on CIA handling of electronic and
non-textual records, and discussion of several new CIA electronic record
management initiatives that have previously gone unreported.

The report also notes that, contrary to CIA assertions, the destruction of
records related to CIA operations in Iran in the 1950s was "unauthorized."

The new NARA report, which was obtained under the Freedom of Information
Act, was declassified with minor excisions.  It is posted at

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/naracia.html

"The challenge of protecting United States defense secrets is of almost
immeasurable scope," according to the 1985 report of the Commission to
Review DoD Security Policies and Practices (the "Stilwell Commission").

The report is something of a milestone in secrecy policy, having laid the
foundation for the single-scope background investigation, the creation of
the Security Policy Board, and other momentous innovations.

Though now largely of "historical" interest, the report still has poignance
today:  "Regulations provide that classified information cannot be taken
home to work with, unless stored in an approved safe, but the prohibition
is ignored by many for the sake of convenience."

The Stilwell Commission report, formally entitled "Keeping the Nation's
Secrets," is posted at

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/stilwell.html


___________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web:  http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email:  saftergood@igc.org
------- End of forwarded message -------

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