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Declassified Documents
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Declassified Documents
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In 1972 Executive Order 11,652 revised the regulations governing the handling of classified United States security information. The new regulations provided that all classified information more than 30 years old was to be systematically reviewed for declassification by the Archivist of the United States, and all newly classified information was to be automatically declassified after 30 years except for specifically identified information which the head of the originating agency determined to require further protection.
Thousands of post-World War II government documents which were formerly classified as Top Secret, Secret, or Confidential have been declassified under the mandatory provisions of these regulations.
In addition, the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA], first enacted in 1966 and substantially amended in 1974 and 1986, had a significant impact on documents being declassified. It establishes a presumption that records in the possession of agencies and departments of the executive branch of the U.S. Government are accessible to the people. With the adoption of the FOIA, the burden of proof shifted from the individual to the government and the "need to know" standard was replaced with the "right to know" doctrine.
In 1978, Executive Order 12065, revamped the Government's security classification system again. The standard for classification was tightened so that no document would be classified unless its release reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable damage to national security. All documents were to be declassified as early as national security permitted. And with few exceptions, the documents given extended classification were to be declassified after 20 years rather than 30. It also established a mandatory review procedure for handling requests from the public for classified government information.
In 1995, with an emphasis on a commitment to the principle of open government while continuing to protect information critical to national security, Presidential Executive Order 12958 (Classified National Security Information) changed the way federal agencies manage classified national security information. It was intended to reduce the amount of information that is classified, the length of time it remains classified and facilitate the declassification of information. The order set a five year time limit within which all classified information in records that are more than 25 years old must be reviewed and declassified. Any material not reviewed and declassified or exempted will be automatically declassified.
The material in Declassified Documents Reference System originated primarily in the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department and various components of the Department of Defense, but it also includes documents from the White House, the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These documents were formerly classified as Top Secret, Secret or Confidential. The documents can range from telegrams, correspondence and field reports to background studies and detailed minutes of cabinet-level meetings. The size, scope, length and quality of the documents vary.
The collection does not include documents which were declassified automatically in bulk following expiration of the 30 year rule, documents which have been given wide public dissemination, such as the Pentagon Papers, or documents included in other publications.
The Declassified Documents set consists of two parts. The first part is a retrospective collection of documents declassified between 1972 and 1975, more than 9,600 documents. The second part, beginning in 1975, consists of a regularly-issued index and abstract, accompanied by microfiche documents, and an annual index. Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 documents a year are published. .
The Declassified Documents Reference System: Retrospective Collection (Index Reference, Z 1223 .Z7 D36) consists of three volumes: a 2-volume catalog of abstracts arranged alphabetically by the names of the government department or agency where the documents originated; by chronologically by subject within the agency; and a subject index. The microfiche are numbered by the pagination of the abstract--if a document you want is abstract C on Page 43, it will be item C on microfiche 43.
The retrospective collection has been updated with quarterly and then bimonthly compilations with an annual index, Declassified Documents Catalog (Index Reference, Z 1223 .Z9 D4). Each issue has a subject index and abstracts and there is an annual cumulative subject index. Entries are arranged alphabetically by the names of the government agencies in which the documents originated or for which they were prepared. Within an agency, abstracts are organized alphabetically by general subject, and chronologically within subject. The abstract contains a short summary of each document and gives the microfiche number. The microfiche are filed as a set by year and microfiche number.
The corresponding Declassified Documents Microfiche Collection is shelved at J 83 (year). It is interfiled with the U.S. microfiche as if it were a SuDocs call number.
The Declassified Documents Index is on the Libraries' CD-ROM Server. This index is updated every other month. It provides a searchable cumulative index to the microfiche collection. It does not have full text documents although some full text documents may be offered at some time in the future.
The Digital National Security Archive, a comprehensive collection of primary documents, is available in the Libraries' Electronic Resources. The database contains more than 35,000 of the most important, declassified documents that have led to the policy decisions. Although the contents are discussed in terms of collections--right now the Archive contains 12 complete collections: Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis 1958-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador, Iran-Contra Affair, Intelligence Community, Iran Revolution, Military Uses of Space, Nicaragua, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Philippines, and South Africa--the collections can be searched as an integrated whole. Plans are to add new collections each year--7 collections are scheduled for addition in 2000.
In response to Executive Order 12958, discussed above, many agencies have set up their own declassified documents access, among them:
A complete list of the departments and agencies with FOIA web sites.
Declassified materials still must be requested through the Freedom of Information Act. Some of the sites above have information about how to request documents through the FOIA. Two good sites from government sources are:
There are also several non-government sites which explain how to use the FOIA. Among them:
The FOIA does not apply to the President, Vice President, Senators or members of the House of Representatives; however, the Presidential Records Act of 1978 does make the documentary materials of former Presidents subject to the FOIA and all Presidential papers and documents generated after Jan. 20, 1981, will be available under the framework of the FOIA.
The National Security Archive, a nonprofit research institute, collects, organizes and creates finding aids and retrieval systems for unclassified and declassified materials obtained from public and private sources. The National Security Archive was founded in 1985 by a group of journalists and scholars who had obtained documentation from the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act and sought a centralized repository for these materials. Over the past eleven years, the Archive has become the world's largest non-governmental library of declassified documents. The Archive is designed to apply the latest in computerized indexing technology to the massive amount of material already released by the U.S. government on international affairs, make them accessible to researchers and the public, and go beyond that base to build comprehensive collections of documents on specific topics of greatest interest to scholars and the public.
TRAC, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse is a data gathering, research and distribution organization associated with Syracuse University.. It provides comprehensive information about the activities of federal enforcement and regulatory agencies, based on masses of detailed data obtained from federal agencies through the systematic and informed use of the Freedom on Information Act. The information is then submitted to a variety of sophisticated statistical techniques, checked, verified, and data from one agency compared against the others. There are separate TRAC web sites describing the enforcement activities and staffing patterns of the FBI, the IRS, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is engaged in analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy for global security. A privately-funded non-profit policy organization whose Board of Sponsors includes over 55 American Nobel Laureates, FAS was founded as the Federation of Atomic Scientists in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project who produced the first atomic bomb. The FAS web site is a fascinating one to explore. Of particular interest are:
The Center for International Policy, Intelligence Reform Program is an independent effort to examine and reform the intelligence community, with a particular emphasis on covert operations.
Loyola College's Department of Political Science provides Strategic Intelligence and Military Intelligence web pages with links to organizations involved in intelligence activities, as well as other historical and current information and links. There are many electronic journals dealing with secrecy, the intelligence community and related issues and this site also has a good list of them.
The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War, and seeks to disseminate new information and perspectives on Cold War history emerging from previously inaccessible sources on "the other side"-- the former Communist bloc.
The Center for Responsive Politics has several searchable databases, including: the Lobbyist Database, Incumbent Travel Database, Federal Campaign Contributions, Foreign Agents Registration Act Report, White House Coffee and Sleepover Database, White House Inaugural Contributors List, Business Roundtable Soft Money Database, Tobacco Industry Campaign Contributions, 1979-present. .
Secret No More is a database and subject guide to thousands of FBI files, most never seen outside the FBI.
Big Brother Incorporated is a report on the international trade in surveillance technology and its links to the arms industry.
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