U.S. Government Documents: Declassified Documents Reference System
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OVERVIEW The Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) consists of a collection of over 70,000 declassified federal documents as amassed by a private publisher. Selection began in 1975 following Executive Order 11,652 and the Freedom of Information Act Amendments which encouraged greater dissemination of formerly classified security information based on the public's right to access. Originally published as a quarterly print index (the Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog) with a microfiche component containing reproductions of the documents, the DDRS at this time exists both as a microfiche set of over 400,000 "pages" and as a web-based online subscription database. CONTENTS SELECTION: In recent years DDRS editors have based their selection primarily on research requests fielded by the Library of Congress and the presidential libraries where the physical collections are managed. Typically excluded from the System are those documents considered to be of "marginal interest," those already given wide public dissemination, and those automatically released "in bulk" following their prescribed 25-30 year delay preceding declassification. SOURCES: Major sources of the documents include the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the National Security Council, and the White House. Minor sources over the years have included the United Nations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. SUBJECTS: Cold War-era issues and events such as the Vietnam Conflict, the Korean War, and the international spread and containment of communism are central topics in many of the documents, along with particular international relations in the 1960s and '70s. FORMATS, LOCATIONS, AND ACCESS AT NORTHWESTERN PRINT INDEXES/ABSTRACTS to the microfiche contents: CD-ROM INDEX/ABSTRACTS to the microfiche contents: MICROFICHE contents (classed GOVT PUB 015.73 D295a / D2951a
but not shelved by these numbers): ONLINE INDEX/ABSTRACTS with FULL TEXT of some contents: SEARCHING Given their nature and purpose, many declassified documents lack official titles and do not name individual authors. DDRS instead assigns a keyword (e.g. Laos) and/or document type (e.g. letter, memorandum) to each document, and identifies its organizational source (e.g. NATO). Successful subject access to the documents is thus largely dependent on searching the text of the abstracts (on CD-ROM) or the full text itself (ONLINE). PRINT INDEXES/ABSTRACTS: Indexing in the print series has been crude and inconsistent, largely dependent on a sole keyword assigned to each document (e.g. Great Britain; Missles; Kennedy, John F.) and demanding tedious referral from an index entry to numerous abstracts. Abstracts are organized by source (e.g. CIA) in each issue of the print publication. No cumulative subject index has been created for the series. Searching the electronic formats is preferable. If using the print indexes, you should record the DOCUMENT NUMBER heading the abstract of the desired document and also the YEAR of the index being perused. CD-ROM INDEX/ABSTRACTS: Although full text is not available on the CD-ROM, you are given the ability to BROWSE and SEARCH the following fields of the document records and their abstracts: * ISSUE DATE - original document date While searching these fields is relatively uncomplicated, you may want to BROWSE the list of entries for each field by placing the cursor in the desired field bar and clicking on the BROWSE pull-down menu to view that field's list. Execute your search by clicking the S icon, and retrieve your list of records by selecting Display from the DATA pull-down menu; double-click on desired items from the list to view each abstract. Make note of the following fields displayed in each record, as these numbers are the keys to locating the microfiche: * FICHE NUMBER - assigned to each piece of microfiche from 1982
onward ONLINE INDEX with FULL TEXT: The Web-based online database offers full text searching as well as "advanced searches" similar in structure to the field-browsing and searching described for the CD-ROM above. Help screens provide tips on Boolean and related search commands, which are not exactly the same as those applied in the searching of the CD-ROM abstracts. DDRS notes that "false hits" in full text searching are possible, given that you are searching occasionally illegible and hence misinterpreted text as it was scanned from the original documents. Another minor problem is that abstracts are not displayed with your list of potentially relevant document links, thus forcing you to view-- page by page -each document so as to determine its usefulness. Often, the results retrieved are not fully legible. To overcome this obstacle, it is possible to view and print a straight text version of the retrieved document. RELATED RESOURCES National Security Archive from George Washington University (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv) -- though short on full text documentation, this site features topical summaries and bibliographies of selected declassified documents regarding major international events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and Pinochet's 1973 coup. CIA Electronic Document Release Center (http://www.foia.ucia.gov/frame1.htm) -- explains your rights in accessing particular government documents and records, and provides full text access to its Popular Document Collection, with subjects including UFOs, POW/MIA, Guatemala, and various famous spies. |
