Declassified Documents
Location: The Declassified Documents Retrospective Collection which includes documents from 1945-1975 is located in Microfiche Cabinet 19 Drawer 8. The Declassified Documents Reference System which includes documents from 1975-1997 is located in Microfiche Cabinet 19 Drawers 9-10.
Scope
The Declassified Documents are a microfiche collection of thousands of post-World War II United States government documents which were formerly classified top secret, secret or confidential.
The documents come from the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, various components of the Defense Department , Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Technical Information Service and many other government agencies.
Excluded from the collection are: (1) documents declassified in bulk following the expiration of the thirty-year rule, (2) documents already given wide public attention, e.g., parts of the Pentagon Papers, (3) documents of marginal interest and (4) reports previously published in abstract journals and cumulative indexes issued by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Some of the subjects covered in the collections are the Alger Hiss affair, the European Economic Community, the assassination of President Kennedy, drug traffic in the United States, and the Vietnam War.
How to search the collection
The collection “has” three indexes to help you find information. They are:
Declassified Documents, Retrospective Collection (Micro Reference Z 1223.Z7 D36)
Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog (Micro Reference Z 1223.Z9 D37)
Declassified Documents Catalog (Micro Reference Z 1223 Z9 D372)
Declassified Documents, Retrospective Collection is an index to the Declassified Documents, Retrospective Collection , documents created from 1945 to 1975 (Microfiche Cabinet 19 Drawer 8) and an index to the Declassified Documents Reference System for 1975 (Microfiche Cabinet 19 Drawer 9).
To use this index:
Find the subject you want in pt. 2, the subject index. Write down the letters and numbers for the information that you want.
Example for a Retrospective Collection Index Entry:
| Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -armed forces -1945 (R) 316A |
The year 1945 is the date that the document was written. The (R)
means go to the Declassified Documents, Retrospective
Collection in Microfiche Cabinet 19 Drawer 8. 316 is the microfiche
card number. The A is the location on the microfiche card where
the information is located.
Example of a 1975 entry in the Retrospective Collection Index:
| Unidentified Flying Objects -intelligence aspects -1952-53 (75) 6C |
The year 1952-53 is the date that the document was written. The
(75) means to look in the Declassified Documents Reference
System in Microfiche Cabinet 5 Drawer 9. The 6 is the microfiche
card number. The C is the location on the microfiche card where
information is located.
Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog is an index which was published quarterly and has a Cumulative Subject Index for each year.
To use the index:
1. Find the subject you want in the Cumulative Subject Index. Write down the abstract number and the year of the Cumulative Subject Index.
2. Using the same index year, find the abstract for your abstract number.
3. Go to the Declassified Documents Reference System microfiche in Microfiche Cabinet 19, Drawers 9-10. The years are marked with dividers. Look at the right top corner of the microfiche. Use the abstract number to find the microfiche you need. ( Do not confuse this with the Fiche number on the actual fiche.)
Declassified Documents Catalog is an index which is published bimonthly and has a Cumulative Subject Index for each year. Pickler Library’s subscription was cancelled in 1997.
To use the index:
1. Find the subject you want in the Cumulative Subject Index. Write down the abstract number and the year of the Cumulative Subject Index.
2. Using the same index year, find the abstract for your abstract number.
3. Go to the Declassified Documents Reference System microfiche in Microfiche Cabinet 5, Drawers 9-10. The years are marked with dividers. Look at the right top corner of the microfiche. Use the abstract number to find the microfiche you need. (Do not confuse this with the Fiche card number located right above the 4-digit number.)
Guides
Declassified Documents, Retrospective Collection (Micro Reference Z 1223.Z7 D36)
Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog (Micro Reference Z 1223.Z9 D37)
Declassified Documents Catalog (Micro Reference Z 1223 Z9 D372)
Related Web sites are Declassified CIA Documents on the Vietnam War – providing an in-depth indexing of the CIA declassified documents on the Vietnam War and, where possible, a link to the full-text documents available at Virtual Vietnam Archive (VVA).
For more information about this subject in our Library Catalog, check out these
Subject Categories:
Government publications -- United States -- Sources.
Time Period: 20th Century
Subject keywords: Military History