Sources and Techniques of Obtaining National Defense Science and Technology Intelligence (Chapter 4)

"Sources and Techniques" Title Page

Chapter 4: National Defense S&T Intelligence Sources Discussed
In the course of the development of information science and the study of collection, people will inevitably come up with different views regarding various concepts. This is quite normal, and academically we should permit everyone to express his opinion. The question of the concept of "information sources" is one of the hot topics in information science circles. People are deeply interested in it, and explaining this concept clearly has important significance for the development of information science. However, because information science is a new field, people are not consistent when it comes to their definitions for the question "what is information?" In the No. 1, 1983 issue of the "Journal of Information Science" there was an article by comrade Huang Huihuang in which he listed 37 explanations of the definition of information. Therefore, at present people also have differing views on the concept of "information sources," and their explanations are not the same. Some journals in the information science field in China have columns devoted to a discussion of this topic.
We believe that, in order to arrive at the correct interpretation of the concept of "intelligence sources," we must first come up with a fairly scientific definition for the concept of "intelligence." We believe that professor Qian Xuesen's definition, which he summarized by saying that "intelligence is the knowledge required to understand a particular problem," is fairly scientific. Let us consider and analyze the question premised upon this definition. We also need to differentiate between "what is intelligence" and "what is information," not doing as some of us did in the past and making no distinction between them, or even going so far as to lump them together indiscriminately in the expression "intelligence information" to avoid suspicions of being unclear about the concept. What is particularly important is to study the concept of "intelligence sources" from an overall and systematic perspective. By studying it based on our experiences in more than 30 years of work in S&T information and while focusing on the developments that will be made in the days to come in S&T information, we can arrive at a timely new concept. We do not advocate following foreign definitions indiscriminately, because on one hand the foreign concepts are quite inconsistent, while on the other hand foreign dictionaries and the translations of foreign monographs have limitations such as one word having multiple meanings or the translator having some specialized knowledge or understanding, so the writer's concept is not necessarily expressed accurately, which can easily lead one down the wrong path, and this is particularly true in new academic disciplines. Therefore, we should certainly study such reference works, but we must not follow them slavishly, we must not allow them to restrain us too much, and most importantly we must proceed with our practical work in mind, elevating our emotional knowledge into rational knowledge and proceeding to establish a scientific theoretical concept system for information science, the study of information, and the study of collection.
In Chapter 1, Section Three, we have already laid out our basic perspectives regarding our understanding of intelligence sources and information sources. In this chapter, we will discuss these viewpoints specifically and in somewhat more detail.
Section One -- Examples of the Concept of Information Sources Most Commonly Seen in China and Elsewhere
I. Several Typical Formulations in Foreign Information Circles
1. In 1976 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published a book called "Terminology of Documentation, and this book of terminology provided the following definition for "information sources": "Sources of information obtained by individuals to satisfy their information needs are known as information sources." Putting this in everyday terms, information sources are where information comes from.
2. Based on the "Chinese-Russian-English Dictionary of Information Science" published in 1982 by the Scientific and Technical Documents Publishing House, Soviet information scholars believed that "Any system which produces information or which holds information for the purpose of transmission is known as an information source." In terms of our subsequent understanding, what they are referring to here as information sources are facilities such as research institutions, libraries, and information offices.
3. In "Information Sources for Research and Development -- Use of Engineering Literature" edited by K. W. Mildren Butterworth and published by Publisher, Ltd., British information scholars held the following views: They viewed academic societies, academic bodies, research institutions, colleges, periodicals, and books, etc., all as information sources, and they viewed information carriers as the most direct source for users to acquire the actual information.
4. In the 1982 book "Organization and Methods in Information Work" by the Soviet writer R. N. Uvanov, the author equated "information sources" with "documents," and this book was approved for use in institutions of higher learning by the Soviet department in charge of higher education and specialized secondary education.
5. In 1980 the Polish scholar A. Baomeikaersiji [as published] wrote in "Information Systems in Scientific Research" that "The concept of information sources can be understood as places which produce or have information for propagation purposes (systems, organizations, institutions), or documents which contain information (scientific, technical, and economic information, as well as reports regarding scientific, technical, and economic achievements)." That is, he viewed institutions and documents as information sources.
II. Several Typical Views Among Domestic Information Circles
1. Information sources means where information comes from, and S&T periodicals, conference records, S&T reports, government publications, academic degree treatises, S&T books, standards, product samples, patent documents, and others (such as newspapers, technical archives, and drawings, etc.) are known as the 10 major information sources.
2. Information sources, that is, where information comes from, does not merely refer to the 10 kinds of documents in 1. above, but also includes material information such as verbal information and samples, etc.
3. Information sources do not equate to sources of intelligence, in that information sources should be the wellsprings which produce intelligence, specifically, the latest scientific and technical achievements produced and created in the history of man which have not entered the transmission process.
4. Information sources are all the public institutions or individuals which can produce information or answer difficult questions. For example, research institutions, academic societies (associations), colleges and universities, production firms, libraries and information facilities, document search tools and compilation units, specialists, and scholars, etc.
5. What information sources refers to are the institutions and bodies which produce and transmit various kinds of actual information. This not only includes research institutions, libraries and information offices, and companies and enterprises, but also includes documents and objects in various carrier forms, as well as specialists.
III. Analytical Comparison
In taking an overall look at the typical formulations of information circles in China and elsewhere regarding the concept of information sources, it is not difficult to see that several of the domestic views are basically imported directly from overseas, or formed through minor modifications after being imported. There is nothing strange about this, because the pace of our studies of information science is behind that of foreign countries, and importing some knowledge is necessary as well as beneficial.
The first kind of typical view in China is to limit information sources merely to documents. This view was seen often in some information science treatises and books in the early period in China (the 60s), and its inertia effect continues to this day. Even if one grudgingly acknowledges that this concept is justifiable, given China's historical conditions at the time, that is, with the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries implementing technological blockades and embargoes against China, and furthermore with we ourselves implementing closed-door policies, the primary means by which S&T personnel obtained information was by reviewing the literature, but from today's perspective, its focus is obviously too narrow, as it ignores informal exchange processes and also ignores other non-documentary forms of information sources. Developing collection operations under the guidance of this kind of understanding may result in searches which lay too much emphasis on things that are "substantial," which is to say, a tendency to overemphasize published materials in our searches, while ignoring the study of generation and dissemination which should be emphasized in the information age, ignoring "virtual" collection leads. This was a common failing among many information units in China during the previous period.
In addition, the focal point in the differences in the various other concepts of information sources is whether or not research institutes, academic societies (associations), government organs, companies and enterprises, libraries and information offices, and other such institutions (including specialists and scholars), hereafter referred to simply as "institutions," are information sources. Some say that only "institutions" are truly information sources, while the information source concept of others refers specifically to information carriers involving various document and non-document forms. Yet another concept is that "institutions" and information carriers involving various document and non-document forms are all information sources.
Bringing up the "institution" question (in this book it is placed in the "information sources" concept category, which will be discussed in the next section) represents a breakthrough in the traditional perspective on collection work that has been around for many years. For a long time, our collection workers have been accustomed to targeting various literature, studying their types, characteristics, functions, current situation and development trends, while there has not been enough study of the "institutions" which produce and transmit this literature. They have been accustomed to providing the literature they have collected from various places to the users, but have neglected to introduce the "institutions," which are the sources that produce and transmit this literature, to S&T workers and information workers. Bringing up the "institution" issue represents a breakthrough in artificial boundaries, so that literature and non-documentary information, research and production units, and book and information departments all appear within the field of vision of S&T personnel and information workers, and this has undoubtedly played an enormous role in stimulating and promoting the development of information science, particularly the formation and development of the study of collection. It may be said that posing the "institution" issue indicates a milestone in the in-depth development of the study of collection.
Section Two -- Categories and Characteristics of Intelligence Sources and Information Sources
Below, we will give our understanding of the concepts of intelligence sources and information sources. The theoretical basis for our argument is that intelligence and information represent two different concepts which are both interrelated and mutually different, and that intelligence does not equal information. In a broad sense, information is knowledge which has taken a material form, while in the narrow sense information is knowledge in symbol form. Intelligence is the knowledge required to resolve specific problems; it is special knowledge which has been extracted from information, while information is the wellspring of the extracted intelligence, the raw material for active knowledge.
I. Intelligence Sources
1. What Do We Mean By Intelligence Sources?
Intelligence sources are the sources which man relies on to acquire intelligence. Intelligence per se is only stored in three forms: One is when it exists in memory in the human brain, from where it is propagated through speech as verbal materials, with people obtaining it through conversations, discussions, listening to reports, and other such modes. Two is when it exists in physical materials (such as products, prototypes, and samples, etc.), and people obtain it through observation, surveying and mapping, and other modes. Three is when it exists in what is commonly referred to as readable data (including the ten major types of documentary data, audio-visual data, photo-electric data, and database data, etc.), and people acquire it through reading (directly or in machine-readable form) and analytical research. Together, these three forms of information constitute the source of intelligence. Simply stated, intelligence comes from various information, and information is the source of intelligence. The three fundamental characteristics of intelligence sources (i.e., information) are that they objectively contain "specific knowledge" which "can be transmitted" and "can be activated," that is, objectivity, transmissibility, and activatibility. These attributes have been described above, so we will not go into unnecessary detail in this section.
2. Categories and Characteristics of Intelligence Sources
There are various methods and standards to categorize intelligence sources, and by relying on different preconditions, one can arrive at different categories. If they are differentiated based on the specialty involved in the knowledge being transmitted, they can be divided into the chemical area or the electronic area, etc. If the differentiation is based on the industry or trade involved, they can be divided into industrial intelligence sources, commercial intelligence sources, and scientific research intelligence sources, etc. If they are categorized according to the intelligence requirements of the users, they can be divided into strategic intelligence sources, tactical intelligence sources, technical intelligence sources, shared intelligence sources, and specific intelligence sources, etc. If the differentiation is based on the processing levels of the knowledge being transmitted, they can be divided into zero-order data intelligence sources, primary data intelligence sources, secondary data intelligence sources, and tertiary data intelligence sources. If the differentiation is based on the symbols involved in knowledge in material form, they can be divided into character-symbol intelligence sources, audio-symbol intelligence sources, video-symbol intelligence sources, engineering-symbol intelligence sources, and electromagnetic-symbol intelligence sources, etc. In addition, they can also be differentiated based on whether people can sense or perceive them directly.
Because intelligence sources are what mankind depends on to obtain intelligence, and intelligence comes from information, information is thus the source of intelligence, so in reality intelligence source categorization methods are information categorization methods.
Below we will use the form in which intelligence per se is stored as the categorization precondition to discuss the respective characteristics of verbal information, physical information, documentary information, and database information.
Analyzed based on the three fundamental attributes of intelligence sources, verbal information has the following advantages:
(1) The intelligence it contains is newer than documentary information. In many cases, it is the latest intelligence that has not yet been turned into publicly disseminated documents.
(2) It is transmitted quickly. Documentary information has no way to compare to it. From the time S&T personnel achieve partial results to when their work is entirely finished, they have written the system documents, and this has been disseminated by the publishing and issuing units, it generally requires two to three years. In the case of verbal exchanges, however, it not only does not require fancy writing, it is also not limited by the publishing cycle, so the transmission speed is much faster. Today, with the rapid developments in communications technology, the advantages of rapid transmission are increasingly apparent.
(3) It has good activation characteristics, and it is easy for S&T personnel to extract intelligence from it. First, this is because it is highly focused. The party presenting a lecture or the two parties in a discussion are lecturing or having a dialogue within the bounds of a determined topic, and obtaining intelligence from a colleague who is studying the same topic is clearly more suited to one's needs and much more convenient than searching through the relevant sections scattered in hundreds or thousands of documents. Second, because the feedback in verbal exchanges is rapid, when there is something you don't understand, you can ask about it and clear it up, and when you find some new intelligence leads, you can pursue them. The recipient of verbal information can perceive the tones, expressions, and gestures of the speaker directly, thereby understanding things which cannot be conveyed -- or cannot be conveyed entirely -- in writing. Verbal information often contains numerous details which are not included in treatises, and these details are often things which the recipients need. To summarize the above, verbal information can often achieve relatively good effects, which is to say that it has good activation characteristics. The development of the modern communications industry makes it even easier for the advantages that verbal information has because of its good activation characteristics to be realized.
The drawbacks of verbal information are:
(1) Although it is transmitted quickly, it has a short life span. When people are talking their speech disappears immediately, which is not conducive to pondering the contents. Furthermore, the dissemination area is narrow, and only a few people can make effective use of it. In the process of being transmitted to a third party by a person involved directly in the exchange, or with the passage of time and the attenuation of one's memory, it may be distorted or gradually fade away.
(2) The opportunities for getting verbal information directly are invariably limited, and are somewhat random in nature. Furthermore, it requires a relatively high level of the spoken language on the part of the user.
(3) There is no way to use search tools to find verbal information.
The advantages of physical information are:
(1) The intelligence contained is real, directly observable, and concrete. By comparison with imported technology and equipment, it costs less and one sees faster results. Speaking from this perspective, it is a source of intelligence which is worth particular emphasis.
(2) Its activation characteristics are superior to those of documents, because for one thing it is highly focused, and for another it represents a concrete physical entity that can be used for surveying and mapping, laboratory testing and analysis. Naturally, to extract the intelligence embodied in a physical object requires that it undergo complex analysis and study. If the academic or technical levels of the specialists are not sufficient, at times it may even defy analysis.
The disadvantages of physical information are:
(1) The costs are relatively high. It can only be collected in small amounts in a targeted manner. Furthermore, you can only look at the display items at an exhibit, you can't take them apart, so you can't analyze them fully.
(2) The transmission speed is slower than that of verbal information, and even slower than that of documentary information.
The advantages of documentary information are:
(1) The quantity is enormous and it is rich in content, epitomizing nearly all the principal parts of the richness of the human spirit.
(2) It has good transmissibility. It can be disseminated widely, accumulated systematically, stored for a long period, and used directly.
(3) At present there are sufficient search tools to search it.
(4) The price is fairly low.
The drawbacks of documentary information are:
(1) Its activatibility is not as good as that of physical information or verbal information.
(2) The transmission speed is relatively slow.
The advantages of database information are:
(1) Using database information to conduct searches can save greatly on time and effort, and it ensures that searches are relatively complete and accurate.
(2) Database information storage density is high, greatly saving on storage space.
(3) Considerable flexibility. The data contained can be augmented and modified at any time. Greater indexing depths can be attained. The data can be applied in a flexible manner, and multiple-path searches can be conducted.
(4) Integration with computer technology facilitates on-line, real-time processing.
(5) Integration with modern communications technology facilitates remote and timely transmission.
(6) It is characterized by a one-time input and multiple outputs. It is not necessary to make a copy of the output, as it can be printed directly by the computer or transmitted long distances via communication networks.
The greatest drawbacks to database information are:
(1) It cannot be perceived or recognized directly by humans.
(2) Data security is complex.
(3) The investments are considerable.
Comparing these various kinds of intelligence, although each has its advantages and drawbacks, because of the enormous quantity of documentary information and the fact that it is relatively inexpensive, it is in wide circulation around the world, it can be accumulated systematically and stored for a long time, its use as a way of obtaining intelligence is inevitable. These several points are aspects which the other kinds of information (such as verbal and physical information) cannot match. To date, and for a fairly long time into the future, this will still be the most effective and common means of accumulating and disseminating intelligence, and it represents the most fundamental and important source for obtaining intelligence, and the one which is most favored by S&T personnel, and it is the primary material foundation for S&T intelligence work.
Nonetheless, it should be pointed out clearly that, from the perspective of development trends, the importance and role of verbal information and database information as sources for obtaining intelligence are becoming increasingly prominent, and they will play an ever-greater role. In today's world, the more developed a country is with regard to science and technology the more importance it attaches to and the higher the utilization rates are for verbal information and database information. S&T personnel in third world countries, however, including Chinese S&T personnel, often overemphasize documentary information and underestimate the role of verbal information, while in the case of database information there is a sense of mystery or, because the usage fees are high, they don't want to deal with it. Facts show that, in the not-too-distant future, people will attach greater and greater importance to verbal information, and it will play a larger role. However, equal weight will be attached to database information and visual documentary information, and together they will constitute the most fundamental and important sources of intelligence.
3. Characteristics of Intelligence Sources
The characteristics of intelligence sources can be summarized simply in the following four points:
(1) Relative
The relativity of intelligence sources is primarily manifested in the relationship between the "source" and the user. In the eyes of some people what is considered a "source" may not be seen as such by others. For example, a biologist's intelligence sources have absolutely no significance in the eye's of a weapon's specialist, so they do not constitute "sources." To be sure, the value of a given intelligence source to a given user depends on the quantity of intelligence that it can provide, but at the same time one must also note how much intelligence can be extracted from the said intelligence source by the user, which is also related to a great extent to the intelligence of the user and his background knowledge.
(2) Cumulative
The cumulative nature of intelligence sources is manifested in the cumulative nature of objective knowledge, and if this cumulative aspect is lacking, the development of science and technology is extremely slow, and a modern culture and ideology and S&T achievements may possibly be thousands of years away.
(3) Complex and Varied
Whether viewed from the types of intelligence sources involved or the value of the intelligence stored, they are all extremely complex and varied, and compared to other material sources, there is no comparison in the degree of complexity and variety.
(4) Reproducible
Intelligence sources are not the same as other material "sources" which produce energy directly, such as power sources, water sources, heat sources, etc., in that most material "sources" are easily depleted and cannot be regenerated. Most have a one-time effect, and when used, if they are not lost through depletion they are lost through conversion, and therefore as an overall resource, the more it is used the less of it there is. Intelligence sources, however, are different. Once it is used by the first person, second and third parties can still use it, and if used properly, not only will there be no drying up phenomenon, it will increase the more it is used. Therefore we say that intelligence sources are miracle "sources" which never run out or become used up.
II. Information Sources
1. What Do We Mean By Information Sources?
An information source is any system to produce, transmit, store, or disseminate information.
For example, the China Defense Science and Technology Information Center is a system which produces, stores, and disseminates information, so it is an information source. The China National Publications Import and Export Corporation is a system which disseminates information, so it is an information source. Through the electromagnetic wave propagation of audio-visual information, radio and television stations are information sources. Specialists and scholars can produce verbal information as well as written information, so they are information sources. The Lockheed Corporation in the United States produces information, so it is an information source. It also has a Dialog database system to store computer-recognized data, and it is also capable of on-line dissemination, so the institution that has this database system is also an information source.
2. Essential Characteristics of Information Sources
There are two essential characteristics of information sources, one being that they produce, store, or disseminate information, and the other being transmission.
The "transmission" feature is attracting particular attention. One person may have an incredible abundance of knowledge in his brain, but if he does not speak or write articles, he cannot be considered an information source. Museums collect and store many display items, and these display items are also physical data sources, but this physical data is not for transmission, therefore museums cannot be called information sources.
3. Customary Forms of Information Sources
An information source is a system, and the form it customarily takes is that of an institution or group. For example, government departments, research units, corporate enterprises, colleges and universities, libraries, information offices, intelligence centers, and information centers, etc.
Specialists and scholars are capable of producing information individually, and when they transmit this to the outside, they are information sources. However, with the advent of the information society and the increasing modernization of science and technology, the role that individuals play in the creation of modern S&T achievements is becoming ever smaller, and often this role is played by a group. Furthermore, after their latest knowledge takes material form as information, with respect to transmission it is constrained by the system where they are located (including the government, work units, and publishing departments, etc.), therefore, from an overall perspective, specialists and scholars fall into the system category.
During our study and development of information sources, we should first consider the information source as a system from an overall perspective, and this is particularly true when collecting open source information.
When carrying out internal data collection, in addition to conducting an investigation of the information source system from a macro-perspective, we should also conduct investigations from a micro-perspective of the positions, functions, attitudes, psychology, and other such aspects of the individuals in the system, as only then will we be able to obtain useful information.
To summarize the above, we include government departments, research offices, corporate enterprises, colleges and universities, libraries, and information offices, and other such "institutions" in the information source concept category, but not in the intelligence source concept category. As we stated above, this "institution" issue is the focal point of the differences in several typical intelligence source concepts in China and elsewhere. Therefore, we would like to focus on a discussion of our interpretation a bit.
The theoretical basis for our argument is that intelligence and information represent two different concepts. The source of intelligence is information, but information is not intelligence.
When a certain research institution has a certain research achievement, it shows that they have a new understanding of the objective world, and have created knowledge -- intellectual wealth. By undergoing a transformation into material form, this knowledge becomes information and, under certain external pressures, begins to circulate and be transmitted in society, flowing into the vast sea of knowledge created by their predecessors.
In the case of an S&T worker or intelligence research personnel, and also in the case of a user, even if the research results of the said institution are precisely what they require, they must still first find it in the vast sea and fully assimilate and understand what it contains before they can extract the specific knowledge that they require -- intelligence. Obviously what is first transmitted to the hands of the user is information, not intelligence.
Therefore, strictly speaking, the aforementioned research institution should be considered an information source producing information, not an intelligence source directly producing intelligence.
Similarly, in the case of a library or an information office, what they are storing and transmitting is information, not intelligence. Therefore, strictly speaking, they are information sources, not intelligence sources.
By way of specific examples, there are a number of famous think tanks in the world, such as the Rand Corporation in the United States, etc. They accept consultation topics from clients and conduct research on their behalf, as well as searching for optimal schemes or designing systems for them. They formulate development programs for their clients, or make proposals. From a micro-perspective, the final reports that they submit to the clients should be considered intelligence, regardless of their quality, authenticity, or feasibility. Here, the role that is being played by the intelligence research personnel in the think tanks is that of an agent. They are acting on the user's behalf in searching for information, activating the information, and extracting intelligence from the information. However, after the final report is submitted to the client, generally speaking, the client will not accept it blindly by any means, but will want verification and review. Furthermore, if this final report is published and circulates through society, then as far as third parties are concerned, it is not intelligence, but information. For the possessor, it may be extremely valuable reference data, but for others it may be information that is of absolutely no meaning at all. For example, for national defense S&T workers, a research report by the Rand Corporation regarding municipal development represents data that they don't even want to read. So, viewed from a macro-perspective, the products which come from these think tanks are still information as far as the public is concerned, not intelligence, so it is a bit more reasonable to consider it an information source than an intelligence source.
True intelligence sources are information. Some people say that intelligence comes from information, and information in turn comes from "institutions," therefore "institutions" are naturally the "sources" in "intelligence sources," so they should also be considered intelligence sources. They even compare "institutions" and "information" to "reservoirs" and "canals," or "power stations" and "transmission lines," and using this metaphor, "institutions" are general sources of intelligence while information represents the intelligence source branches.
Actually, there is a clear difference in the relationship between information and intelligence and that of "reservoirs" and "canals." "Reservoirs" and "canals" are both sources of water, while "power stations" and "transmission lines" are both sources of electricity, and if you open the "control gates" or the "switches," water or electricity pours forth, and it can be used indiscriminately as is. However, the information flowing from research institutions, information agencies, and publishing houses is information in various categories, and what is spread out before the user is a vast sea of data which cannot at all be used as is. One must select and activate it before intelligence can be refined from it, and furthermore this is closely related to the quality of the user. What flows continuously from "institutions" is information which contains intelligence, while what circulates in society is a data stream which contains intelligence, but it is not a true stream of intelligence. While one may treat these "institutions" as sources of intelligence, they are only "sources of intelligence in a broad sense," which is to say, "an extension of the concept of intelligence sources." Such formulations are not as clear or scientific as the "information source" concept.
With the deepening development of information science and the study of collection, it is necessary to propose or clarify some new concepts in a timely manner. Wording which falls into the category of "in the broad sense" or "by extension" invariably gives one a vague feeling that there is something one does not grasp or see, which does not help in guiding collection efforts, so we do not advocate that approach.
Section Three -- Output Characteristics of Information Sources
When engaging in information collection, it is necessary to focus on the output characteristics of sources of research data, as only in that way can we "exploit the source" and "introduce it" effectively.
I. Special Features of Output Content
From a macro-perspective, the information which is output by an information source has specific scientific and specialized contents, which is closely related to the nature and specific mission of the information source. From a micro-perspective, each bit of data which is output represents a summary of the specific knowledge of a specific person at a specific place and time. To improve the focus of the collection work, it is necessary to study the specific characteristics of what is output by the information source. When users pose a requirement to collection personnel, they can suggest a range for what is needed, and they can also clarify the content of the information and that it is something produced by a certain person at a certain time.
II. Dependence on Output Forms
Different information sources put out different types of information. Regardless of the form of the knowledge that is output, it invariably relies on a certain carrier medium. Although the knowledge may have the same kind of content, it can use different carrier mediums for the output. For example, the AD report sold by NTIS (National Technical Information Service) in the United States comes in both book form and film form. The same is true for the U.S. military standards. The U.S. Naval Printing and Publishing Center sells them in book form, while the American National Standards Institute sells them both in book and film form. The U.S. Information Processing Service Corp. sells them in cassette film form, while the Global Engineering Documents company in the United States can output a section or sections of the military standards data in book form, depending on the user's specific requirements. Therefore, collection personnel should definitely study the dependence on carriers of the knowledge output by an information source. Based on various preconditions, giving consideration to what information source to use, what form to collect it in, and what type of carrier form the information will be collected in can result in greater technical and economic benefits.
III. Multiple Output Channels
Since an information source is involved, it is necessary to transmit the information externally, but the transmission channels are not necessarily limited to one route. When studying information sources, collection workers should emphasize studying their output channels, which are also the channels through which we can import information. One should have a clear idea of what their primary output routes are, and what the secondary output channels are.
For example, NTIS in the United States is itself a commercial institution which sells information, so it can be used as a primary route itself for the output of information.
Then there is also the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). It itself serves as the primary output channel for AIAA papers. They have a contract with Jane's in Britain, which sells their material on consignment. At the same time, they can also sell them to their own members under preferential conditions. Therefore, Jane's and AIAA members are the secondary output channels for AIAA papers.
Only by conducting a thorough study of the output channels of an information source can a collection worker find the information import channel which provides more, faster, better, and cheaper service.
IV. Controlled Nature of Information Output Periods
Owing to both objective and subjective factors, the periods for the output of material from information sources are often controlled.
For example, in the case of AD reports, those in the 30000 and 50000 series, as well as those in the AD/C series, are confidential information. Those in the 80000 and 90000 series, as well as those in the AD/B series, are unclassified, but limited distribution documents. If you want to buy these materials, you can't do so at the time the report is published. With the passage of time, however, they may declassify or lift the restrictions on these reports, with the cutoff date being 1977, and they have declassified and lifted the restrictions on 36,000 reports. Also, the classification and restrictions have been lifted in succession on more than 20,000 reports after 1978.
As another example, the United States has a plan to put out the 8-volume "Nuclear Weapons Data Handbook," and although it is already in the planning stage, because of limitations involving the publishing plans and publication cycle of the publishing house, they could not be issued at the same time. The first volume was published in January 1984, and while it was originally determined that the next one published would be volume three, the publication plan was again adjusted so that they issued volume two in April 1987. There are some S&T personnel who are anxiously waiting to read this series, and furthermore the time constraints are pressing, so when you want to get something in a timely manner, you must recognize the controlled nature of the time for the output of materials from information sources and track them to be successful.
In a nutshell, those who work as collection personnel must have a clear-headed understanding of the controlled nature of when information is put out, being careful to summarize the patterns involved and being adept at seizing opportunities to collect valuable information in a timely manner.
V. Ability to Evaluate Information Output
How does one assess the value of information output? This is not only a complex theoretical question, but also an actual work issue. At present, what collection personnel mostly use is the "evaluation by experts method." Because of interference from the psychological factors of the specialists, this approach is not accurate enough. The goal we are striving for should be to establish a set of fairly effective methods and standards to scientifically evaluate the value of information and the collection work.
VI. Dynamic Nature of the Output Situation
The output situation of information sources does not remain unchanged. Everything is dynamic, from the content, form, and channels of the output to the time of the output, and these change with time and space.
Collection workers must understand this feature of information sources, as well as grasping its variable state and governing rules.
Section Four -- Parameters for Evaluating the Status of Information Sources
Chinese and foreign information sources represent objective reality, and from the standpoint of collection work, how do we go about evaluating their states? Simply by using qualitative description methods or quantitative evaluation methods. Here we will introduce several parameters, using them as starting points in understanding and evaluating the situation in an information source.
I. Quantity of Information in the Information Source
This refers to the absolute quantity of information that the source produces, stores, or transmits. It also refers to the total quantity of information produced by a given research institution, or the total quantity it produces yearly. It may refer to the total amount of information stored by a given information unit, or the total amount stored annually. And it may refer to the total amount of information transmitted by an information source, or the total amount transmitted annually.
The quantity of information is a reflection of the size and potential energy of the information source. We often see a given library or information office write in its promotional literature that their holdings come to so many tens of thousands of items, which they use to illustrate their size and potential energy.
II. Information Source Discipline and Specialty Coverage
Science can be divided into general categories such as basic disciplines, applied disciplines, and industrial technology, etc., and it can also be divided into classical disciplines, new disciplines, cross disciplines and marginal disciplines. To facilitate the explanation of problems, often they should be further subdivided. For example, the classical disciplines can be further divided into physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and so forth.
The information source discipline and specialty coverage area parameter reflects the breadth of the disciplines covered. When comparative studies are conducted on information sources, uniform classification standards should be used for disciplines and specialties.
III. Point of Emphasis in Information Source Disciplines and Specialties
The information source discipline and specialty coverage area can only reflect the breadth of the disciplines covered, not the point of emphasis of the information produced, stored, or disseminated by a certain information source. Therefore, to further describe the nature and state of an information source, we must also depend on the parameter of its point of emphasis.
As far as targeting specific users goes, this parameter can further reflect how important an information source is to oneself. Taking national defense S&T industry users as an example, although the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) has a great deal of material and has broad coverage of disciplines and specialties, because its emphasis is not at all on the national defense S&T realm, by comparison, it would appear that the China Defense Science and Technology Information Center is more important as a source of information.
IV. Annual Growth Rate of Information in the Information Source
This shows the year-by-year growth situation in the information produced, transmitted, and stored by an information source. It can measure whether an information source is developing, in a stable mode, or in decline.
V. Information Source Information Quality
This parameter shows the academic and technical levels of the information source, the transmission levels, or the value of the information stored. To measure this, one can use the various methods described in Chapter 3, Section Six of this book.
VI. Response Time of Information Sources to User Needs
This refers to the time lag between when an information source receives a request from a user to when it sends the information, when the user wants to collect a piece (batch) of information from a certain foreign information source or get a piece (batch) of information from a certain domestic information source. This is an important parameter in measuring how good the situation in an information source is.
Take for example when you want to buy a publication of the U.S. Congress which has already been issued openly. Buying it through an information source like the China National Publications Import and Export Corporation takes about one year before you receive it. Buying it overseas through an information source such as an institution with an overseas office generally takes about two to three months before you get it. However, using the express collection method of a certain document company, in general you will get the material in two to three weeks.
One can see that the document company's response time to the user's needs is the shortest, so from the perspective of time constraints in collection work, it is an ideal information source.
VII. Cost Response of Information Sources to User Needs
This refers to the sum of costs and service charges to collect a given piece of material.
VIII. Psychological Response of Information Source to User Needs
In everyday terms, this refers to the quality of work by the information source and how good their service attitude is. For example, if an information source always gives its users a feeling that the service is convenient and can satisfy the psychological needs and actual needs of the users, such as providing new book information regularly, giving preferential prices to old customers, having convenient procedures, guaranteed quality and delivery, and guaranteed exchanges for wrong or defective goods, etc., then it is undoubtedly a good source of information in the eyes of the users and collectors.
IX. Information Source Boundary Conditions
Any domestic or foreign information source represents objective reality, but it does not exist in isolation. The forms in which it exchanges information with the external environment and their mutually constraining relationship are its boundary conditions, which is also a parameter that reflects the situation of the information source.
For example, even if a given information source is good with regard to a broad coverage of disciplines and specialties, and its response time to user needs, its cost response to user needs, and its psychological response to user needs are all good, if one of its boundary conditions for exporting information is that it is limited to accepting foreign exchange and having $500 deposited to open an account before it will give you a ten percent preferential price, if you have foreign exchange that is exclusively for the purchase of materials, then this is undoubtedly an ideal source of information, but if you don't, regardless of how good the other parameters are, this information source is of no use to you.
Accordingly, when evaluating information sources, attention should be paid to the boundary conditions parameter. Generally speaking, the boundary conditions include how much an information source brings in, its forms and constraining conditions, as well as the output forms and constraining conditions, etc.
This section has been a discussion of the parameters and indices in performing a qualitative and quantitative analysis of information sources. At present, our work is still at the level of qualitative analysis, but there is no question that we should move in the direction of quantitative analysis. This requires that we rely on certain mathematical methods and establish corresponding mathematical models. The specific calculations should also draw on a large amount of information if we are going to be able to ensure the reliability of the quantitative analysis. However, the acquisition of quantitative analysis data will inevitably guide us to the more effective exploitation and utilization of information sources.
Section Five -- Characteristics of National Defense Intelligence Sources and Information Sources
National defense S&T intelligence is a branch of military intelligence which is used to serve the national defense S&T effort. Because the national defense S&T effort includes areas such as weapons and equipment programs, plans, research, design, testing, design finalization, mass production, and use by the units, etc., all the countries of the world consider national defense science and technology as a classified category, which has given national defense S&T intelligence sources and national defense S&T information a unique coloration. Its characteristics are:
I. Most of the Departments Which Produce National Defense S&T Information are Government Departments
The information sources which produce national defense S&T information are mostly government departments, and in particular defense ministries or scientific research bases directly under the military. For example, Britain's defense ministry has 36 national defense research and development bases. These bases are highly secure, and generally not open to the outside, or only open on a limited basis.
II. Contracting Departments Must Carry Out Security Obligations
Some think tanks, companies, and universities also contract with the defense ministries to do some of the national defense S&T consulting, research, and production tasks, but these information sources must also carry out security obligations. Their research results all must undergo security reviews by the consigning unit to determine the scope of what is turned over. For example, from its offices to its databases, the Rand Corporation concentrates its secure areas and open areas in separate places. The "secure section" of its database holds a large amount of U.S. national secrets, particularly secret documents and information related to national defense and foreign affairs. For the "secure areas," they have a system of human guards and automated alarms, and no foreigners are admitted.
III. National Defense S&T Information Sources Must Undergo Monitoring and Inspections by National Security Departments
For example, quite a few countries divide those who come into contact with secrets into several grades, with various different restrictions and requirements for them when they visit another country or engage in technical exchanges, and afterward their activities are reviewed. For another example, any foreigner who enters the work area of the Rand Corporation must undergo a review and approval ahead of time by security departments concerning his "purpose," "background," and the duration of his stay, as well as making "security arrangements."
IV. Information Sources Which Store and Sell National Defense S&T Information Are Generally All National or DOD Agencies
For example, the U.S National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in the Department of Commerce, etc. Although NTIS in the Dept. of Commerce is a commercial office which sells national defense S&T materials, its first process is a security review, with everything that constitutes open material going on to the next step in the process, while any material which falls into the classified category is sent back to the unit that turned it over.
V. Information (Intelligence Sources) Which Involve National Defense S&T Are Generally Divided Into Open and Classified
For example, every year the Rand Corporation openly publishes more than 400 various research reports and papers, but it is said that the number of classified and internal reports is about the same. The AD report is divided into open, limited distribution, and classified categories. NASA reports also are divided into N and X designations, with the N being used for open S&T reports while X is used for limited distribution S&T reports.
VI. The Classified Nature of Intelligence Sources Also Results in Their Being Concealed and Dispersed
VII. Public Materials Are Still a Major Source of Intelligence for National Defense S&T Workers
A common saying has it that there are no walls which completely block the wind, nor is absolute secrecy achievable, and invariably there will be numerous open situations in which things are revealed, either in a tangible or intangible form. By picking here and there among the vast amount of public materials and accumulating information a drop at a time, often it is possible to basically reveal the outlines of some secret intelligence, and this is particularly true in the case of the Western countries. Through probability analysis, in foreign countries it is believed that 80 percent or more of intelligence can be gotten through public materials. National defense S&T information collectors should have an ample understanding of this, not abandoning public materials but enhancing their study and collection of them.
VIII. Fortuitous Discovery of Secret Intelligence Sources
Owing to various subjective factors, such as negligence on the part of security review personnel, etc., some materials which should be classified may erroneously become open data in public circulation. The so-called "hydrogen bomb leak incident" in the United States in 1979 was just such a situation.
A simplified version of the events goes like this. There was a top secret S&T report called "UCRL-4725, Weapons Development, June 1956." The declassification review personnel misunderstood the title, describing it as the "Nuclear Rocket Propulsion (ROVER) Program" and declassifying it. As a result, the library at the Los Alamos National Laboratory loaned it out, and the report was discovered by an individual by the name of H. Morland (a part time writer). It was like finding a rare treasure, and he immediately borrowed it and made two copies. He wanted to publish an article entitled "The H-Bomb Secret: How We Got It, Why We're Telling It" in the April 1979 issue of "The Progressive" magazine. This article revealed the specific structure of the hydrogen bomb and information on how it works. The U.S. government believed that the article revealed the secrets of the hydrogen bomb and was in violation of the "Atomic Energy Act," so they prohibited publication and also brought a lawsuit. However, Morland and "The Progressive" claimed that the contents of the article were collected from public materials, not secrets, so they could pose no threat to national security and prohibiting the publication was a violation of freedom of the press, lodging a protest with government departments. Through several weeks of investigations and debate, it was determined that Morland had not seen any classified documents, and it was inappropriate to tag him with the crime of revealing the secrets of the hydrogen bomb. Accordingly, on 17 September 1979 the U.S. Department of Justice wiped out the complaint, thus signaling the conclusion of the "H-bomb secrets leaking incident" which had caused a stir for a time, so Morland and "The Progressive" had won the lawsuit. The November 1979 issue of "The Progressive" carried the "H-bomb secrets" article. Subsequently, the "Financial Times" in Britain, "Science and Life" in France, and the West German weekly "Der Spiegel" carried this article and related pictures. The result was that it provided important reference material for the S&T personnel in various countries who were engaged in research on the hydrogen bomb.
During the investigation of the incident, the U.S. government learned that the U.S. Dept. of Energy had conducted declassification reviews of a large amount of classified material from 1971 to 1976, covering a total of 2.8 million items, of which 1.5 million were declassified. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, they reviewed a total of 388,000 documents in 33 days, so each reviewer had to review around 1000 documents a day, about two a minute. The pace of the reviews was startling, and resulted in a large number of errors -- around five percent -- that is, some 19,400 documents were mistakenly declassified, and of these there were at least eight highly secret items regarding thermonuclear weapons, which ended up being open material that could be browsed freely by outside visitors. Subsequently, the U.S. government adopted emergency measures to recover all the related materials and copies as classified documents.
This incident tells us that, on one hand, absolute secrecy is not attainable, while on the other hand, there is a random element involved in the discovery of secret intelligence sources, and to turn this randomness into inevitability, it is necessary that there be those who monitor some sectors and areas with regularity and vigilance, and furthermore we must not get our hopes up too high that there will be instantaneous results.
These features of national defense S&T intelligence sources and information sources show that collecting national defense S&T information is much more difficult than collecting normal S&T materials. It is dispersed, hidden, and subject to various restrictions. To exploit national defense S&T information sources and intelligence sources, we must first devote considerable energy to studying them, getting a clear understanding of their situation, monitoring them widely and accumulating information bit by bit, and also being quick to seize on their "fortuitous nature."
In addition, it is also necessary to stress that there is still 20 percent or less of our intelligence that must come through the collection of information using special means, such as reconnaissance satellites, electronic eavesdropping, and the activities of special agents (purchasing or stealing), etc.
Section Six -- Results of Intelligence Source and Information Source Research
I. Objectives in Launching Studies of Intelligence Sources and Information Sources
1. Promote the Development of Scientific Research and Information Collection Work
In today's industrialized society, where science and technology have been developed to a high degree, knowledge is a boundless sea spreading out in front of S&T workers and information collectors in various categories, enormous quantities, and in various scripts and symbols, with various kinds of shifting and changing information. To take documentary information as an example, this includes the books put out by publishing companies and publishing houses, personally printed books, books, reports, and documents printed and published by state agencies, periodicals edited and published by various academic groups and from publishing houses and publishing companies, learned journals from universities, and numerous other aperiodic publications and papers and proceedings from academic societies, etc. Faced with this vast ocean, S&T personnel often feel helpless, for how can they "find a needle in a haystack?" How can they find and collect more of the data they need faster. The results of studying "intelligence sources" give them the "key" to unlock the sea of knowledge, enabling them to take shortcuts and get "where they want to go" ahead of time.
However, to do a good job of data collection, the first thing is to have a fairly clear understanding of this varied data and the data sources that produce, store, and transmit it: The special features and characteristics of each publishing house and publishing company, what kind of books do they put out, and what is their quality? What are the categories and features of books and periodicals from state agencies, and how authoritative are the academic publications? Are they serious or of a popular-debate nature? Furthermore, the situation of the information and publishing units is not one that never changes. Older ones may withdraw and new ones continually appear, so knowledge in this area is shifting and changing. Only when we have a clear understanding of these circumstances can we achieve clear goals and emphasize the key points. And only then can we get our data collection work to "have a definite goal," otherwise we just end up collecting things blindly.
2. Benefits the Establishment of Special Intelligence Organizations in China
If we are intimately familiar with the situation in domestic and foreign information sources, then we can learn from the experiences of other countries and other organizations.
3. Benefits the Establishment and Development of Collection Science
Information science is a new discipline, and as research into this field deepens, it will inevitably produce new branch disciplines, such as data science, the study of collection, and the study of retrieval, etc. The aforementioned research into publishing institutions and the types, characteristics, and qualities of things they publish is precisely just such a part of the study of collection, and when we organize an overview of it and its relatively stable portions, it represents the result of research into an "information source," which is a valuable reference work for collection personnel. It can not only promote the development of the study of collection from a theoretical standpoint, it can also guide collection personnel in launching specific efforts in practice.
4. Benefits the Training of a New Generation of People
Launching research into "intelligence sources" and "information sources" is a great undertaking in which "those who go before plant the trees, while those who come afterward enjoy the shade." It enables a new generation of collection personnel to launch their work standing on the foundation established by the research of their predecessors so that they have rules to follow and do not have to start from square one in everything. It will keep them from feeling lost and empty-handed when they enter the work environment. It will allow them to launch their operations on the basis of the achievements of their predecessors so they will not have to continually modify, enhance, and improve the research on "intelligence sources" and "information sources," enabling our valuable experience to be handed down from one generation to the next.
II. "Intelligence Source" and "Information Source" Research Results
On one hand, "intelligence source" and "information source" research is reflected in the exploration of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological problems, with the objective being to establish a system of scientific theoretical concepts and scientific evaluation methods. On the other hand, it is reflected in applied research, with the objective being to guide collection personnel in the exploitation and rational selection of intelligence sources and information sources. As a result of applied research, the specific form it takes is the compilation of a series of "guides," "directories," "yearbooks," and other such reference books, or the development of corresponding databases and the publication of monographs.
Other countries began to focus on applied research on "information sources" in the late 50s, and applied research on "intelligence sources" started even earlier. Some prestigious publishers and fairly authoritative academic societies (associations) have made the compilation and publication of such "guides" and "directories" a part of their publishing programs, and it can be said that, in the course of the development of libraries and information enterprises, some developed countries have treated the publication of guides to "intelligence sources" and "information sources" as an extremely important strategic task, and have planned for it in a comprehensive manner.
1. Brief Introduction to "Intelligence Source" Reference Books and Monographs
An "intelligence resources guide" or "monograph" corresponding to a given specialty may be considered the base camp for various different kinds of information in the said specialty. By understanding this, one comes to know what materials in the specialty in question meet one's needs, while by mastering this it becomes clear where one's focus should be in acquiring information, and using it makes it possible to acquire large amounts of information leads and information in a relatively short period of time, which helps to improve the completeness and accuracy of searches. Accordingly, understanding, mastering, and using specialized "intelligence source guides" and "monographs" is a shortcut in getting to the appropriate sea of material.
From another perspective, compiling an "intelligence source guide" or "monograph" is an important result of intelligence source research.
Depending on their functions, they can be divided up as:
(1) Media-Related: This type of reference work only provides leads for searching in original sources (intelligence sources), but does not provide answers directly. For example, special catalogues, digests, and indexes, which fall into the category of secondary materials.
What this means is that the materials that are constantly appearing are studied, classified, and indexed one by one, after which they are included in the records. Both the editors and users are aware that these represent a stable data flow which is "controlled" by certain organizational methods, and once it is organized, the data flow can be "searched" conveniently. However, they do not provide users with ready-made "answers," but only provide information leads and a guide to searching the information, functioning as a kind of medium between the users and the intelligence source. For example, the "Bulletin of U.S. Government Reports," the "New York Times Index," and the "Catalog of Special Materials on Hydrogen and Oxygen Rocket Engines," etc., are all media-oriented guides to information sources.
(2) Resource Type: This type of reference work can provide clear "answers" for related questions in summary form, so it is not necessary to search further through secondary or primary materials. Therefore, they represent necessary means for impromptu or rapid reference, for example, yearbooks and handbooks, etc. They fall into the category of tertiary materials. The world-famous Jane's yearbook is an intelligence source guide of this nature.
(3) Instructive: These kinds of reference works do not provide direct leads for intelligence sources, nor do they provide brief answers to questions, but rather they instruct and transmit methods and approaches to search original source materials, making it possible for users and advisers to conduct data searches independently. For example, things such as the "Guide to Reference Books" put out by the American Library Association (ALA) and "Searching Foreign Science and Technology Documents and Materials" put out by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information (ISTIC) of China fall into this category. Understanding the methods and governing rules that they cover is like having a wiring diagram to the labyrinth of knowledge.
(4) Comprehensive: This kind of guide to information resources is often in the form of a large monograph which introduces readers to frequently-used materials, search and reference works, and methodologies within a certain specialized range, and includes yearbooks and large reference works, etc. Some also provide descriptions of various materials and include brief introductions to related academic institutions, etc. For example, "Basic Knowledge About Chemical Literature" edited by Yang Shanji and Yang Jingran in 1981 falls into this category. This book focuses on introducing chemistry and chemical engineering materials that are commonly seen in foreign countries, including periodicals, conference proceedings, scientific and technical reports, patents, abstracts, summaries, book series and collections, dictionaries, and various large reference works. The book has 12 chapters in all, which are, in order: Overview of Books and Literature; Periodicals -- An Important Information Source; Document Search Tools; Scope and Application of the Index of the U.S.' 'Chemical Abstracts'; Summaries, Collections, S&T Reports and Academic Degree Treatises; Patents and Searching Them; Dictionaries, Handbooks, Physics Tables and Spectral Data; Organic Chemistry Reference Books; Inorganic Analysis, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Reference Works; S&T Literature Retrieval Services; Development Trends in Chemical Information Retrieval and Books and Materials.
Such information source monographs are elementary reference works and must reading for related scientific research personnel and information collectors.
2. Brief Introduction to "Information Source" Reference Books and Monographs
Compared to "intelligence source" research and reference books, research on "information sources" and their reference works and monographs appeared relatively late. Although reference books and monographs related to information sources also have reference value for S&T workers in general and can serve to "broaden one's horizons" and as "a search mentor," they are primarily for the use of information departments and collection personnel, helping them to understand and grasp the information sources that produce, store, and transmit information to facilitate focused information collection and exploitation efforts. From the perspective of their content, such reference works are primarily of two types. One is introduction to organizations, e.g., the "Guide to High Tech Groups in the United States," "Guide to U.S. Government Research Centers," and the "Guide to U.S. Academic Societies (Associations)" in the United States, and the "World Guide to Technical Information and Document Services Agencies" put out by UNESCO. The other category is producers and transmitters of verbal information -- introductions to scientists, such as "American Men and Women of Science" and the "International Listing of Energy and Nuclear Scientists" put out in Britain.
Because "intelligence sources" and "information sources" are two closely-related concepts, with the deepening development of research in information science and expanding user needs, the contents of reference books resulting from studies of "intelligence sources" and "information sources" are not absolutely separate, and there is some cross-over and inter-permeation. For example, a monograph relating to "intelligence sources" will often touch on "information sources," and may cover some important scientific research institutions and scientists for reference use by technical personnel, while a reference book related to "information sources" will also often touch on their publications, costs, and acquisition paths, etc.
III. Steps in Studying "Intelligence Sources" and "Information Sources"
1. Determine the Scope of the Study in Keeping with Needs
This is the first step in studying "intelligence sources" and "information sources." This determines the focus of the research work. If you are involved in agriculture, obviously there is no need to go hunting for chemical engineering. From the perspective of the scope of the specialty, the more specific you can be the better, while the wider the scope the more complex it becomes.
2. Determine the Items to be Studied
As far as studying "intelligence sources" is concerned, based on the ultimate objective to be achieved, one should determine what kind of reference work or monograph is to be compiled, that is, is it to be media-related, a resource type, instructive, or comprehensive? Then select and determine the research items. The research items in each kind of reference work are different. Compiling a special catalog or an index to material in a certain department is relatively easy, and generally includes the collecting unit, the book search number, the title, the translated title, the author, year of publication, and number of pages, etc. On the other hand, however, compiling a comprehensive monograph requires solid training and long-term accumulation. Generally speaking, the main research items should include each category of primary materials, databases, information sources, quantity and quality, and search methods for the specialty in question, as well as retrieval tools and how to use them. In addition, some also include commentaries and experiences.
The primary items for "institutional data sources" may include: name, address, telex (telephone) number, fax number, point of contact, features and operational scope, research and development areas, structure, leading organizations, finances, founding date and historical development, publications and databases, amount of data stored, technology and product levels and development orientation, computer application situation, and special features, etc.
Verbal information sources -- the primary items in a "Who's Who" include name, sex, contact address, telex (telephone) number, fax number, work unit, brief biography, specialties, academic achievements, publications, scope of activity, recent work, and foreign visits, etc.
3. Collect Materials Widely
This includes various miscellaneous materials encountered in actual work and materials that have been publicized at home and abroad, including reference works, yearbooks, handbooks, and monographs.
4. Long-Term Accumulation
In-depth research primarily relies on the accumulation of hard work over a long time. This is because, on one hand, existing materials are often fragmentary and incomplete, and on the other hand, human understanding of any matter proceeds from the superficial to the profound, so to have a comprehensive understanding of any matter requires in-depth investigative research and the accumulation of a large amount of material before one can begin to separate the wheat from the chaff and the true from the false.
5. Conduct Research
As is true with any technical information research effort, the research should proceed step by step, achieving greater depth one item at a time, and the research results should be verified repeatedly.
6. Compile Reference Works or Develop Databases
7. Continue to Accumulate, Modifying or Supplementing As Appropriate
Because "intelligence sources" and "information sources" are both dynamic systems, continuously modifying and supplementing them becomes an extremely important aspect of the work, as only in this way can we ensure originality, continuity, and accuracy. If the knowledge disseminated is already outdated, it has absolutely no practical value for the reader.
Section Seven -- Introduction to Typical National Defense Intelligence Sources and Materials
Due to the abundance of materials and the limited space here, this section can only be a concise introduction of some selected sources of importance, especially those which are closely concerned with national defense science and technology intelligence research work.
I. Publications of the United States Congress and the United States Congressional Information Service Company
1. Publications of the U.S. Congress
The main responsibility of the United States Congress is legislation and the formulation of policy. The two houses of Congress have set up over 300 permanent committees and subcommittees, each of which is responsible for dealing with some particular issue or topic. The committees which are closely concerned with national defense are the Aviation and Space Committee, the Military Affairs Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Joint Nuclear Energy Committee, the Joint Committee on National Defense Production, etc. [imprecise titles as published] Committees make extensive collections of facts and figures related to their topics, and they conduct preparatory research. They hold hearings, and listen to the views and proposals of experts. Finally they examine and approve and send to the two houses of Congress their policy recommendations and legislative reports. Actually the basic work of the U.S. Congress is accomplished in its various committees. In the course of carrying out its duties the U.S. Congress generates large amounts of documents, namely, the Congressional publications. According to preliminary statistics, each session of the Congress produces tens of thousands of documents. These are the most numerous category of publications produced by the United States Government. They are in four categories:
(1) Congressional committee preliminary work reports (prints)
Congressional committee preliminary work reports are researched and written by specialized working groups set up under the committees. This material is for internal use by Congressional committees. The material includes background material on research topics, statistical and analytical material, draft resolutions, situation summaries to assist the Congress in formulating laws, etc. They are the foundation of Congressional testimony, documents, and reports. Sometimes they serve as appendices to Congressional testimony, testimonial material on various proposals in draft resolutions, or material which supplements documents.
(2) Testimony (Hearings)
The various committees of the two houses of Congress often hold hearings to discuss various draft resolutions. At these times, people concerned may be asked to attend and testify, and they may provide relevant information and materials. The content of hearings is assembled into a document later. This is called testimony. It includes the questions and answers, and written materials prepared by experts in advance. The latter material is the more important.
(3) Reports
This refers to the proposals and legislative reports which the Congressional committees submit formally to the two houses of Congress.
(4) Documents
Congressional documents include various letters sent to the Congress, yearly reports to Congress from administrative departments, special reports sent to Congress, committee activity report forms, report forms for special research reports which assist the committees, and other documents of various types such as reports from patriotic organizations. These documents become material in the main historical files of the Congress.
Most of the content of Congressional publications involves analysis, trends, guiding principles, and policies related to a situation, with appended statistical source material, background material, and scientific and technical material. Most of this material is from the hands of experts. The material is not only the basis by which the U.S. Congress carries out its functions, it is also very valuable reference material for other countries formulating their own guiding principles and policies. This material is an important source of intelligence for conducting research on development strategies and on macro-management.
The U.S. Government's "Three big reports" for researchers of national defense S&T intelligence, namely, the Annual Defense Department Report, the Department of Defense Program for Research, Development and Acquisition, and the United States Military Posture, are also included in Congressional publications. The Department of Defense is one of the departments of the U.S. Government. Each year while Congress is in session the Department of Defense must send the Congress a work report and strive to obtain Congressional appropriations. It is for these reasons that the Department of Defense produces these "Three big reports." These reports represent the viewpoints of the U.S. military. The reports analyze the strategic position of the United States in the world and the so-called threats the U.S. faces, compare military forces, describe countermeasures which should be taken, and propose a research, development, and acquisition plan for weapons and equipment. Through penetrating study of these reports, one can learn:
(a) The U.S. military's view and estimate of the world situation.
(b) The research and development plan for American weapons and equipment, as well as the objectives and rationale for the Americans's development of various kinds of strategic weapons, conventional weapons, and C3I, and for their importation of foreign weapons (within the NATO system), etc.
(c) The status of American investment in the development of weapons and equipment.
(d) The status of scientific research, testing, and evaluation of American weapons and equipment.
(e) How the U.S. Department of Defense regards the Soviet Union. This can provide clues and circumstantial evidence for studying and understanding the Soviet Union.
(f) Reading articles in some current periodicals after studying these reports will make things clearer. The key points in these reports will be reflected and made more concrete in relevant articles in current publications.
The "Three big reports" are important sources of intelligence for research on the development strategy for weapons and equipment. What we receive each year is the openly published versions. It is said that there are also classified versions.
2. Congressional Information Service, Inc.
This is a source of materials produced by the United States Congress (Congressional publications). There are two sources which distribute Congressional publications. One is the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), and the other is the Congressional Information Service (CIS). The former is a publishing unit, set up underneath the Congress, which publishes book-type documents. The latter is an independent, specialized, privately operated company which publishes filmed-type documents. Comparing the two, the GPO is inadequate in the following respects:
(1) The GPO is not in the nature of a publishing house, and its compiling and editing capabilities are inadequate. It is mainly responsible for printing, publishing, and distributing.
(2) The GPO publishes only a portion of the Congress's publications, not all. Also, it sells until it sells out, and does not retain stocks. Therefore a Congressional publication which one might want to buy from the GPO might already be out of print.
The United States Congressional Information Service Corporation does not have these two problems.
(3) Each month the GPO publishes a list titled Monthly Catalogue of United States Government Publications. This catalogue is purely a list. It is inadequate as a reference tool for research work. By contrast, the CIS has its own set of complete reference systems suitable for research work. Using keywords in this set of systems, you can find on your own all the Congressional publications and statistical information which you need.
The United States Congressional Information Service Corporation is located near the U.S. capital, Washington, at 4520 East-West Highway, Suite 800, Bethesda MD 20814. The company was founded in 1970. From its original staff of nine it has developed into a world-class publishing company with 320 workers. The reason the company was established and has continually grown is that the U.S. Congress produces a torrent of publications. Without organization, not just foreigners but even the members of Congress themselves would be unable to make comprehensive use of them. Another reason is that print runs are limited and there is the risk that materials will be out of print. This company is very good at adapting to the circumstances and satisfying people's demands. Currently it has subscribers all over the world. Seventy-six countries purchase Congressional publications and their indexes from this company. One of the company's biggest customers is the United States Government itself.
The company sells:
(1) A complete set of Congressional publications since 1970, in microfiche, with accompanying CIS Indexes and CIS Digest for use in lookups.
(2) Statistical information issued by U.S. Government organizations since 1973, in microfiche, with accompanying Index to U.S. Statistical Data and Digest of U.S. Statistical Data for use in lookups.
(3) Statistical data issued since 1980 by all state governments and by publicly and privately established organizations, in microfiche, with accompanying Statistical Reference Data Index and Statistical Reference Data Digest for use in lookups.
(4) Statistical data issued by 76 international organizations including the United Nations and the European Community and their branch organizations since 1983, in microfiche, with accompanying Index to International Statistical Data and Digest of International Statistical Data.
The microfilm or fiche and the Index and Digest can be purchased separately. The Index and Digest are published monthly, with cumulative editions quarterly and yearly.
Currently in China the Beijing Library keeps a set of Congressional publications. The China National Defense Science and Technology Information Center keeps a full set of publications of the Congressional Military Affairs Committee and Science and Technology Committee in microfiche. The indexes and digests have not yet been acquired in China.
II. AD reports, United States National Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), and the United States National Technical Information Service
1. AD Reports
(1) What is meant by AD reports?
"AD reports" is a general term for scientific research reports on research projects funded or assisted financially by the U.S. Department of Defense. Currently they are archived and provided for use by the National Defense Technical Information Center. These are one of the well-known four major types of S&T reports of the U.S. Government. They have a long history, their numbers are huge, and they abound in content. They are a major source of intelligence on research, design, production, testing, and appraisal work by national defense S&T personnel.
In accordance with laws and regulations, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force and their combined units which engage in scientific research for national defense must compile S&T reports on their research results by phase and on final completion of a research project. These reports go to the Information Center for storage and to be provided for use. On receipt of a report, the Information Center gives it a strict examination, determines its classification, and puts it on file with a number assigned with a centralized method: AD-XXXXXX. About 20,000 AD reports are issued openly each year.
(2) Sources of AD Reports
The producing organization of an AD report, that is, the organization which is responsible for its content, is called the source unit or corporate author. There are over 20,000 source units for AD reports, of which the main ones number over 3,000. These can be put into six general categories:
(a) Scientific research organizations of the U.S. Army system
(b) Scientific research organizations of the U.S. Navy system
(c) Scientific research organizations of the U.S. Air Force system
(d) Institutions of higher learning and their subordinate research institutes and laboratories
(e) Corporate enterprises
(f) Scientific research organizations of the U.S. Government, foreign governments, and international organizations
(3) Categories and content of AD reports
An important digest-type reference book for locating and ordering the U.S. Government's four major reports is the U.S. Government Reports Announcements & Index, called for short the GRA&I. This has been published since 1946, and its name, publication frequency, and classification system have all changed many times. In July 1965 it started using the classification system of the Committee on Scientific and Technical Information. That is, it had 22 major categories and 178 secondary categories. It was published every two weeks. In January 1987 it changed again and began to use the classification system of the National Technical Information Service, with 38 major categories and 362 secondary categories. Also it became a bi-weekly publication.
The major categories currently in use are:
Administration and management
Aviation and aerodynamics
Agriculture and foodstuffs
Astronomy and astrophysics
Atmospheric science
Behavior and sociology
Biomedical technology and human factors engineering
Building industry technology
Commerce and economics
Chemistry
Civil engineering
Combustion, engines, and propellants
Communications
Computers
Detection and countermeasures
Electrical engineering technology
Energy
Environmental pollution and control
Health planning and health services research
Industrial and mechanical engineering
Library and information science
Manufacturing technology
Materials science
Mathematics
Medicine and biology
Military science
Missile technology
Natural resources and geoscience
Navigation, guidance, and control
Nuclear science and technology
Ocean technology and engineering
Ordnance
Photographic and recording equipment
Physics
Problem solving information helpful to national and local governments
Space technology
Transportation
Urban and regional reconstruction and development
AD reports are distributed in the 38 major categories above. The content of AD reports touches upon every area of national defense S&T, such as aviation, space technology, guided missile technology, nuclear technology, ordnance, military science, electricity and electronic engineering, communications research, etc. Therefore we can say that AD reports are a major source of intelligence on national defense S&T work.
(4) Classification Levels and Declassification Status of AD Reports
AD reports are in four categories, Secret, Confidential, For Official Use Only (also called Unclassified/Restricted, Limited, and Open (Unclassified/Unlimited). Secret and Confidential reports account for 16% of the total. Unclassified/Restricted account for 39%, and openly distributed, 45%.
Since 1975 some AD reports which were originally classified and For Official Use Only have gradually been declassified and had their restrictions lifted, and become openly available. They appear in Government Reports and Announcements with their original serial number. Also, the National Defense Technical Center publishes a special index to serial numbers of declassified and restriction-lifed AD reports, reporting the status of declassifications and the lifting of restrictions. As of the end of 1985, a total of 113,483 AD reports had been declassified or had restrictions lifted.
(5) Serial Numbers of AD Reports
The serial numbers of AD reports are rather complex, and the way they are composed does change. In general a serial number is related to the level of classification, and reports classified at different levels have numbers from different series. See the following for specifics.
 
AD Report Serial Number Range	Level of Classification, Time Span
 
AD-000001  to 163403		classified and open, Mar 1953 to Apr 1960
AD-163500  to 165117		open, [blank time span]
AD-175000  to 183121		not publicly announced, [blank time span]
AD-200000  to 229999		open, Oct 1958 to Jul 1963
AD-300000  to 399999		Secret and Confidential, Oct 1958 to Apr 1969
AD-400000  to 499999		restricted distribution and open, Jul 1963 to Nov 1966
AD-500000  to 532211		Secret and Confidential, May 1969 to Dec 1974
AD-600000  to 787897		open, Jul 1964 to Dec 1974
AD-800000  to 894999		unclassified restricted distribution, Nov 1966 to Jul 1972
AD-900000  to 999999		unclassified restricted distribution, Jul 1972 to Dec 1974
AD-A000001 to 999999		open, Jan 1975 to present
AD-B000001 to 949999		unclassified restricted distribution, Jan 1975 to present
AD-B950000 to 959999		open, Jan 1975 to the present
AD-C000001 to 949999		Secret and Confidential, Jan 1975 to present
AD-D000001 to 09999		openly published patents and patent applications, Jan 1975 to present
AD-E000001 to 599999		trial shared listing, 1978 to Mar 1982 when this series was abolished
AD-P000001 onward		conference document monographs, Mar 1983 to present
From January 1975 onward the AD reports used a new serial number format, with AD- followed by the letters A, B, C, D, etc. to indicate openly published, unclassified but restricted, classified, and patents and patent applications. The format AD-Exxxxxx began to appear in 1978. Starting in September 1977, four major units including the U.S. National Defense Documentation Center and the Naval Research Laboratory implemented a trial plan for shared listings. All new classified or open technical reports within this plan were assigned "D-E" serial numbers. AD-E was a temporary catalogue number. When the reports were formally entered into the technical reports database, they were incorporated into the standard system. The format AD-Pxxxxxx began to appear in May 1983. "P" represents conference proceedings. All papers in the AD-A series conference proceedings also appear in notices with an AD-P serial number.
In addition to the above, the format AD-xxxxxxL is also to be seen. Here, the letter L indicates limited distribution.
(6) The Problem of Duplicate Listings of AD Reports
One of the characteristics of modern science is the overlapping and permeation among the various branches of learning. Also, because of the development of information science and technology, the various fields of science have all created their own reference publications. Because of this, it often happens that one report or paper will be published or used in several types of publications at the same time or in succession. Thus a report may be duplicated. For example, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's "STAR" catalogue and the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Research Abstracts (ERA) both provide lots of clues about AD reports, and some even give the report serial numbers. The Monthly Catalogue of United States Publications also incorporates some AD report listings. Also, according to statistics, about 25% of AD reports fall in the category of documents which are issued periodically or which are reprinted from periodicals. Besides this, AD reports may also reappear in conference proceedings and patents.
This phenomenon of duplication facilitates finding and using material, but it is quite a bother when ordering AD reports. If one is not careful, the problem of duplicate collection may occur, wasting money. So it is essential to clarify the relationships among the various lists, and to rely on the Government Reports Announcements & Index when collecting documents.
(7) Repositories of AD Reports
China's National Defense S&T Information Center began acquiring openly published AD report in the early 1960's. The China S&T Information Research Institute [Zhongguo Keji Qingbao Yanjiusuo], the Shanghai S&T Information Research Institute, and the Sichuan Province S&T Information Research Institute currently have complete collections of AD reports. These organizations are China's repositories of information from AD reports.
The Beijing Document Service Office [Beijing Wenxian Fuwu Chu] acquired the GRA on magnetic tape from the United States, and set up its own GRA database.
2. U.S. Defense Technical Information Center, Cameron Station, Alexandria, Virginia 22304-6145
Since World War Two the structure of national defense S&T information work in the United States has undergone five phases of change, based on changes in missions and the demands of the objective situation. Specifics are as follows.
Figure 4.1 Historical Evolution of the Structure of National Defense S&T Information Work in the United States
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), 1941-47
which split into two organizations:
Central Aviation Documents Office (CADO), 1948-51
Naval Intelligence Research Department (NRS), 1947-51
which merged to become:
United States Armed Services Technical Information Agency (ASTIA), 1951-63
then:
Defense Documents Center (DDC), 1963-79
then:
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), October 1979 to the present
It was not until after 1951 that publication of S&T reports as the AD-series began. From 1951 to 1963 the repository for AD reports was the Armed Services Technical Information Agency. "AD" is an abbreviation for "ASTIA Document." In July 1963 the Armed Services Technical Information Agency reorganized as the Defense Documents Center. Reports on file continued to have AD-series numbers, but the meaning of AD changed to "Accessioned Documents." [English as published] In October 1979 the Defense Documents Center changed its name to Defense Technical Information Center. All the reports in its Technical Reports Database still have AD-series numbers, but now AD has become a kind of registration number by which the Defense Technical Information Center identifies and distributes documents.
At present, the U.S. Department of Defense system's repository for AD reports and the source of information from them is the Defense Technical Information Center. The Center is responsible for collecting, organizing, storing, indexing, publicizing, and providing the use of AD reports. However, the Center serves only the U.S. Department of Defense and its contractors, other government departments and their contractors, and some international research organizations. These are called "registered users." At present there are over 2,800 of them. Anyone other than these registered users, whether in the United States or elsewhere, who wants to obtain openly published AD reports must purchase them through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service. Therefore it is this Service which is the source of widespread dissemination of openly published and declassified or de-restricted AD reports. The headquarters of DTIC is in the state of Virginia. It is under the leadership of the Defense Logistics Agency. [as published; now under Defense Information Systems Agency] Besides the onsite service center at its headquarters, DTIC has service centers in seven areas with concentrations of defense industries: New York, Huntsville, Dayton, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington.
DTIC has a director and a deputy director. From the director down to the workers, all the personnel at DTIC are civilians.
On 29 March 1965 the Department of Defense issued Directive 5100.38 specifying the following nine missions for the former Defense Documents Center:
(1) Actively and continuously collect all technical reports (except those which are Top Secret or Codeword material).
(2) Quickly send out notices in index format of technical reports collected.
(3) Provide technical reports to users and provide other document services promptly.
(4) Promptly recommend valuable technical reports to the various intelligence analysis centers of the Department of Defense.
(5) Work with other government organizations to formulate data flow standards, improve technical report distribution methods, and improve the efficiency of information sharing.
(6) Have high standards in processing and distributing technical reports.
(7) In accordance with Department of Defense policies and regulations on secrecy, formulate unified rules on information collection, storage, duplication, and distribution.
(8) Adopt advanced technology and equipment and gradually improve document handling and service.
(9) Develop technical cooperation with domestic and foreign document centers and intelligence analysis centers.
Following the organizational name change in October 1979, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering R.M. Davis announced that besides these nine missions, DTIC would also take on a new mission, that of providing technical and management information to leaders and S&T personnel at all levels of the Department of Defense.
Currently, DTIC's work mainly involves two areas, technical document service and technical information service (with stress on data and trend information for management use).
(1) Technical Document Service
DTIC is the Department of Defense's center for document collection, handling, indexing, and distribution. As required by regulations, source organizations send DTIC 20 copies of each technical report. DTIC carries out document handling, establishes technical report databases, and compiles and publishes a biweekly Technical Abstracts Bulletin (TAB). DTIC also copies each report in microfiche.
DTIC provides three types of document service: ordinary service, distribution service, and onsite service.
Ordinary service involves providing the Technical Abstracts Report to registered users; using computers to print out special lists for users; compiling special-topic lists for designated users; providing users copies of archived AD reports on paper or in microfiche; and recommending useful, newly archived technical reports to various intelligence analysis centers of the Department of Defense.
Distribution service consists of forwarding 18 copies of each technical report provided by source organizations to users who specialize in that area; distributing microfiche copies of newly archived AD reports by way of an automatic distribution system to units specializing in that area; and sending copies of the original of unclassified or declassified reports to NTIS.
Onsite service consists allowing users to search document indexes and technical information using computer terminals at the headquarters and at the seven onsite service offices. Also, onsite service personnel are responsible for consulting and for answering users' questions.
(2) Technical Information Service
DTIC is responsible for managing the Defense Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Online System (DROLS), which consists of the Technical Reports Database, the Scientific Research Project Database, the Scientific Research and Development Plan Database, and the Independent Research and Development Database. This system is for internal use within the Department of Defense system. Its objective is to allow leaders and S&T personnel at all levels of the Department of Defense to understand promptly the specifics of scientific research projects which planned, are underway, or have been completed, as well as to understand the status of development of science and technology. Ordinary users can use suitable terminals to search its unclassified documents and data. Classified users with the correct communications name and authentication code can use classified terminal and classified communications circuits to retrieve classified documents or data.
(a) Technical Reports Database
The Technical Reports Database is the largest of the four databases. It involves technical reports on scientific research projects which have already been completed (that is, AD reports).
(b) Scientific Research Project Database
The content of this database involves Department of Defense scientific research projects under way. Started in 1968, this is the earliest of the four databases to be established. This database has a total of 48 items, including scientific research project, S&T area, technical objectives, research channels, status of progress, project number, contract number, responsible Department of Defense unit and its address, contractors and their addresses, names of key scientific research personnel, start date of research work, estimated completion date of research work, major funding organization, other funding organizations, topic words, identifying words, keywords, and classification level and distribution regulations for project status summaries.
(c) Scientific Research and Development Plan Database
This database holds brief reports on scientific research projects already in the Department of Defense's scientific research plan. The data items include project name, S&T area, technical objectives, research channels, project serial number, status of progress, search words, costs, dates, classification level, etc. About 3,500 plan projects are recorded in this database each year.
(d) Independent Research and Development Database
What is entered into this database is brief reports on scientific research projects undertaken independently by contractors, provided for the use of the Department of Defense so as to strive for future Department of Defense contracts. These summaries can help the Department of Defense to understand and make judgments on industrial research activities in special areas of technology, and know the status of progress of these activities. About 7,000 entries are added to this database each year. Because what is contained in this database is patent-related information, no contractor can search it. It is provided for Department of Defense use only.
Currently it is an important mission of DTIC to step up its technical information service work. So as to improve its ability to provide technical and management information to leaders and technical personnel at all levels of the Department of Defense, DTIC has further improved the DROLS system currently in use, and besides that it is now researching how to exploit other databases in the United States. DTIC is also actively training leaders at all levels of the Department of Defense in order to improve their ability to use databases.
3. National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161
NTIS is a major source for disseminating information both within the United States and elsewhere. Falling under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce, it is the only government organization which assumes responsibility for its own profit and loss and which makes its living by selling information. All of its expenses, such as workers' wages, production costs, publicity, advertising, and postage, are paid out of revenue obtained from the sale of information and the provision of services. It receives not a cent of Congressional appropriations unless under a special development plan. Nevertheless, its mission is mandated by the government. According to a U.S. Government statute, it is responsible for collecting, organizing, publicizing, and selling all open-source research, development, and project reports produced with the financial assistance of the federal government, as well as foreign technical reports, and other documents provided by national and local government organizations and their contractors. The emphasis is on four major categories of reports, namely, AD, NASA, DoE, and PB.
In addition, NTIS is the center for the sale of federal government-produced, computer processed data files and software. Also NTIS is responsible for the sale of application documents for patents owned by the U.S. Government itself.
The formats of NTIS products are books, microfiche, microfilm, magnetic tape, floppy disk, etc.
NTIS is responsible for managing the Center for Use of Federal Technology (CUFT) and the Federal Software Exchange Center (FSEC). The former allows U.S. industry to learn promptly about specially selected useful and immediately effective technology. The latter promotes the exchange among government organizations of computer software which can be purchased through NTIS.
NTIS has over 370 workers. Only something more than 50 of these are engaged in information processing and indexing. NTIS is responsible for processing and indexing only PB reports. The other types of reports (AD, DoE, and NASA) are sent to NTIS after cataloguing by the original archiving organization. The other people at NTIS are all involved in promoting the sale of information, processing and shipping orders, and providing service. This point illustrates the commercial nature of this organization.
Currently NTIS has nearly two million documents on file. Of these, over 300,000 are foreign technical documents. NTIS adds about 70,000 new technical reports to its archive each year. The information is stored for the long term, and can be sold at any time. About 80,000 documents are in a database and can be provided to users directly. The remaining, less often requested documents can be duplicated from a microfiche master as users need them. Each year NTIS sells over six million documents (including fiche), sending out about 24,000 items per day.
NTIS uses bulletins, periodicals, and indexes to notify users at regular intervals about newly received U.S. and foreign technical reports and other, special information. It sends out over 3,000 types of topical lists based on users' needs. Users can use long-term order forms (microfiche selection and ordering service) to order microfiche by topic.
Users can do online searching of the NTIS Catalogue Database to find the newest technical reports or to compile special-topic lists. All of the database reading equipment can be leased from NTIS.
Currently NTIS has over 100,000 users, over half being from the business world in the United States. U.S. Government organizations are the second largest category. China is the largest foreign user of NTIS. NTIS makes one shipment a week to China.
NTIS's best known and most widespread publication is the U.S. Government Reports Announcements & Index, which gives notice in digest form of the unclassified S&T reports produced by scientific research organizations and contractors of the various departments of the U.S. Government (such as the Department of Defense, NASA, and the Department of Energy), as well as S&T reports and translations from foreign countries and international organizations. The yearly volume of reports is about 70,000. This periodical is an important tool for purchasing and searching the four major types of reports. The vast majority of material in this notice can be obtained from NTIS. A small amount of the material must be purchased separately from other selling organizations. These items are so identified in the notice.
III. NASA reports and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Code NTT-4, Washington, D.C. 20546)
1. NASA reports
(1) What Are NASA Reports?
NASA is short for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA established a Scientific and Technical Information Facility in order to accomplish exchange and dissemination of S&T material. People often refer collectively to the S&T reports collected, indexed, publicized, and supplied by this organization as NASA reports. Strictly speaking, its materials should be differentiated as NASA's own reports (true NASA reports, designated with an "N" and non-NASA reports. Reports from the predecessor of NASA are known as NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) reports. Currently the S&T Information Facility holds over one million S&T reports, and it uses computers to accomplish automatic handling of information.
(2) Sources of NASA Reports
(a) One category of sources is S&T organizations subordinate to NASA, contracted companies and enterprises, and institutions of higher learning. The S&T reports they generate are official NASA reports, properly called reports from NASA itself. According to an investigation we did in 1985, NASA's own reports constitute only about 15% all NASA reports.
(b) A second category is AD reports from the Department of Defense system, DoE reports from the Department of Energy, and PB reports from government departments. NASA's S&T Information Facility takes those reports concerned with aeronautics and space, assigns them an "N" number, and archives, publicizes, and supplies them for use.
(c) A third category is S&T reports produced by some foreign S&T organizations and international organizations. NASA's S&T Information Facility collects these reports, assigns them "N" numbers, and archives, publicizes, and supplies them for use. The organizations producing these reports include NATO's Advisory Group for Research and Development, the European Space Agency, Britain's Royal Aerospace Establishment, France's Centre National d'etudes Spaciales, the Aeronautics and Space Research Institute of Japan's Science and Technology Agency, etc., involving more than 20 countries. In addition, the facility has translations of S&T reports from the Soviet Union and eastern European countries. It even has translations of S&T reports from our country. For example, the 1985 STAR [defined on the next page] index number 15 listed translations of 13 Chinese S&T reports.
The last two categories described above are not NASA's own reports.
(3) The Content of NASA Reports
NASA reports are quite specialized. They are concentrated in the areas of aviation and space flight. Also, NASA reports are high quality. They are a major source of intelligence from researchers in the scientific fields of aviation and space flight.
(4) Classification and Numbering of NASA Reports NASA reports may be open-source or classified. All openly distributed reports have serial numbers beginning with N, such as N85-27240. Numbering begins each year with 10001. All S&T reports which are classified or which have restricted distribution have serial numbers beginning with X, such as X79-10045. Numbering of these also begins each year with 10001.
X-numbered S&T reports are collected, indexed, publicized, and provided for internal use only by NASA's S&T Information Facility. They are not openly distributed. They fall within the category of NASA restricted distribution. They are also differentiated as reports on projects either receiving or not receiving financial assistance from NASA.
According to reports, the main source of X-numbered reports are NASA itself and its contractors, U.S. Government organizations, and the European Space Agency.
Because both N and X reports are stored in NASA's database, X reports can be searched not just manually but also by computer.
If a NASA report is classified, its title includes a notation for its level of classification. If the title of a report is classified, then it will not appear in catalogue searches. The classification notation indicates the report's classification level: For Official Use Only-Restricted, Confidential, Secret, Confidential Information, or Secret Information.
If a report is For Official Use Only-Restricted Distribution, its title contains a notation to that effect. The notation prescribes the report's scope of issue, explaining clearly what organizations are authorized to receive it. These are:
NASA only: For use only at NASA headquarters and the various NASA research centers.
NASA & CONTR only: For use only by NASA and its contractors.
GOVT & AGCY only: For use only by government organizations.
GOVT & CONTR only: For use only by U.S. Government organizations and their contractors (including NASA and NASA contractors).
Besides this, NASA also has numbers beginning with capital N in the series Nxx-60000, 70000, and 80000. Capital N reports are not included in the STAR index. They first appeared in the 1962 U.S. Government Report Notice. Some have the notation "declassified on such-and-such a month and year."
(5) Periodicals Which Publicize NASA Reports
Openly disclosed NASA and NACA reports from before 1963 are listed in the Monthly Notice of U.S. Government Publications compiled and printed by the Government Printing Office. From 1963 onward, NASA prepared the digest periodical Scientific and Technical Aerospace Report, called the STAR index for short. This is published twice a month on the 8th and the 23rd, one volume with 24 issues each year. The STAR index has 11 major and 75 secondary categories, by specialized area. It allows search by keyword, by source, by individual author, by contract number, and by cross-referenced report number and catalogue number.
The STAR index reports open-source S&T reports collected by the NASA S&T Information Facility. Each of these report numbers begins with N. Each issue reports over 1,000 items.
The features of STAR are:
(a) A large number of S&T reports listed, over 25,000 each year.
(b) Quite fast notification of NASA reports, normally 30 to 60 days faster than the GRA&I.
(c) High degree of specialization, limited to reports on aspects of aviation and space flight.
(d) Broad scope of collection, with quite a lot of duplicate notice of relevant reports from other departments or countries.
We researched the proportions of N-numbered reports in 1983 and 1984, with the following results:
Figure 4.2 Profile of N-numbered Reports, 1983
                
 
NASA itself			14.2%
AD				18.9%
DoE				27.7%
PB				3.6%
Other				35.6%
Figure 4.3 Profile of N-numbered Reports, 1984
                        
 
NASA itself			13.9%
AD				24.4%
DoE				13.6%
PB				4.2%
Other				43.9%
Beginning with the second half of 1974, the STAR index added summaries of S&T projects in progress. There were as yet no S&T reports for these projects, but they reflect NASA's current S&T trends and plans.
NASA X-numbered reports are listed in the Limited Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports digest, called for short the LSTAR index. Publication of this quarterly index began in 1973. Its predecessor was CSTAR, the Classified Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports index, which ceased publication at the end of 1972.
(6) Types of Reports Published Openly by NASA Itself
Besides reports with serial numbers beginning with N, NASA has its own meaningful serial numbers for reports which it publishes openly. See the following list.
NASA-TR-R Technical Reports: Most of these are technical summaries and descriptions of S&T accomplishments from NASA's various centers
NASA-TN-D Technical Notes: Topical technical documents compiled by technical personnel at NASA's various centers; content is incomplete, but still quite important; mostly reports of new technical accomplishments, new techniques, and new materials
NASA-TM-X Technical Memoranda: Includes preliminary test reports, data, and information, or fairly important documents whose classification has been downgraded, conference papers, etc.
NASA-CR Contractor Reports: S&T reports prepared by NASA contractors in the course of scientific research, testing, and production
NASA-TT-F Technical Translations: Mostly translated Soviet reports, papers, collections, etc.
NASA-EP Educational Publications: Publication of these began in 1971; they are a rather small amount of reading material for educational use concerning aviation and space flight
NASA-SP Special Publications: Publication of these began in March, 1962; content is quite unwieldy and complex; some items have great value as reference material; mainly these items include summary reports, conference notes, data handbooks, compilations of data, special topic papers, monographs, lists of documents on special topics, etc.
NASA-CP Conference Publications: Publication of these began in 1977; these report records of conferences
NASA-TP Technical Papers: Publication of these began in 1977; these report on quite a lot of new technologies; content is similar to TN
NASA-Case, patent descriptions and patent applications: These include descriptions of patents which NASA holds, and patent applications submitted to the U.S. Patent Office
NASA-M Memoranda: These date from NASA's early years; there are few of them, and issuance has been discontinued
NASA-RP Reference Publications: These report some NASA reference information
NASA-Release, news releases: These report NASA news bulletins
(7) Obtaining NASA Reports, and Archives in the United States
As with the Defense Technical Information Center, NASA's S&T information system has only "registered user" service, including:
(a) NASA headquarters, its various research centers, and its contractors
(b) U.S. Government organizations and their contractors
(c) Libraries in the United States which have agreements with NASA (these libraries are responsible for providing NASA reports for the public to read)
(d) Other organizations which must consult NASA reports in their work
(e) Foreign organizations and groups which have exchange agreements with NASA
Among these users, the most important are NASA headquarters, its various research centers, and its contractors. These people number more than 800. The NASA S&T information system is the internal source of NASA reports for NASA headquarters itself.
In addition, the U.S. National Space Society's Technical Information Office library archives openly published reports from NASA itself; the British Library's External Lending Department archives openly published reports from NASA itself and many non-NASA N-series reports appearing in STAR; and the European Space Agency (ESA) archives openly published reports from NASA itself. These provide service to their own system or to the public. These organizations are also sources which retain NASA reports.
So as to give ordinary people more contact with U.S. Government publications, the U.S. Congress passed a "Federal Depository Libraries Plan." By this plan, under the management of the Government Printing Office, fifty local libraries are appointed to be responsible for receiving, storing, providing access for reading, and interlibrary loan of government publications. These libraries keep complete sets of reports published openly by NASA. These libraries are other sources of stored NASA reports within the United States.
As with AD reports, ordinary users within the United States and users outside the United States who wish to purchase openly published NASA reports must go through NTIS. All NASA reports which appear in STAR can be ordered and obtained from NTIS. As for non-NASA N-series reports, some of these can be ordered from NTIS (but not NASA-adopted AD, PB, and DoE reports, which can of course be obtained from NTIS). However, a small number of non-NASA N-series reports must be purchased separately from other sales organizations. For specifics see the notations for how to obtain items under "Avail" in STAR listings.
Because of the serious overlap in reports listed in GRA&I and STAR, and because non-NASA N-series reports include a large number of S&T reports from other organization or countries, when simultaneously using several indexes, making use of different channels, and collecting different types of documents, one must clearly understand the relationships among the various indexes and take care to avoid duplicate orders. In this regard there is a set of skills which persons engaged in ordering publications should master.
At present, China's National Defense S&T Information Center keeps a full set of openly published NASA reports on microfiche, and some materials in paper form. The Center also archives some non-NASA N-series reports on microfiche or paper.
Within China, the China S&T Information Research Institute, the Shanghai S&T Information Research Institute, and the Sichuan Province S&T Information Research Institute collect full sets of NASA materials on microfiche.
2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(1) Concept
NASA reports are generated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Soviet Union launched the world's first manmade satellite in October 1957. After that, the second session of the 85th Congress of the United States passed the "National Aeronautics and Space Act," establishing NASA on 1 October 1958. In the structure of the U.S. Government, NASA is at a level equivalent to that of a department, on an equal footing with the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. NASA is under the direct leadership of the Congress and the President. Under the provisions of the Act, NASA assumed control of the property, facilities, and personnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which was founded in 1915.
NASA's duties and responsibilities are:
(a) To direct research related to problems of flight both within and beyond the atmosphere.
(b) To organized the development, construction, and testing of air and space flight vehicles.
(c) To direct the use of various types of manned and remotely controlled flying vehicles conducting space exploration.
(d) To establish cooperative relationships with air and space flight research organizations in other countries.
(e) To be responsible for the exchange and dissemination of research results and data.
According to the Act, NASA is mainly responsible for guiding and coordinating air and space research activities other than those of the military. But in fact, NASA serves military departments directly or indirectly.
NASA headquarters is located near Capitol Hill in Washington, the District of Columbia. The headquarters has six offices: Office of Air and Space; Office of Space Applications Technology; Office of Resource Planning; Office of Space Flight Planning; Office of Space Science; and Office of Tracking and Data.
NASA has 14 research centers and laboratories. Those mainly engaged in aeronautical research work are the Langley Research Center, the Ames Research Center, the Lewis [now Glenn] Research Center, and the Dryden Flight Research Center. Those mainly engaged in astronautics research work are the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Johnson Space Center, the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Kennedy Space Flight Center, the Wallops Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the National Space Flight Technology Laboratory, the Michoud General Equipment Plant [Assembly Facility], the Western Test Range Work Station, and the White Sands Test Station.
(2) NASA's S&T Information Work
(a) NASA's S&T Information Facility has the centralized responsibility of collecting, evaluating, examining, digesting, cataloguing, and indexing materials, as well as services such as retrieving documents, making microfiche copies, and distribution.
(b) The NASA S&T Information Facility provides round-the-clock service to retrieve various types of information for users. Copies of the information must be mailed out within 48 hours. Inquiries made from terminals in various places receive a reply within two or three minutes.
(c) The facility gives prompt notice and supply of new materials. It is a requirement that various technical reports collected be processed and publicized within four to six weeks. Microfiche copies of technical reports and dissertations listed in each issue of STAR and IAA [International Aerospace Abstracts; explained below] must be provided on time to NASA's libraries, research centers, and laboratories a week before the issue goes out. The volume of microfiche sent out each year is about two million. Microfiche are distributed in three ways: As required, automatically to users who receive full sets of the documents; selectively, based on a user's specific choice of categories; and based on the requirements of NASA's contractors and on materials exchange agreements with organizations within the United States and in foreign countries.
(d) The facility has cooperative relationships with various concerned information organizations within the United States. NASA maintains close and cooperative relations with DTIC, NTIS, TIS (the Department of Energy's Technical Information Service), and other federal government information organizations, which exchange catalogues on magnetic tape. Also the facility coordinates with concerned academic bodies, and has a rational division of work with them.
(e) The facility exchanges information with foreign organizations.
NASA makes use of information exchange measures for the wide-ranging collection of various types of materials concerned with its mission and objectives. In coordination with NASA's International Affairs Group, the S&T Information Facility negotiates the conditions by which materials are exchanged with information organizations in various countries, and it signs exchange agreements with them.
The counterpart must first send NASA samples of exchangeable materials, estimate the yearly volume of what will be sent, declare that NASA is allowed to duplicate in microfiche form the materials provided, and agree to open provision of the materials in the United States.
What NASA provides to its exchange partners is mostly STAR and NASA's own reports.
If NASA discovers that the quality or quantity of documents provided by a counterpart does not meet NASA's requirements, it may at any time propose to the counterpart that a clause in their agreement should be revised, or that the agreement should be terminated.
Currently, NASA has signed exchange agreements with 225 organizations in 49 countries and with some international organizations. Each year NASA receives over 2,000 types of materials from them.
(f) Search service. NASA's S&T Information Facility can search various types of materials as registered users require.
(g) Translation service. Based on requirements from NASA scientists, engineers, and administrative personnel, NASA can provide a translation service for materials and official documents from over 30 languages other than English.
(h) NASA publishes various items to satisfy the differerent needs of different users:
-- It compiles, publishes, and prints NASA's own reports, about 1,000 each year.
-- It compiles and publishes STAR and LSTAR.
-- It has delegated the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics to compile and publish International Aerospace Abstracts, and it contributes funds to the effort.
-- It compiles and publishes catalogues of specialized materials such as Aeronautical Engineering (monthly); Aerospace Medicine and Biology (monthly); Earth Resource [as published] (quarterly); NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography (half-yearly); and Selected Current Aerospace Notices (SCAN), a selection of about 200 topics on a particular theme (bi-yearly). The number and scope of articles in each edition of SCAN is not fixed, and it may be increased or reduced according to actual requirements.
The titles appearing in the above five types of periodicals are selected from STAR and IAA.
Quarterly Listing of AGARD Reports is a compilation of technical reports from AGARD, publicized in STAR. It has no index.
AGARD Index of Publications includes digests and various kinds of indexes. Issue number 1 lists documents issued between 1952 and 1970. After that, one issue was published every three years.
-- NASA compiles and publishes NASA Activities (every two months). This reports on NASA's research activities.
-- It compiles and publishes Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary (yearly). This provides brief explanations of the objectives and plans of in-progress research supported by NASA.
-- It compiles and publishes Journal Holdings for NASA Libraries (yearly). Publication of this began in 1983. In 1984 it included 7,768 items. This index tells a reader which types of periodicals are held in various libraries, so as to achieve the objective of sharing.
(i) NASA provides search service by linked equipment.
NASA has a NASA RECON (Remote Console) linked equipment search system. Users far away can make use of terminals to link directly with the main computer at the NASA S&T Information Facility. The NASA RECON system has the following seven databases:
-- Aerospace database. The provides online search of all materials appearing in the two periodicals STAR and IAA since 1962. Over 1.4 million documents have been entered in this database. Each year over 70,000 more are added. Originally use of this database was restricted to NASA and other government organizations, but beginning in 1985 it was connected for search with the American company Dialog Information Services.
-- Restricted Aerospace Science and Technology Reports Database, the content of which is similar to LSTAR.
-- Undistributed Restricted Documents Database.
-- Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary Database, the content of which is the same as the yearly paper version.
-- NASA Research and Development Contract Search File.
-- NASA/RECON NALNET - Periodicals File, the content of which is similar to the printed version of Journal Holdings for NASA Libraries.
-- Numerical Data Databases Index, which is a list of 144 NASA and seven non-NASA numerical databases.
IV. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA Conference Paper Preprints, International Aerospace Abstracts, and AIAA documents
1. The address of AIAA is 555 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019.
(1) Introduction
AIAA is a multi-profession, non-governmental, academic body. Its membership consists of scientific researchers engaged in aeronautical and space flight research, technical personnel from companies and enterprises, and students and graduate students from some large institutions of higher learning. The institute also attracts foreign scientists and technical personnel, including some from China.
This organization was founded on 1 February 1963 by merging the Institute of Aerospace Sciences (IAS) and the American Rocket Society (ARS). Prior to 1961 the IAS was called the American Aviation Society. Founded in 1922, the American Aviation Society was the authoritative body for the science of aviation in the United States. The American Rocket Society was founded in 1930. It was one of the earliest academic bodies to be engaged in rocket technology and space flight research. In the early 1960's, in order to contend with the Soviet Union for supremacy in space, the United States implemented major changes in its scientific research structure, information research, materials services, etc. To meet the need for developing research activities concerning aviation and interplanetary flight, and to avoid duplicative waste of manpower, materiel, and time in scientific research work, after a year of deliberation the Institute of Aerospace Sciences and the American Rocket Society merged to become the Institute of Aerospace Sciences. It has over 36,000 members.
AIAA has under it 32 technical committees: Aerospace and Atmospheric Physics; Atmospheric Environment; Fluid Mechanics; Plasma Dynamics; Atmospheric Flight Mechanics; Celestial Mechanics; Propellants and Combustion; Power Supply Systems; Electrical Propulsion; Liquid Propellant Rockets; Solid Propellant Rockets; Gas Propulsion; Nuclear Propulsion; Underwater Propulsion; Communications; Instruments; Guidance and Control; Structural Mechanics; Structures; Materials; Aviation Flight Vehicle Design; Aviation Flight Vehicle Operation; Space Flight Vehicle Design; Space Flight Vehicle Reentry; Launch Apparatus and Guided Missiles; Maritime Systems; Flight Testing; Surface Testing; Reliability and Durability; Life Science Systems; Project Management; and Outer Space Law. Each technical committee is responsible for academic activities in its particular area of specialization.
AIAA holds its annual conference each year in early November in New York. In June it holds a midyear conference. Also, each year it holds 15 to 20 symposia based on specialized branches of learning.
AIAA is a producer of institute or association-type materials.
(2) AIAA's Publications and Conference Documents
The main types of S&T publications issued by AIAA are:
(a) AIAA Journal (monthly). Publishes research documents pertaining to aviation and aerospace. The content includes jet and rocket propulsion technology, flight mechanics, celestial mechanics, guidance, communications in space, atmospheric and space physics, materials and structures, spacecraft research, development, and design, etc.
(b) Journal of Aircraft (every two months). Mainly publishes papers concerning aspects of aircraft design, flight mechanics, flight testing, flight safety, airport design, air traffic control, navigation, propulsion systems, structures, and ground equipment.
(c) AIAA Student Journal (quarterly). Mainly publishes essays by the institute's student members and papers by teachers of aviation and space flight technology.
China's National Defense S&T Information Center archives all three of these periodicals.
AIAA's conference papers are mainly advance copies -- AIAA Papers Preprints.
Also, members of AIAA's technical committees compile copies of all (not just AIAA's) conference papers on important topics into Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics. These are published, printed, and distributed by MIT and other publishing houses. The first edition of this series appeared in 1960, and as of the present they number 96 volumes.
2. Advance Copies of AIAA Conference Papers: AIAA Papers Preprints
(1) Concept
On its own, AIAA convenes 15 to 20 symposia each year. These are mainly of two types. One is secret, with conference papers which are not openly disseminated. An example would be a conference on AIAA's joint strategy. The other type is open, with openly distributed conference papers. An example would be an AIAA conference on aerospace science.
As for joint symposia, when AIAA is the host and other associations are participants, then AIAA's name appears first. An example is "IAA/ASME Conference on Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials." Conference papers carry AIAA report numbers, such as AIAA 78-355, and conference paper preprints can be purchased from AIAA. When another association is hosting the conference and AIAA is a participant, the name of the other organization comes first, as for example in "EEE/AIAA Conference on Space and Atmospheric Observation and Measurement Instruments." Conference papers for this conference would not be given AIAA report numbers, and they cannot be purchased from AIAA. They would be supplied by IEEE.
AIAA conference papers normally appear as preprints one or two months before the conference. These papers are all read aloud at the symposium, and they are sold to conference attendees and provided to pre-designated subscribers. Each year over 1,000 preprints are published either individually or as collections.
Quite a large proportion of these papers either have or will appear in one of AIAA's periodicals. Thus there is duplication in the content of conference paper preprints and the institute's periodicals.
The content of AIAA papers is original, and the writing is succinct. The papers can reflect new achievements, new levels attained, and new trends in the world's aviation and aerospace S&T. They are an important source of information widely appreciated by aeronautical and aerospace S&T personnel. China's National Defense S&T Information Center and other organizations hold full sets of AIAA papers from 1963 to the present.
(2) Publication Formats and the Course of Their Evolution
AIAA papers are available on paper and as microfiche. The microfiche form is included in IAA documents.
Distribution in paper format began formally in 1963. At first there were only a few hundred items per year. Publication formats were not fixed. Some items were published alone, with each item having a report number. Sometimes items were included in bound volumes, with some of the items assigned their own report numbers and some not. So there was a lack of standardization. This situation continued from the 1960's to the early 1970's. After that, the number of reports grew year by year, and publication of them gradually became more standardized. The fairly fixed, three format publication scheme took shape by the end of the 1970's. In the first, all the papers for a conference are issued individually, each with its own report number. In the second, all the papers for a conference are bound into one volume, with each paper having its own report number. In the third method, some of the papers for a conference are together in one volume, while others are distributed individually. Each of the papers is assigned its own report number, and stand-alone reports and the ones in collections do not duplicate each other. In combination with each other, the three methods constitute a complete set of AIAA conference paper preprints.
(3) Output Channels
The channels by which AIAA sends out AIAA papers are as follows:
(a) Member purchase. Members pay a certain amount of money each year (about $50), and get preference in the purchase of conference papers.
(b) Onsite purchase. All conference participants can select and purchase papers at the conference, but nonmembers get no preferential treatment.
(c) Ordering in advance. Subscribers in China can place orders by way of the Foreign Languages Bookstore for individual AIAA papers which interest them.
(d) Long-term advance ordering. Subscribers who need to order a full set of AIAA papers can do so with a long-term advance order. They pay in advance based on prices set by AIAA, and AIAA provides a full set of conference paper preprints after each conference. In China one can arrange with the China Books Import and Export Corporation [Zhongguo Tushu Jinchukou Gongsi] for a long-term advance order for the next year's papers.
(e) After-conference sales. After a conference, users can purchase either a full set or individual conference papers, in paper form or on microfiche. The price goes up after a year has elapsed, and it is often difficult to guarantee the supply of a full set.
(f) Sale by authorized agent. For example, AIAA and Jane's Publishing Company have signed a contract by which Jane's is a sales agent for AIAA's publications.
Comparing these various channels, member purchases are best in terms of price, delivery time, and quantity. Apart from this channel, in terms of acquisition time onsite purchase is the fastest. Next best is long-term ordering, by which items are normally received three to six months after a conference, with a small number taking a year. Sometimes papers from one conference arrive in several different deliveries. Ordering piecemeal from the Foreign Languages Bookstore is quite slow.
Currently, problems with collecting AIAA papers by way of long-term advance ordering are that, in terms of quantity, for various reasons deliveries each year are incomplete, sometimes even short by several hundred items. There is no list of what is to be provided, and delivery can take a very long time. This often makes it very difficult for us to determine within a short time which missing numbers represent delivery shortages and which numbers represent no materials at all.
(4) Reasons for Missing Numbers
Each year there are many numbers missing from AIAA conference paper preprints. Why is this? To clarify the exact reasons, someone researched this topic in 1984. The results of the research showed clearly that the main reasons for missing numbers are:
(a) Insufficient number of papers. Each symposium is pre-assigned a range of report numbers. If there are not enough papers, then numbers will be missing.
(b) Failure to gain approval. Writers send AIAA the topic of their paper and an abstract of its content. But if the content is secret or it reflects incomplete preparation, the paper is not approved for distribution.
(c) Writer withdraws. A writer will sometimes recognize on his own that the quality of his paper is less than ideal, and will withdraw the paper.
(d) Issuance in a periodical. For various reasons, a writer may be unable to deliver the prearranged conference paper on time. It might appear in a periodical some time later.
(e) Partial sellouts. Some conference documents sell out because of a large number of buyers, and thus complete sets cannot be provided.
(f) Mistakes. Personnel who do the shipping may make mistakes and send incomplete shipments.
(5) Contingency measures
The following contingency measures can be taken to complete sets of this material:
(a) After a time, check the AIAA report numbers as publicized in IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts) to determine whether there is no document for a missing number or whether the shipment was incomplete.
(b) Expedited shipment to make up the set. If shipment of a series is incomplete, then many expedited overseas shipments are necessary. AIAA regulations say that it is responsible for expedited shipment within 12 months after a conference. Supplementary shipments are no longer made after that, and all one can do is to send a new purchase order. In our experience, expedited shipment is most effective six months after a conference. However, expedited shipments out of the country are certainly not completely reliable. Sometimes several expedited shipments still do not arrive, or the shipment contains serious duplication. Then it is best to use IAA material on microfiche and make a duplicate to complete the set.
3. International Aerospace Abstracts
Besides organizing various specialized symposia and publishing periodicals, collections, and conference papers, AIAA's Technical Information Service also compiles and publishes International Aerospace Abstracts (IAA).
Publication of IAA began in 1961. Originally it was a monthly periodical compiled and published jointly by the U.S. Aviation Association and the U.S. Air Force Aviation Research and Development Command's Air Force Scientific Research Office (AFOSR), with financial assistance from the National Science Foundation (NSF). From 1963 onwards it became a twice-monthly periodical compiled and published by AIAA with financial assistance from NASA. NASA and AIAA reached agreement whereby International Aerospace Abstracts and Scientific and Technical Aerospace Report (STAR) became "sister publications" reporting on aviation and aerospace documents. The two periodicals have a clear division of labor. STAR is responsible for reporting on S&T reports, and IAA is responsible for reporting on "on-report documents:" periodical articles, books, conference papers, etc.
IAA is an abstract-like index. Its classification system and layout are similar to that of STAR, and it has five indexes at the end. Each edition reports over 1,000 abstracts, over 30,000 each year. IAA is published on the 1st and the 15th of each month.
Documents reported in IAA are assigned unified "catalogue numbers," or "abstract numbers," beginning with the letter A to distinguish them from the N numbers in STAR. Examples are A74-10001, A78-10002, etc. The serial numbers begin each year with 10001.
4. IAA Documents
All documents reported in the International Aerospace Abstracts are collectively called "IAA documents."
(1) Sources and value of IAA Documents
IAA Documents are mainly selected from conference papers of associations, societies, and research organizations of the United States and other countries, from books, and from over 900 S&T periodicals. The selection is limited to aviation and space flight. Conference papers noted as IAA documents include:
(a) American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) papers
(b) American Society of Lubrication Engineers (ASLE) papers
(c) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) papers
(d) American Society for Testing and Materials Engineers (ASTME) papers
(e) American Combustion Institute (CI) papers
(f) American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) papers
(g) American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICE) papers
(h) American Instruments Society (ISA) papers [as published; ISA is International Society for Measurement and Control]
(i) American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) papers
(j) American Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) papers
(k) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Reports
(l) NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) Reports
(m) International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) papers
(n) United Nations Conference on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, UN papers
(o) British Aeronautical Research Council (ARC) papers
(p) British Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IME) papers
(q) French Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA) technical papers
(r) German Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Luft- und Raumsfahrt (DGLR) reports
It is especially worth pointing out that in IAA Documents, the proportion which are Russian language documents is very large. Statistics from 1982 to 1984 show that Russian documents constitute about 40% of all documents on microfiche. Under our current situation with a lack of Russian language materials, IAA Documents provides us a path by which to understand the status of aviation and space flight in the Soviet Union.
IAA Documents is a major source for scientists and technicians engaged in aviation and space flight research. The strong point of IAA Documents is that it contains many conference papers, and they have original subject matter. Because of the confusion with organizations which issue conference papers, it is difficult to follow the thread of how to order. Also, the number of copies issued is usually not very large, and ordering must be timely. So personnel doing the acquisition find that it is not easy to get full sets. AIAA's unified compilation of documents and its publicizing of them in IAA at regular intervals, although rather late, is nevertheless more centralized and complete. Also, the thread is easy to follow, and searching is easy.
The weak points of IAA Documents are that many papers are abstracted from periodicals, and many others are from conference papers of other associations and societies, and so there is quite a lot of duplication with the content of other publications such as periodicals and conference notes. Also, domestic users are still not very familiar with it, and so its circulation rate is very low.
(2) Status of Acquisition and Holding of IAA Documents
The publication IAA Documents is archived by the AIAA Technical Information Service's library, and it sells reprints of documents to users in paper and microfiche form. That is where the source material for IAA is kept. Since 1966, about two-fifths of the documents reported in International Aerospace Abstracts have been sold in microfiche form. (All items sold in microfiche form have "#" after the abstract number in IAA. Russian language documents for sale have "+" after the number.)
At present, China's National Defense S&T Information Center is the only organization in the country with a full set of IAA Documents on microfiche.
V. DoE Reports and Their Intelligence Value
1. The Evolution of DoE Reports
The U.S. Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act in August 1946, and at the same time established the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Documents collected, organized, and reported by AEC's Division of Technical Information are collectively called AEC reports.
AEC reports are research reports, focusing on military use but also reporting on dual military-civilian use of atomic energy, submitted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's scientific research organizations and contractors. The Atomic Energy Commission had underneath it famous atomic energy research organizations such as Los Alamos Scientific Research Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, Ames Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Besides these research reports, numerous reports on atomic energy research were supplied by atomic energy research organizations in countries which had bilateral agreements with the Commission, such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Britain, and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission was abolished in October 1974. The U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) was established in January 1975. The creation of ERDA was a measure taken by the U.S. Government to deal with the nuclear threat which it faced at that time. Besides taking over relevant functions of the Atomic Energy Commission, ERDA conducted extensive development and research activities on various kinds of nuclear energy. In terms of administration, ERDA not only took over the control of AEC's various specialized research organizations, it also took over the U.S. Department of the Interior's Coal Research Bureau, the Bureau of Mines' Energy Research Center, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's advanced motorized propulsion systems research organization, the U.S. National Science Foundation's organization researching solar energy usage and its organization researching and developing geothermal energy.
As the organization changed, AEC reports became ERDA reports, which the ERDA Technical Information Center was responsible for collecting, organizing, and publicizing. Although AEC's organization was abolished in October 1974, its publishing work did not stop until June 1976. For this reason, AEC reports and ERDA reports coexisted side by side for a time.
In October 1977 the United States established the Department of Energy. This department took over all of the functions of the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Energy Administration, and the Federal Power Commission. Their S&T information work became the responsibility of the Department of Energy's Technical Information Center. Since then, people have customarily used the general term DoE reports for all S&T reports and other materials collected, organized, and publicized by that Center.
2. Sources and quantities of DoE reports
DoE reports come from several thousands of domestic sources, but the main ones are the Department's eight main operations offices, its five main energy technology centers, its 18 large-scale laboratories, and their contractors. For details, see the following chart. The S&T reports they generate are "true DoE reports."
Main Organizations Subordinate to the U.S. Department of Energy
1. Eight main operations offices
Albuquerque Operations Office
Chicago Operations Office
Idaho Operations Office
Nevada Operations Office
Oak Ridge Operations Office
Richland Operations Office
San Francisco Operations Office
Savannah River Operations Office
2. Five main energy technology centers
Bartlesville Energy Technology Center
Grand Forks Energy Technology Center
Laramie Energy Technology Center
Morgantown Energy Technology Center
Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center
3. Eighteen large-scale laboratories
Ames Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Mound Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratories
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
In addition, an extensive range of documents produced by energy and atomic power research organizations of other countries, from international atomic power bureaus, international systems of information about nuclear matters, NASA, the National Bureau of Standards, and other organizations, including AD reports, are adopted and reported in "Energy Research Abstracts."
Currently DoE reports on about 24,000 items a year, about 34% of all the acquisitions of NTIS. About 4,000 of these research reports are from countries other than the United States. These represent 17% of newly added reports each year.
3. The Content and Types of DoE Reports
The establishment of the Department of Energy allowed the centralization in that Department of the United States' dispersed work on energy research, development, and usage. Along with the centralization, a large amount of scientific research has been done on energy development, usage, conservation, etc. The content of these reports mainly includes nuclear energy, chemical energy, hydroenergy, solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, wave and tide energy, as well as the basic science of energy, the application of energy science and technology, energy management and policy, energy transformation, atmospheric environmental science, surface environmental science, biomedical science, earth science, materials, chemistry, engineering, etc. The proportion of S&T reports which deal with non-nuclear energy is very large, slightly more than half.
The types of documents catalogued in Energy Research Abstracts include S&T reports, articles from periodicals, conference papers, books, patents, standards, etc.
4. DoE Report Serial Number Formats
Unlike AD reports, PB reports, and NASA reports, which have unified serial numbers, DoE reports are numbered by various different systems. This creates difficulties in distinguishing DoE reports. However, its serial numbers do follow rules. A report number normally consist of an abbreviation of the organization name as the leading letters, followed by a sequence number. A summary of the main types is as follows.
(1) Reports published by Department of Energy headquarters all start with the letters DoE. For example, DoE/TIC stands for Department of Energy, Technical Information Center; DoE/EIA stands for DoE Energy Information Administration; and DoE/ER stands for DoE Energy Research reports.
(2) Contracted reports published by the Department of Energy have serial numbers in the format DoE/abbreviation for the name of the contracted party. For example, DoE/NASA indicates a report prepared under contract between the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and DoE/JPL indicates a report prepared under contract between the Department of Energy and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
(3) Reports from organizations subordinate to the Department of Energy each have their own system of serial numbers. For example, COO designates Chicago Operations Office reports, NVO designates Nevada Operations Office reports, and ORNL designates Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports.
(4) Report designators indicate the type of report. For example, CONF (Conference) indicates a document from a Department of Energy conference, and DoE-tr (Translation) indicates a DoE translation of a foreign document.
Because the numbering system of DoE reports basically continues that of the former AEC and ERDA reports, if one wishes to search among the report numbers of organizations subordinate to the former Atomic Energy Commission, one can consult the republished TID-85 (10th Rev) of October 1972. This is a report from the NEC Technical Information Office. This 185-page report lists the various report designators used by the AEC, normally the organization designator, but also some with letter designators referring to a special project or a type of publication. Part one of TID-85 is an alphabetical list of report designators, and part two explains the report publishing organizations.
5. The Intelligence Value of DoE Reports
DoE reports are one of the four main categories of U.S. reports. They touch every aspect of energy research and construction. Energy is a country's economic lifeline. It is the springboard for a country's economic takeoff. Given China's current shortage of energy, good research of this set of reports and benefitting from the advanced experience of the United States and other countries is of great usefulness in accelerating our country's energy buildup and accomplishing the four modernizations [agriculture, industry, S&T, and military]. Actual experience proves that DoE reports are an important source of intelligence for our country's S&T personnel engaged in energy research and construction.
Besides this, DoE reports include a large number which are concerned with research into nuclear energy, and which involve dual military-civilian uses. Example are reactors of various types (including those used on ships); nuclear power systems used in space; research, development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons; laser nuclear fusion technology; isotope separation technology; production and control of nuclear material; nuclear material safety issues; personnel security issues; secret information security issues; export control issues; nuclear weapons control issues; nuclear power stations, etc. This portion of the reports continually gets a great deal of attention from those engaged in national defense S&T work in various countries, and it is a source of intelligence with great value.
Research reports concerned with nuclear power mainly originated with research organization subordinate to the former Atomic Energy Commission. This portion of the reports is in three categories: unclassified reports, declassified reports, and classified reports. Classified reports are subdivided into two types, secret and top secret. Of all the reports, each year about 35% are issued and sold openly, and the remaining 65% or so are listed as classified.
6. Searching and Obtaining DoE Reports
The main reference books for searching DoE reports are:
(1) Energy Research Abstracts (ERA), compiled and published by the Department of Energy's Technical Information Center every two weeks since 1976. ERA describes DoE reports in abstract and index formats. The abstracts are listed under the main scientific category, with six types of indexes at the end of each issue: group authors, individual authors, main topic, contract number, report number, and ordering number-report number cross reference.
(2) Government Reports Announcements & Index, a reference book for searching and ordering all four major types of U.S. reports, including DoE reports.
(3) International Nuclear Information System Atomic Index (INIS Atomindex), started in 1970, compiled and published every two weeks by the International Nuclear Information System (INIS). Mainly this index reports abstracts of atomic S&T reports from countries and areas which are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including some DoE reports. INIS Atomindex is currently an abstract-type reference publication with six major categories and 24 sub-categories. At the end of each issue is an individual author index, an organizations index, a report number and periodical number index, and a keyword index.
As with AD and NASA reports, DoE reports must be purchased through NTIS. Government Reports Announcements & Index or Energy Research Abstracts can serve as the reference book for ordering, but if the two are used at the same time one must take care to avoid duplication.
7. Status of DoE report holdings in China
The China S&T Information Research Institute, the Shanghai S&T Information Research Institute, and the Sichuan Province S&T Information Research Institute hold complete sets of openly published DoE reports, on microfiche. The Ministry of Energy Resources' [since abolished] Nuclear Information Center holds microfiche copies of openly published DoE reports which concern nuclear energy, and it prints these out.
VI. U.S. military standards and the Naval Publications and Forms Center (Department of the Navy, Naval Publications and Forms Center, 5801 Tabor Ave., Philadelphia PA 19120)
1. Introduction to U.S. Military Standards
(1) What are U.S. military standards?
The objectives of military standards are to achieve overall strengthening of research and development, design, and maintenance in national defense engineering projects, to improve military materiel procurement and logistical supply management work, to ensure the interchangeability, compatibility, reparability, and reliability of military materiel, to improve product design efficiency, to reduce as much as possible the number of types of products and lower product cost, to simplify management and logistical supply work as much as possible, and thus to strengthen units' latent power and wartime combat power. Under the overall leadership of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the various military departments and staffs under the Department of Defense have formulated many military standardization documents. At the same time, with the prerequisite that military use requirements are fulfilled, these departments and staffs also transplanted some standardization documents formulated by other parts of the federal government or by specialized associations and societies, and some regional standardization documents, to become military standardization documents. We will refer to this series of military standardization documents collectively as "U.S. military standards."
(2) Brief History of the Development of U.S. Military Standards
U.S. military standards were developed from the standards of the Army and the Navy. Later, because the two services had some products in common, the formulation of common standards was necessary. Thus appeared the Joint Army-Navy standards, designated JAN, which were the predecessors of U.S. military standards. There are still a small number of JAN among the U.S. military standards currently in effect.
During World War II the United States needed to send a great deal of military materiel to the European battlefield. The level of standardization at that time was not high, and this caused extreme difficulties in the transport, storage, maintenance, employment, and logistical supply of the materiel, difficulties which had a direct effect on the combat power of units. To resolve these problems, the United States, Britain, and Canada got together and formulated U.S-Britain-Canada standards, designated ABC-STD. These standards were mainly used in their navies. This category of standards is still in effect in the current U.S. military standards.
After World War II, so as to strengthen the direction of the standardization of military materiel, the U.S. Department of Defense designated the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the highest authority for military standardization work throughout the armed forces. Under this Office were set up eight departments to unify leadership and divide work and responsibilities in standardization work and in the formulation, review, approval, and application of military standards forces-wide. Standards formulated during this period are designated MIL (short for "military". In 1954 the United States promulgated the Defense Standardization and Specification Program Policies, Procedures, and Instructions (DSSP). This document was issued throughout the armed forces as Department of Defense order DoD 4120.3, to serve as the yardstick for standardization work throughout the forces. The document prescribed the direction, mission, guidance, and policy for standardization work in the Department of Defense. The document directed that all military specifications, standards, manuals, diagrams, and concerned documents of all types constitute a complete, standardized system of Department of Defense documents.
By the 1970's, issues in technical standardization became more and more connected with international technical exchanges and trade competition. This situation caught the attention of countries all over the world. Technical standards began to move toward internationalization. To adapt to this situation, U.S. military standards began to make a transition from the British system to the metric system. Some military standards have already adopted the metric system. These use the designation "DoD" to distinguish them.
(3) The Specialized Content, Characteristics, Role, and Uses of U.S. Military Standards
The specialized content of U.S. military standards is extremely broad. It involves conventional weapons, nuclear weapons, fire control equipment, ammunition, explosives, rockets, missiles, spacecraft, aircraft, ships, engines, electronic equipment, computers, mechanical equipment, tools, metallic materials, nonmetallic materials, chemical products, photographic equipment, medicines and medical equipment, electric material, fuels, oil, refrigerants, firefighting, clothing, and various other kinds of military materiel. U.S. military standards form a complete system. From the overall system to the various component systems down to spare parts, standards and regulations have been formulated for everything. U.S. military standards are not just a complete system, they fit together with each other.
So as to obtain greater technical and economic efficiency, U.S. military standards must promptly reflect the more mature, advanced S&T achievements of their times. For this reason, standards are revised very promptly and very frequently. Each year there are six to seven thousand changes in the standards, including formulations, revisions, corrections, supplements, rescissions, etc. The lifespan of a U.S. military standard normally does not exceed five years.
In summary, U.S. military standards are characterized by their complete system, rich content, rigorous structure, advanced technical nature, unified format, and strong practicality. Thus many other countries, including countries as industrially developed as Japan, have adopted U.S. military standards. The formulation of some international standards begins with U.S. military standards as the starting point. Internationally, U.S. military standards are widely recognized as authoritative technical standards.
The introduction and study of U.S. military standards can promote the standardization of military industrial products, and U.S. military standards can be used for reference in formulating one's own standards. Referring to them can yield an understanding and a grasp of the level of technology and developmental trends in U.S. military industrial products. It can improve the level of one's own research and design, promote the technical transformation of industrial enterprises, accelerate innovation and upgrade to new generations of products, improve operations and management, expand foreign trade and exports, and increase economic efficiency.
U.S. military standards are a source of information of great value to technical personnel engaged in national defense standardization work and in national defense S&T, production, and management.
(4) The Structure of U.S. Military Standards
Besides standards formulated by the more than 100 military organizations under the Department of Defense, the current U.S. military standards also include some standards written by federal government organizations and specialized associations and societies, as well as some regional standards. The content of various types of standards and the proportion of each is approximately as follows.
(a) Standards Formulated by U.S. Military Organizations
About 100 military departments and staff organizations under the Department of Defense participate in the formulation of military standards. Among these participants are 13 defense supply centers, 20 Navy organizations, 26 Army organizations, and 41 Air Force organizations. They complete each assigned standardization mission, such as the formulation of military standards, under the direct leadership of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. These organizations both write and use standards. The standards written by these organizations represent about 82% of all military standards. Mainly they are military specifications, military standards, military standard drawings, military standard manuals, and lists of acceptable products.
(b) Standards Formulated by Non-U.S. Military Organizations
About 18% of the standards used by the U.S. military were formulated by organizations other than those under the Department of Defense. Of these:
-- About 11% were formulated by the federal government. Mainly these are taken from federal specifications, federal standards, federal lists of acceptable products, and federal information processing standard publications.
-- About 4% were formulated by associations and societies. Mainly these are taken from aviation and space flight standards formulated by the American Society for Materials and Testing, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the American Society of Automotive Engineers, and from American National Standards Institute standards.
-- About 3% are regional type standards. Mainly these are taken from North Atlantic Treaty Organization Standardization Agreements, U.S.-Britain-Canada standards, four-country U.S.-Britain-Canada-Australia standardization plans, five-country U.S.-Britain-Canada-Australia-New Zealand Air Force Standards Coordinating Committee agreements, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization joint quality assurance regulations.
Details on the structure of U.S. military standards are as follows (according to statistics from a list of U.S. military standards published on microfiche in March 1983 by the American National Standards Institute).
Standards Formulated by U.S. Military Organizations:
Military Specification (MIL); 27,000
Military Standards (MIL-STD); 1,000
Military Standard Drawing (MS AN, AND); 5,000
Military Handbook (MIL-HDBK); 147
Qualified Products List (QPL); 1,600
Standards Formulated by Other Than U.S. Military Organizations:
Federal Government Standards
Federal Specification (alphabetic designation); 5,600
Federal Standards (Fed-STD); 134
Federal Specification QPL (QPL plus alphabetic designation); 114
Federal Information Processing Standard publication (FIPS); 73
Specialized Association Standards
American Society for Materials and Testing (ASTM); 1,400
National Aeronautics and Space Administration standards (NAS); 280
American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); 900
American National Standards Institute (ANSI); 630
Regional Standards
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Standardized Agreements (NATO STANAG); 335
U.S.-Britain-Canada standards (ABC-STD); 46
U.S.-Britain-Canada-Australia standardization plans (ABCA-STD); 13
U.S.-Britain-Canada-Australia-New Zealand Air Force Standards Coordinating Committee (ASCC); 317
North Atlantic Treaty Organization joint Quality Assurance Provisions (AQAP); 12
(5) The Major Categories of U.S. Military Standards
(a) Military Specifications
Military specifications are standardization documents specially formulated to support the procurement of military goods and materials. These documents may provide complete design details for a project, or they may just prescribe an item's functions and specify requirements. The Department of Defense stresses that as much as possible the specifications should specify performance requirements, so as to facilitate soliciting competitive bids widely in the world of industry.
Military specifications constitute about 75% of the military standards formulated by U.S. military organizations.
Military specifications are classified by their use as the following.
-- Common specifications, for use by two or more services; reviewed and approved by the Department of Defense; use mandatory for all the armed forces.
-- Limited use specifications, formulated, reviewed, approved, and used by one of the services, and not binding on the others. There is often a designator at the end of a specification's serial number to show what organization formulated it. For example, in MIL-T-85549 (AS), the "AS" stands for Aviation Systems Command.
Military specifications are classified according to product and material types as follows.
-- General Specifications: Technical requirements formulated for use with all products of a certain type. Normally these specifications have the words "General Specification" after the specification title.
-- Sub-specifications: Technical requirements for a particular type of product. These have /1, /2, /3, etc., to indicate requirements for different products. For example, MIL-C-3098/140C.
Military specifications are classified according to formulation procedures as follows.
-- Formal specifications: Specifications which have been formally issued.
-- Interim specifications: Formal specifications which have not yet been promulgated and are provisional. These are designated with the work "Interim." Also they have they numbers 00 before the specification number, as in MIL-M-008856.
The format and content of military specifications is as follows.
-- Range of applicability (Scope): The type, class, specifications, and range of variation in the various parameters of the object discussed in the specification.
-- Applicable Documents: The various relevant documents used with the specification, the document editions, and how to acquire them.
-- Requirements: This is the core content of a specification. Mainly this consists of specific requirements for a product's materials, performance, structural dimensions, weight, interchangeability, external appearance, allowable defects, installation, maintenance, reliability, manufacturing techniques, quality markings, etc.
-- Quality Assurance Provisions: These are a series of tests, inspections, and verification methods specified to assure and verify a product's quality, as well as the testing environment and conditions, the sampling plan, testing equipment, etc.
-- Preparation for Delivery: This includes a product's oil seals, packing, crating, and the standards used for such things.
-- Notes: This includes product uses, alteration markings, and relevant commercial and legal clauses for the overall specification.
-- Ending: This includes the organizations which formulated, manage, review and approve, and use the specification. The Air Force uses numbers to indicate this, but the other services use abbreviations.
-- Appendixes:
Military specification serial numbers consist of a capitalized abbreviation of the word "Military," namely, MIL, plus the first letter of the first word of the topic of the specification, plus the specification number. This gives a composite military specification serial number. For example, in MIL-L-45528A, "L" stands for the first word of the topic. When formulating new specifications or revising old ones, specifications using the metric system all have the new designator DoD instead of MIL.
Designators for changed military specifications are as follows.
-- The letters A, B, C, D, etc., indicate the number of the change. The date is also given.
-- Amendment 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., indicates number of the amendment, and the date is also given.
-- Supplement 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., indicates the number of the supplement, and the date is also given.
-- "Notice" indicates information about a military specification. These are classed as Notices, Change Notices, Cancellation Notices, Reinstatement Notices, etc. All Notices show the corresponding date.
(b) Military Standards Military standards are a set of documents specially formulated for designers, in order to resolve the problem of design standardization in military industrial goods and materials. Military standards explain and put forth requirements for materials, products, techniques, operating procedures, quality control, methods, packing, tolerances, diagram symbols, terminology, customary practices, etc., which already serve as standard. Military specifications are provided to designers for their selection and use in their work.
The object of formulating military standards is to reduce variety as much as possible, and thus achieve the design objectives of good product interchangeability, compatibility, reliability, and maintainability.
Military standards constitute about 3.2% of all the standards formulated by U.S. military organizations.
The format and content of military standards is as follows:
-- Foreword: The reason the standard was formulated or revised, and the objective of its use.
-- Contents: [no added explanation]
-- Text and illustrations: The standard's scope of applicability, related documents, definitions, normal requirements, detailed explanations, and appendixes.
-- Notes: [no added explanation]
Composition of military standard serial numbers: These consist of MIL plus STD plus a serial number. For example, in MIL-STD-781D, "STD" is an abbreviation of "Standard."
Revision, amendment, supplement, and notices for military standards are the same as for U.S. military specifications.
It is necessary to explain here the differences and the relationship between military specifications and military standards.
Military standards are formulated to fill the needs of designers. The objective is to provide designers basic information and data. The standards themselves are not procurement documents. They are put to use in the procurement process through the medium of specifications. Military specifications are the true procurement documents. Military specifications are provided for the use of the military in procuring goods and the use of manufacturers in competitive bidding.
Military standards are the foundation on which military specifications are drawn up. To assure that the technical requirements specified by military standards are fulfilled, besides military specifications themselves one must also rely on a large number of standards concerned with aspects of design techniques, testing, and acceptance. These standards are incorporated into a specification in order to standardize one or more features of an item (such as its dimensions, numerical values, or structural details), or to standardize design requirements which are key to the achieving the equipment's design objectives. At times, one specification will involve dozens or even more than a hundred specifications. For example, aircraft hydraulic system specification MIL-H-5440C involves 548 related standards.
The following is a brief example to explain the relationship between specifications and standards.
The specification for spark plugs must incorporate standards for bolt threads in order to assure the interchangeability of spark plugs made by different manufacturers. The spark plug specification in this example may specify requirements for all styles, dimensions, and types of spark plugs needed for equipment currently in use by the military. Nevertheless, in terms of scope of applicability, it might happen that the specification might include requirements for some types of spark plugs whose use is about to be discontinued. Even though these spark plugs are about to be discontinued, they must still be procured for use in some equipment which is still in use. It might also happen that the specification would include more types than what are actually needed. In this situation, to prevent spark plugs which are about to be phased out from being incorporated in future design plans, and to eliminate types which are not needed, it is necessary to issue a standard to restrict the design and selection of spark plugs, and to specify the selection principles for the spark plugs described in that specification. Then, this standard will be incorporated in specifications for equipment and facilities (and internal combustion engines) to restrict the types of spark plugs they will use.
(c) Military Standard Drawings
Military standard drawings mainly use diagrams or tables to specify the structural dimensions and design characteristics of spare parts. They are issued in loose-leaf format. Designers can use them directly to assure interchangeability.
Military standard drawings constitute about 15% of the standards formulated by U.S. military organizations.
Military standard drawings are numbered by using the designator MS plus a serial number, as in MS-27990A.
Revisions of military standard drawings are indicated by the letters A, B, C, etc., after the serial number, or by the use of the word "Revised" followed by A, B, C, etc. Also the date of the revision is shown.
Use of the unified designator MS began in 1974 with newly formulated or revised "Air Force and Naval Aviation Standard Drawings" (abbreviated AN) and "Air Force and Naval Aviation Design Standard Drawings" (abbreviated AND). Military standard drawings which use the metric system have the designator DS.
(d) Military Handbooks
A military handbook is a kind of comprehensive reference document. It is a compilation of engineering technical data for relevant products, techniques, customary practices, maintenance, etc. Military handbooks are supplements to standards, providing commonly used design and engineering examples. Military handbooks are reference-type documents. Their use is optional, and they do not contain compulsory, legally mandated requirements.
Military handbooks constitute 0.35% of the standards formulated by military organizations.
The numbering of military handbooks uses the designator MIL plus HDBK plus a number, as in MIL-HDBK-217D. In this, "HDBK" is an abbreviation of the word "Handbook."
The letter A, B, C, D, etc., appearing after the serial number of military handbooks indicates the revision number.
(e) Qualified Product Listings
Manufacturers produce items in accordance with their contracts and in compliance with the requirements of military specifications. To speed up delivery and reduce the amount of in-process inspections, manufacturers can apply for advance inspection. Advance inspections are conducted by the government or by government-appointed measurement and testing organizations. The government issues qualification certificates for products which meet specifications, and puts the products on a qualified product list, to indicate that the product has achieved a grade which is up to standard. Products on a qualified product list normally still require sampling at irregular intervals. If it is discovered that a product's quality no longer meets specifications, then its qualification certificate is revoked. Thus, a qualified product list is a list of products which satisfy the requirements of military specifications. The list shows not just the product's name and standard, it also notes the product's manufacturer and vendor and their addresses. Also the list gives the quality requirements from the corresponding military specification, and the tests which should be performed on the items. This sort of list is mainly provided for the use of the military in selecting and purchasing military industrial products.
Not every military standard has a corresponding qualified product listing. The products listed in qualified product listings constitute only a very small proportion of the products which the military needs to procure.
Qualified product listings constitute about 4.1% of the standards formulated by U.S. military organizations.
The numbering of qualified product listings uses the designator QPL plus the number of the corresponding standard. For example, QPL-27723-1 is the qualified product listing for U.S. military standard MIL-P-27723. The "-1" indicates the list's revision number.
(6) Allocation of Serial Numbers for U.S. Military Standards
Serial numbers for U.S. military standards are allocated to the various services and to Department of Defense organizations by the department in charge in the Department of Defense. In turn, these organizations allocate serial numbers to organizations subordinate to them. Serial numbers are allocated to the various organizations in blocks, as follows.
(a) Military specifications
Army: 10000-14999, 40000-40599, 41808-53999
Navy: 850-999, 15000-19999, 21000-21259, 21261-24999
Air Force: 4000-4999, 8788-8999, 9501-9999, 25000-27999, 38000-38999
Department of Defense: 28000-28499, 30500-31499
(b) Military standards
Army: 317-400, 604-699, 901-930
Navy: 700-799
Air Force: 800-899
Department of Defense: 931-1154
(c) Military handbooks
Army: 100-157 (except 140), 170-199 (except 161-163)
Navy: 212-299
Air Force: 300-399
Department of Defense: 50-99, 500-679
(d) Military standard drawings
Army: 1201-1299, 10000-13999, 35000-90000
Navy: 3100-3199, 14000-19999
Air Force: 9000-9999, 20026-34999, 100000-499999
Department of Defense: 49000-50999, 63200-66599
(7) Categories of U.S. Military Standards
Currently over 45,000 U.S. military standards are in effect. (Although new standards are formulated every year, including revised versions and discontinued standards restored to use, a large number of standards are discontinued each year, and so the change in the total number is not large.) U.S. military standards involve all specialties, and the Department of Defense has put them into categories to make them easier to manage and search. For the status of the categories, see the Federal Supply Classification Cataloging Handbook, called FSC Handbook for short, which is compiled and published by the Department of Defense's Defense Supply Agency.
(a) FSC Handbook classifications
The FSC Handbook groups items according to the physical characteristics of various types of goods related to U.S. military standards, grouping them into categories convenient for logistics management. These classifications are certainly not rigid. A two-level, four digit classification method is used, first designating a major category and then a minor. To facilitate supplementing and revising category numbers, the first two digits indicate the major category and the second two places indicate a sub-category under that major category. In any one category, materiel is listed alphabetically by keyword. Items which are not conveniently classified in any sub-category use the designator 00, as in 1400. Items which are purely part of a major category use GP, as in 14GP. Items whose content is more concentrated items use letters for convenient, direct lookup. For example, ENVR indicates environmental conditions and related testing methods.
(b) Brief explanation of FSC Handbooks
The FSC Handbook is in three volumes, designated H2-1, H2-2, and H2-3.
Volume 1 (H2-1) is a simple chart of Groups and Classes, listed in order by major category and sub-category number. The name of the category is given after the number, along with an explanation of the content and scope which each category should include, as well as what it should not include.
Volume 2 (H2-2) is a Numeric Index of Classes, a listing by classification number. Under each sub-category is an alphabetic listing by keyword of specific items which that sub-category includes.
Volume 3 (H2-3) is an Alphabetic Index, listing the names of each product in each category alphabetically by keyword. Each entry is followed by the corresponding category number.
The above three volumes are consulted in combination with each other to search from different angles for the category under which a product is classified and its standardized keyword.
Along with developments in S&T and in logistics management, and because of the frequent revisions in military standards, there are continual revisions and supplements in the categories to which a military standard corresponds. Looking at the list of categories from May 1982, from weapons and various kinds of military materiel to logistical supply, there were 78 major categories, 615 sub-categories, and 32 textual categories. This is quite a big change from the 1973 edition, which had 76 major categories, 595 sub-categories, and 18 textual categories. Thus we must take frequent note of the changes in the Federal Supply Classification Handbook so as to gain a current grasp of the status of classifications and avoid failure to order an item, and to be able to find a required U.S. military standard promptly.
(8) Searching U.S. Military Standards
(a) Main reference Documents for Searching
-- Department of Defense Index of Specifications and Standards (DoDISS) is the main reference document for searching U.S. military standards and related documents. This index is published and distributed by the U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center. A cumulative issue is distributed each 1 July, and supplements are issued each odd-numbered month to report on changes and revisions in the previous two months. The DoDISS Index is in two parts, the first being an Alphabetic Listing of standards by keyword, and the second a Numeric Listing of standards by number.
The Alphabetic Listing of standards reports a standard's topic, number, classification number, the organization which formulated it and the issue date, and the organization which manages it. The Numeric Listing is in parts A and B. Part A reports all the U.S. military standards in effect as of the 1 July date of publication. Part B reports on changes in standards since the previous 1 July. The information reported includes a standard's number, its topic, its classification number, the organization which formulated it and the issue date, and the organization which manages it.
-- Federal Supply Classification Listing of DoD Standardization Documents reports information including classification number, topic, standard number, the organization which formulated it and the issue date, and the organization which manages it. Using this listing, one can find all the U.S. military standards related to a particular specialty. Therefore this listing is quite useful to comrades involved in specialties. The publishing organization, frequency, and publishing method of this listing is the same as that of the Department of Defense Index of Specifications and Standards.
(b) Methods of Searching U.S. Military Standards -- Keyword alphabetical search method
Keywords are words which identify the core content of a standard. These keywords have been standardized.
Before searching for a military standard, first make use of volume 2 of the FSC Handbook (H2-2) to find the corresponding standardized keyword. Then use the keyword to search the alphabetic index of keywords in part 1 of DoDISS In this way one can find for oneself what standards information to search.
-- Standard number search method
To find out the status of changes to a known standard, or to find out the topic and classification number of a standard number, then one can use part 2 of the DoDISS, the Numeric Listing. This search method is quite simple. It is based on the classification number of the specifications and standards, and then on a sequential listing by number. When the standard's number is unknown and the Numeric Listing cannot be used, then this search method is of very limited usefulness. It cannot be used a the primary search method.
-- Federal Supply Classification search method When one wants to know the military standards for aspects of a particular specialty, search the Federal Supply Classification Listing of DoD Standardization Documents. This listing has a classification number listing at the front. Using this method, first consult the FSC Handbook volume 1 (H2-1), the Groups and Classes chart, and find the standard classification number related to the specialty. Then find the classification number in the above mentioned Supply Classification Listing.
(c) Computerized Searching
Some large information search organizations in the United States already have military standards stored in computer databases which they can search by computer at any time. China North Industries [NORINCO] Science and Technology Information Research Institute has signed a contract with the American DIALOG Information Search Services Center. As one of the latter's terminals, the Institute can conduct online searches. The Center is currently expanding its foreign services. The DIALOG Information Search Services Center has over 220 databases, with clues to about 60% of the world's S&T data. Database number 113 contains standards of various types, including U.S. military standards, federal government standards, standards from various associations and societies, and NATO standards. Through database 13 we can obtain clues to standards data from various foreign countries.
(9) Publication and Distribution of U.S. Military Standards
According to U.S. Department of Defense regulations, printing and distribution of U.S. military standards is the responsibility of the U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center in Philadelphia. It is responsible for duplicating adopted U.S. military standards which were formulated by organizations other than the U.S. military. The Center sells unclassified military standards to foreign customers.
Besides the U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center, more than 30 other organizations in the United States supply current U.S. military standards. The main organizations having service relationships with China are the American National Standards Institute (NSI) and the Information Handling Services Corporation (IHS). They archive and distribute U.S. military standards.
(10) Status of holdings of U.S. military standards in China
The China National Defense S&T Information Center holds a full set of U.S. military standards data in paper form. This totals more than 80,000 items (including those which have been rescinded). The Center serves the entire country.
In 1980 the China Aviation Standardization Research Institute purchased from the American National Standards Institute a full set of U.S. military standards data in paper form, totalling over 43,000 items. The American side provided this set of military standards based on the July 1979 U.S. Military Standards Index [as published; meaning the Department of Defense Index of Specifications and Standards (DoDISS)?] and the March 1980 supplement. Each year the American side provides a microfiche copy of the revisions, reissues, and supplements volume. The China Aviation Standardization Research Institute provides service to all concerned organizations.
The only complete sets of original edition military standards in China are the two described above. Besides these, the Shanghai S&T Information Research Institute holds a complete duplicated set, and North Industries S&T Information Research Institute, the State Machinery Commission's Standards Institute, and other organizations hold copies of items related to their specialties.
The various organizations mentioned above are domestic Chinese sources of information from U.S. military standards.
In addition, the Beijing Abstracting Service Office has imported U.S. military standards on magnetic tape, and has created its own database of military standards.
2. The U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center
The U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center is the only center within the Department of Defense for archiving, printing, publishing, and distributing U.S. military standards. It sells to domestic and foreign customers all unclassified military standards listed in DoDISS. A purchaser can order one copy, one category, or the whole set, based on his needs. If a purchaser wants to order one category, he needs to clarify the category number using the Federal Supply Classification Handbook. Each sub-category costs about $15 (for new issues). Purchase of a complete set (newly issued) costs over $9,000. Purchasing items individually is more expensive.
This center archives over 100,000 items of military standards. Every day it receives about 30 new standards, handles 2,000 customer service transactions, and ships 9,700 standards. The center's distribution work has been mechanized. It has a conveyor belt 9,200 feet long and operated from a control station for automated packing and shipping.
The center has a service inquiry desk with telephone connections, which can answer users' questions 24 hours a day. Under normal circumstances a special order form must be used to purchase standards and related information. Orders can be placed by phone in urgent situations. Shipment to the customer is made within ten days after receipt of the order.
The method used for the purchase of full sets of U.S. military standards is prepayment and automatic shipping. Preordering of standards issued in the following year takes place at the end of each year. With advance payment of $15 per sub-category, one can receive a full set of standards newly issued in the following year.
The above-mentioned American National Standards Institute and Information Handling Services (IHS) also sell U.S. military standards. These two organizations also each claim to have over 90% of world's standards material.
So in terms of supplies of U.S. military standards, a comparison of the output of these three sources reveals the following.
The U.S. Naval Publications and Forms Center provides materials only in printed form. The quality of its printing is high, and the price is less expensive. However, delivery time is longer, and it does happen that shipments are short by small amounts. (These can be made up with expedited shipments.)
The American National Standards Institute can provide materials in both paper and microfiche form. The printed copies are reproduced by the Institute from its own microfiche copies. Shipment receipt time is shorter, and shipments are more complete. The main weak point is the lesser quality resulting from enlargement from microfiche. A small number of the worst items are unreadable because the image is not clear, and there is no way to fix them.
Information Handling Services mainly provides boxed film. The quality lies between that of the previous two providers. Delivery time is faster and more complete. The weak point of this service is the need for an enlarging and reading machine. The materials are not convenient to use, and the cost of the data is higher.
Judging from our experience, the military standards source materials on microfiche and microfilm which the last two providers have were produced by processing and copying original materials from the Naval Publications and Forms Center.
Another point worth noting is that a subsidiary company of the American Information Handling Services Corporation, Global Engineering Documents of Santa Ana, California, has as its most distinguishing feature its fast acquisition operations. It can provide fast delivery of U.S. Government, military, and industrial documents, specifications, standards, regulations, manuals, and periodicals, as well as publications from other American organizations. Acquiring materials from other sources takes months, whereas they can be obtained in a very short time from Global Engineering Documents. Also, by giving this company a prepayment of $500 one can get a price preference of 10%. The company is a source of some urgently needed materials.
VII. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Bergshamra S-171 73 Solna, Sweden) and its publications.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is one of the world's eight famous strategic research organizations, and a source of information.
In August 1964, Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander proposed the establishment of a peace research institute to commemorate 150 years of peace in Sweden. Following two years of deliberation, in January 1966 the Swedish Parliament concurred with the proposal and gave legal recognition to the institute as an "independent foundation." The Institute was formally founded on 1 July 1966, and it still exists.
The purpose and scope of operations of the Institute is to conduct scientific research on major issues of "international peace and security," and to make its own contribution to the peaceful resolution of international disputes and the creation of peaceful environments.
For more than 20 years this institute has concentrated its research on the issue of armaments and arms reduction. It focuses its research on the armament technology race, the worldwide proliferation of weapons, and on negotiations on arms reduction or control to stop and reverse this situation.
The institute has about 40 workers, of five categories.
First is personnel detailed by Swedish government staff organizations. The deputy director of the institute, equivalent to its secretary general, has always been appointed by the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Also, among the researchers there must be one currently serving officer of the rank of colonel, detailed by the Ministry of Defense.
Second is researchers who, by reason of long-term contracts, essentially have jobs for life. There are two or three of these. Along with the director they frequently chair the Geneva disarmament conferences and other conferences concerned with arms control.
Third is researchers employed on short-term contracts, normally for one or two years.
Fourth is research assistants. These do not need special skills. Some are long-term workers, and others work on contract.
Fifth is visiting researchers. Sometimes they do research work for one quarter, and sometimes they only participate in research on a special topic.
Most of the institute's researchers work on contract. Their pay, decided at the time their contract is signed, is related to their own salary history. Personnel come from anywhere in the world. As much as possible, consideration is given to personnel with multiple specialties. However, the institute does not give posts to American or Soviet researchers. The institute professes that it avoids being caught up in world power politics.
Staff workers are assigned as follows: two in the library; two on external matters and publishing; three editors; three in periodical clipping; three accountants; five secretaries; two in printing and distribution; and one telephone operator.
Since the institute's founding it has built up its library based on the needs of its work. Its holdings are mainly in the field of international relations, with an emphasis on worldwide arms manufacturing, arms control, and the problem of arms reduction. Topics include various aspects of weapons production, arms trading, military expenditures, military technology, nuclear weapons, the spread of nuclear weapons, and military satellite technology. Currently the library has about 11,000 volumes, some of which are official documents.
The library archives 320 journals from more than 80 research organizations, and more than 20 newspapers.
The library does not distribute externally. Its materials are for internal use.
A point worth noting is the institute's outstanding contribution in periodical clipping. The three staffers working on this clip and file daily from more than 20 of the world's representative newspapers. The materials used by researchers at the institute come from the governments of various countries and from sister organizations, and from materials donated by some researchers themselves, but mainly researchers rely on materials assembled by the institute's compilers. The method by which they select, classify, and organize materials is very important. In particular, their method of classifying and grouping is worth borrowing. The staffers classify material in about 40 major categories and over 100 sub-categories. To prevent the material from becoming excessively scattered, each year it is concentrated and reorganized under about 40 topics.
The leadership department of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is its eight-member Governing Board, including a chairman, the institute's director, and six other members who serve for five years. The six members are appointed by the Swedish government, without distinction for nationality. The Governing Board meets two or three times a year to decide the institute's policies and major plans. Research activities are under the specific direction of the institute director.
Besides this, the institute also has an organization for consulting on scientific issues, its Science Committee. Its 24 members serve for no fixed term. Although it is a consultative organization, it meets only once every two or three years. It actually has no responsibilities to the institute. Moreover, it has nothing to do with the views expressed by the institute. The committee members come from various countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union.
The cost of the institute's activities is paid for by entirely by the Swedish government. The institute receives no financial assistance from any other country, foundation, or research institute. The institute's annual budget is about $1,000,000.
The institute's research accomplishments are reflected in its databases and it its various publications.
The institute has the world's only publicly available "Database of Major Weapons System Transfers." This database contains arms transfers for each year, especially sales of weapons to the Third World. The institute also has a "Database of Military Satellite Launches" and a "Database of World Military Expenditures."
The institute's World Armaments and Disarmament, SIPRI Yearbooks, are consulted the world over. They provide reports and the results of research on world armaments and arms reductions for that period, including descriptions of developments in national defense S&T and weapons and equipment, military expenditures, arms trading, as well as attempts to halt the arms race. A total of 16 editions were published between 1969 and 1985. All of these are on file at the China National Defense S&T Information Center.
In addition, the institute publishes its own books, in 14 categories. They do not amount to a large number, but they are of high quality. According to statistics, as of the end of 1984 the institute had published about 70 books.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's publications and databases, and especially its Yearbooks, are regarded as authoritative sources of information by people both domestic and foreign engaged in research on international issues, problems of international relations, arms control and the arms race, arms reduction, weapons and equipment development strategies. These researchers use these publications and databases extensively.
All of the institute's publications are openly distributed to the whole world. The institute's publisher is Taylor and Francis, Ltd., of London.
The institute's publications are given free of charge to governments and to the United Nations. Every country in the world which has at least one public library can obtain the institute's publications free.
VIII. London International Institute for Strategic Studies, 23 Tavistock Street, London WCZETN and its publications
The London International Institute for Strategic Studies was established in 1959. At that time, some British scholars researching international issues felt strongly that the world had entered a "nuclear era," and that security issues had become more complex and more pressing. With the nuclear might of the Soviet Union growing continuously, with the credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella bound to be shaken some day, and with Europe's power already reviving, "strategic issues" could and should be researched. In particular, following the Suez War and the Hungarian incident, the painful feeling in Britain's political, academic, and media spheres was that Britain's venerable Royal Institute of International Affairs could not bring its usefulness into full play, and was not attracting the public's attention to issues of defense. Thus, in 1959 personages from the fields of academia, politics, religion, and the media in Britain launched the establishment of the London "Strategic Research Institute," and specified its mission to be "to research the ever more complex security issues of the nuclear era." It was not until after 1964 that the institute gradually developed into an internationally renowned strategic research institute, with the participation of strategic researchers from various countries. In 1971 it formally changed its name to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is one of the world's eight big and famous strategic research organizations. Its emphasis is on research in military strategy. The institute's aim is to provide the public information and research reports, derived from rigorous analysis, on key current and future issues affecting international security. The institute's three principal missions are to give financial support to research, to publish the results of research, and to serve as a forum for discussion and debate of international security issues. The institute is a producer of source material.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a private association. It declares itself to be "independent of any government and subject to no special interest group." Its leadership organization is a board of directors which normally has about 30 members, about half of which are British or American. The institute's highest leader is its chairman of the board, an honorary position. The institute's director is in charge of the actual work. The director can be a Member of the British Parliament. Judging from the institute's history and present situation, its deputy director and assistant director are British and have not been replaced in more than 20 years, while the succession of institute directors have practically all been West Germans. This shows that the real power is in the hands of Britain and Germany. There have been clear signs that the influence of the United States has been increasing in recent years, as evidenced by the addition of an American deputy director since 1977, as well as by a trend in which some of the figures in the publication Military Balance are the same as American estimates, and the Ford Foundation all of a sudden becoming the number one backer.
Currently the London International Institute for Strategic Studies has over 2,600 individual members from about 74 countries and areas, as well as 248 member groups. Individual members pay annual dues of $90. Member group dues are much higher. Members can receive most of the institute's publications free.
The institute's research structure is characterized by its small number of permanent researchers. There are only the director, the deputy director, and one or two research directors. However, the research mission is certainly not carried out by just these few people. Visiting researchers also participate in research work. About ten come each year, from various countries. For the most part these visiting researchers meet with the permanent researchers once a week to report on their own research, and after that there is a discussion. The results of their research are assembled, and most of it is published in topical form in the institute's aperiodical publication, Adelphi Papers.
Besides researchers, the institute also has some research assistants, such as one intelligence researcher, one person in charge of publishing, and two or three books and periodicals managers.
The intelligence researcher is responsible for assembling information on relevant world military trends, and especially on armaments, from periodicals and other openly published materials, and then putting these items in order. The yearly Military Balance is compiled from this information.
The periodicals manager is responsible for clipping from periodicals and, with the assistance of researchers, putting these items in order. The books and periodicals managers each understand three foreign languages. The institute collects only books concerned with aspects of strategy.
The administrative management department consists mainly of the secretary-general, a conference secretary, and one secretary for each of the permanent researchers. It also has two typists and three or four telephone operators and receptionists, for a total of about ten people.
Counting up the above, the institute has about 30 people. That is, about ten permanent and assistant researchers, about ten administrative people, and about ten visiting researchers. Of these, the institute director, deputy director, information researchers, secretary-general, conference secretary, etc., play an especially important role in maintaining the continuity of the institute's work.
The annual budget of the International Institute for Strategic Studies is very small. In 1977 it was only 40,000 pounds, and in 1985 about 660,000 pounds. Half of its income is from member dues and the sale of publications. The remainder is from the American Ford and Rockefeller foundations, the Krupp Foundation of West Germany, from foundations in Sweden, France, Japan, and other countries, and from private groups and enterprises. However, the institute does not accept donations from governments. When they explain the institute's situation, researchers always stress that, except for 1978 donations from the governments of many countries for the purchase of a small and ancient five-story office building in London's Covent Garden theater district for use as its new address, the institute "has never accepted any government donation to carry out any major research plan."
The research activities of the International Institute for Strategic Studies can be classified as follows:
1. Routine Conferences
(1) Annual Report Conferences
These are held in September each year, on a theme decided by the board of directors. The annual conference points out the direction of strategic research regarding various countries. Normally about ten papers are read at each conference, and these are followed by discussions in separate groups. About 100 people attend. They are all selected from among members who apply to attend a conference.
The themes of recent conferences were:
1973: The Military in Modern Society
1974: The Middle East and the International System
1975: Western Powers
1976: Dispersion of Power
1977: Conventional Weapons Technology and East-West Security
1978: The USSR after Brezhnev: Prospects for Soviet Military Power in the 1980's
1979: Future Strategic Deterrence
1980: Third World Conflicts and International Security
1981: U.S. Security in the 1980's
1982: International Factors in the Security of the West
1984: New Technology and the Security of the West
1985: Power and Policy: Problems Brought by SDI
(2) Alastair Buchan Memorial Conference. Held once a year for the delivery of a lecture by the institute's first director, Alastair Buchan.
(3) Lectures. This type of conference involves speaking invitations extended to personages who are visiting Britain, members of the staffs of British embassies abroad, and media personalities. Some of these conferences are large and some are small. Sometimes the audience is large, and sometimes very few attend. Besides institute members, people from London area universities, government staffs, and the media are also invited to attend.
(4) Academic conferences, four times per year.
(a) Annual academic conference (as explained above)
(b) Annual conference for young students
(c) Annual conference on regional security
(d) Annual conference on arms control issues
(5) Annual Conference for national defense officials from Britain, France, and Germany
2. Symposia
(1) Routine symposia, held once a week by researchers.
(2) Special topic symposia. Researchers and people from outside the institute discuss a topic which is normally selected by the director. Sometimes they are held to assist the work of visiting researchers. Invitations are also extended to members of the staffs of British embassies abroad and to media personalities.
The London International Institute for Strategic Studies publishes the following:
(a) Military Balance, published annually in October, is the representative publication of this institute, and the one for which it is world-famous. Military Balance is an authoritative appraisal of the military strength and military expenditures of various countries. It is a major (and sometimes considered authoritative) basis for the analysis of military issues not just by the people of various countries, but by most officials and the military sphere as well. This publication is the responsibility of the intelligence researcher and one assistant. In the spring of each year the results of research on the military power of various countries are assembled into a draft which is sent to the government or the military of various countries to solicit their comments. Final analysis and judgments based on comments received take place in September, and the final version is published. The countries generally cooperate, to varying degrees. Military Balance has been published continuously since 1959.
(b) Strategic Survey, published annually in May since 1969. This is an analysis from regional and worldwide perspectives of the trend of strategic developments in the previous year. This publication is for research on strategic thinking and on diplomatic and political trends.
(c) Survival, published every two months. This publication mainly passes on important declarations from governments and statesmen of various countries and major articles from other journals. Sometimes it also publishes research reports commissioned on special topics.
(d) Adelphi Papers. (Adelphi is the name of the institute's former location.) Most of the manuscripts published as Adelphi Papers are the results of research by researchers at the institute, and papers from the annual conference. About ten Adelphi Papers are published each year.
(e) Adelphi Library. Each year the institute compiles a number of Adelphi Library publications, whose content is carefully selected from Adelphi Papers and other major research reports. In recent years, more of the content has come from various papers presented at the institute's annual conference.
(f) Each year the institute gives financial assistance for the publication of material incorporated in the IISS Books series.
The publications described above, and especially Military Balance, are essential reading for anyone engaged in research on military strategy and development strategies for national defense S&T and weapons and equipment. They are very valuable sources of intelligence.
The above are all published openly, and the China National Defense S&T Information Center archives them all.
IX. The American Defense Marketing Services, Inc. (DMS Corporation), 100 Northfield Street, Greenwich, CT 06830, USA), and its publications [apparently now part of Forecast International/DMS, 22 Commerce Road, Newtown CT 06470]
The American Defense Marketing Services Corporation was established in 1959. It is a privately held stock corporation (and publications business). Its headquarters is in Greenwich in the state of Connecticut, and it has offices in Europe (Inning, Germany, and Oxfordshire, England and in Asia (Tokyo, Japan).
DMS Corporation claims to be the world's only company researching and reporting information on the high-tech defense and weapons systems markets of the United States and other countries. The scope of the company's reporting includes defense budgets, scientific research organizations, manufacturers, the research, development, production, procurement, and supply of weapons and equipment, and arms trading. The company's research involves a wide range of specialties, but mostly it concentrates on space flight, aviation, and opto-electric technology, along with conventional weapons. The company is a key organization researching market demand for weapons and equipment, development of weapons and equipment, and forecasting.
DMS Corporation employs over 100 people. The company has an editorial department with more than 30 devoted to compilation, an administrative management department, a marketing and distribution department, and a production department. The editorial department has specialist groups underneath it. The company's main objective is to compile and publish DMS publications, called simply DMS. To this end, the company has set up an occupational information gathering network with feelers extending all over the world. Participants in the gathering of information make direct contact with concerned departments of the governments of various countries and with responsible officials in industrial centers, and they read the world's main periodicals and other publications, and thereby collect information on the arms market. Then they process, assemble, and analyze this information and publish it in report format. The company's main sources of information are:
1. Various publications from the United States and from the main developed nations of Europe, such as U.S. Government contracts, manuals, military documents, and Congressional testimony.
2. Information obtained directly from concerned government departments. DMS Corporation employees have close relations with the U.S. Department of Defense. Some of the employees are former military personnel. Some cooperate with the military either directly or indirectly. Employees in Washington can even come and go freely at the Pentagon, to gather information on defense markets and procurement any time they wish.
3. Information obtained directly from manufacturers by way of electronic correspondence.
The company's production department is responsible for the printing, binding, packaging, and mailing of all of the company's publications. DMS Corporation also has a subsidiary company in Washington, DMS International, which is responsible for organizing seminars.
DMS Corporation is an information dissemination source. It has developed rapidly in recent years, and it now has over 4,000 subscribers in various parts of the world. Most of these subscribers are companies and government organizations. The largest of these subscribers include Canada and the United Arab Emirates, both of which order complete sets of DMS publications. DMS Corporation's sales volume in 1984 was $5 million.
The company's main business activities are:
(1)Sending 65 types of DMS publications to various countries other than Iran, Libya, and Warsaw Pact countries.
(2) Providing special topic consultancy services. Customers can commission DMS to conduct research on a particular topic. For example, what roles might a certain type of weapon play within the next few years? Or, what are the developing trends in innovations?
(3) Responding to customer inquiries. All DMS subscribers can send inquiries to the company, but with a specified scope. That is, those who purchase a portion of the DMS publications can pose questions only on topics touched upon by those publications. Subscribers to all of the company's publications may ask any question they like. About 60% of the inquiries are handled free of charge. Service charges depending on the circumstances are collected for inquiries involving a lot of work. Communications costs are borne by the subscribers.
(4) In March each year, DMS Corporation convenes a Symposium on Defense Scientific Research Budgets and Equipment Procurement Budgets, which is also called the DMS Defense Budget Symposium. Participants include the U.S. Department of Defense, responsible officials from the three services (the Army, Navy, and Air Force), market researchers, trade and long-range planning personnel, marketers, public finance analysts, etc. The U.S. defense budget and equipment procurement budget for the next fiscal year is discussed item by item and by armed service, by scientific research plan, and by procurement plan. Participants also express their views.
(5) In April each year the company convenes an Annual Symposium on NATO Industrial Cooperation. This symposium provides an opportunity for participants to hear detailed explanations of the military equipment development and procurements plans of the NATO member countries. The focus is on the search for opportunities for cooperation among countries.
DMS Corporation enjoys a prestigious reputation among American industrial producers because it can provide them a constant stream of information about the U.S. Government's military budget and defense equipment procurement. The information allows them to make prompt adjustments in their production, and solicit government business.
Because DMS Corporation's operations are related to defense, everything it does which is considered by the government to be an important activity is subject to government interference, or to government participation in the activity, or to increased restrictions.
According to 1985 statistics, the company had 48 publications in five major categories. According to 1986 statistics, it had 65 publications in six major categories. The company frequently makes a few changes in the major and sub-categories of its publications, sometimes combining categories, and sometimes splitting them. The major categories as of 1986 were:
(a) Market Intelligence Reports
This category of publication is nicely designed loose-leaf binder material. It provides important defense market information, with a focus on recognizing new business opportunities. Each month "supplement pages" and "focused extracts" are provided each month with the latest information. Each separate report provides the status of various weapons systems in each of their phases, from preliminary research to development to operation and maintenance, etc. Each report includes two parts, data and analysis. The data portion includes detailed information such as model numbers, missions, status, manufacturer, changes, characteristics, performance, schedule, price, number on hand, etc. The analysis portion provides detailed information such as background, status, outlook, export status, related activities, recent activities, DMS Corporation's analysis, and a ten-year forecast.
This major category is divided into the sub-categories Platform/Major Systems, Product/Subsystems, Agency/Industry, and Foreign Military Markets, with 29 further divisions.
(b) Major Systems Market Forecasts
These are forecasts of the market for major weapons systems. Each year there are about 2,000 pages of these research reports. They provide complete details on current worldwide stockages, production, and development plans, including a report on each plan and a ten-year forecast, and seven subsections on forecasts for armored vehicles worldwide.
(c) Market Studies & Forecasts
These constitute about a thousand pages per year of reports providing the complete status of major markets, such as worldwide requirements, and research and development and procurement plans for the army, navy, air force, and national defense organizations of various countries. These reports have 17 subsections on topics such as world market research and forecasts for robots.
(d) DMS Special Reports
These describe the status of manned space stations and U.S. Army air defense weapons systems. They include two subsections.
(e) Newsletters
These are in six types, of which one is a two-weekly periodical and the other five are weeklies. They emphasize reporting on the latest developments, investigations of ongoing trade talks, reports on calls for bids on contracts, and reports of major changes in personnel.
(f) Handbook/Directories
These include four volumes, including a defense budgets handbook.
DMS publications are expensive. A full set of DMS publications costs over $30,000.
The China National Defense S&T Information Center and each of the Defense Industry Information Centers place selective orders for DMS publications.
DMS Corporation also provides its subscribers static and dynamic databases. The static database is a government contracts database, a file on major openly publicized government contracts. The dynamic database is the DMS/Online International Search System, managed jointly by DMS Corporation and Data Resources Incorporated (DRI). DMS Corporation first enters the latest information it has collected into DRI's computer for online search, and publishes it later. Thus, the information provided by the online search system is fresher and more timely. The DMS/Online International Search System has nine databases and three software languages. The databases are DMS Contracts Database, DMS Codes Database, DMS Contractor Database, DMS Market Quotations Report Database, DMS Official Defense Documents Database, DMS Communications Database, DMS Daily News Database, Daily Business Report Database, and DMS Contract Analysis Database. The languages are ABSTRACT, TEXT, and EPSPLUS RETRIEVE. Simple, single-word searches or complex market analyses can be conducted form most standard terminals.
China North Industries Science and Technology Information Research Institute has signed a contract with DMS Corporation whereby the institute can use its terminals to conduct searches on the DMS/Online International Search System.
The various kinds of data provided by DMS Corporation (including its publications, databases, and verbal information from conferences) are important sources of information for researchers of development strategies for national defense S&T and weapons and equipment, and for people engaged in arms production and arms trading.
X. Jane's Publishing Company, Ltd., 238 City Road, London ECIVZZU [as published], England, and Jane's annuals.
The history of Jane's can be traced back to 1898, when the first Jane's Fighting Ships annual was published. The annual was compiled by artist and naval reporter Fred T. Jane. It was purely a private undertaking, with no government financial assistance. In 1985 Jane's Publishing Company set up Jane's Information Services, Ltd.
Jane's is a world-famous military publisher. Its specialty is the publishing and distribution of various reference books, including its annuals, handbooks, guides, and encyclopedia. Besides these, it also publishes periodicals and books. Jane's is an information dissemination source.
The best known of Jane's publications are Jane's annuals, of which there are about 15 types. They are famous for being accurate and authoritative. They can provide full information on the defense equipment of armies, navies, and air forces worldwide, and on their means of transport. Public opinion considers news published in Jane's annuals to be true. The content of the annuals is verified repeatedly. The books contain a large number of photos and photo captions. To prevent the compilers from mixing in their own views and commentary, and to prevent criticism or bias toward any country or group, all explanations use original source material or original wording. Each year's annual revises and supplements material in the one from the previous year to reflect new developments in technology and the current state of affairs. Because of the accuracy of the content and the excellence of the text and illustrations, the books are always highly regarded by information organizations and information researchers in various countries, which consider the books to be valuable sources of information. It is understood that many countries use Jane's annuals as their basic reference material when compiling weapons handbooks.
The periodical Jane's Defence Weekly also gets a great deal of attention from defense S&T personnel the world over.
The China National Defense S&T Information Center archives the vast majority of Jane's annuals.
XI. Periodicals
"Periodicals" refers to serialized publications issued at regular or irregular intervals, with the interval between issues not exceeding one year. Periodicals have the following characteristics:
1. They use the same name for a long period of time.
2. They are serials, with each edition having a sequence number (volume and issue), or a date (month and year), or both.
3. Each has a format, binding, and size which it customarily uses.
4. It has numerous writers, with each issue having at least two essays.
Periodicals are also called magazines. The word "periodical" focuses on its cyclical nature, while "magazine" emphasizes the nature of its content.
A periodical's publishing cycle is short. Articles are published quickly, in great numbers, with content that is fresh and incisive, and which touches a wide range of topics. Thus a periodical can quickly reflect the worldwide level of development and trends of science and technology. Most articles in periodicals are original documents which have not been reorganized. Many new research accomplishments and trends are reflected first in periodicals. Although some of these still have not come to a conclusion and are merely preliminary or status reports, they are quite valuable to readers as starting points and reference material. All S&T personnel, and especially information researchers, should read periodicals frequently and from them learn of trends, understand progress, open up new lines of thought, and absorb accomplishments already made. This includes defense S&T personnel. According to estimates, the S&T information obtained by S&T personnel from periodicals constitutes about 60% of all such information, and as for information researchers, over 80% of their information comes from periodicals.
Producers and distributors of periodicals are to be found everywhere, and are too numerous to describe. There are many types of periodicals. The types of periodicals which different types of researchers in different academic fields frequently use are not the same. In this regard there persists a "core periodicals effect," which is to say, a large number of scientific essays in a particular field become concentrated in a small number of S&T periodicals.
XII. Books
Books have a long history, and yet there is still no commonly accepted definition of a book. Some countries today, as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, call a published item of more than 49 pages a "book," and an item with between five and 49 pages a "pamphlet." Other people call a book a "monograph."
A book is mainly a summarization and explanation of S&T research accomplishments and knowledge and experience about production technology. Its content is in the nature of a summary, knowledge that has been reorganized. In terms of timeliness, the knowledge reported in a book is older than that in periodicals. However, the knowledge presented in a book is normally more mature, systematic, and comprehensive than in other publications, because the writer has selected, verified, and appraised it, and achieved a comprehensive understanding of it. In light of these characteristics, books frequently become sources of information for researchers of foundational theories, and for special topic researchers.
Examples are the U.S.-published books Space Laboratory; Nuclear Weapons Data Handbook; Future Tanks; Electronic Warfare; Strategic Defense Plan; and Soviet Military Power; the Soviet-published books U.S. Military Power; Japanese Military Power; Star Wars: Fantasy and Danger; Naval Power of Various Countries; Military Power of Major Capitalist Countries; and Modern Japan's Integrated Military Production. Books such as these are very valuable references in research of national defense S&T topics.
XIII. Conference Papers and Their Intelligence Value
1. Summary of the status of S&T conferences
Academic conferences are excellent forums for the exchange of academic ideas and S&T accomplishments. Attending academic conferences is an important channel and an effective way to obtain information first hand. With developments in science and technology, there is more and more exchange of scientific research accomplishments and mutual deliberation of newly discovered activities in the field of S&T among those who work in it. Many of these activities are revealed by way of public lectures or seminars. According to the French Chamber of Commerce, about 4,000 international conferences were held throughout the world in 1973. According to a report from the American Institute for Scientific Information's Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings, over 10,000 S&T conferences were convened throughout the world in 1984, of which [missing text] published conference proceedings. According to statistics, currently in the United States over $50 million a year is spent on convening S&T conferences, one-eighth of the government's total spending on S&T. On the average, about three S&T conferences take place every day. Taking the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as an example, in 1984 it sponsored over 300 conferences on electronic technology.
S&T conferences can generally be classified on three levels:
(1) Basic level conferences. These are specialized S&T conferences held by S&T institutes, laboratories, institutes of higher learning, companies and enterprises, government organizations, military organizations, etc. Conferences at this level are smaller, but highly specialized. They take place sooner than national or international conferences on that field of study. Many basic level conferences are held on dates which are not announced in advance, and after the conference no conference minutes are published. Most papers which are difficult to acquire are from this type of conference.
(2) National conferences. Most conferences of this type are convened by national associations or societies, or by several organizations acting in unison. Some regional conferences in the United States, such as the Western Conference on Electronics, fall in this category.
(3) International conferences. These are convened by international organizations, or jointly by organizations in several countries.
S&T conferences can be put into eight major categories:
(a) Congresses
(b) Conferences
(c) General assemblies
(d) Seminars, not to include lecture series
(e) Symposia
(f) Workshops
(g) Working groups, discussion groups, or expert groups
(h) Committee
Actually, conferences go by even more names than this, such as conventions, meetings, institute or course, round table, etc. These can normally be called in general, conferences.
2. Introduction to Conference Documents
By conference documents is meant essays or reports falling within a certain scope, read at a seminar and then compiled and published. They are also called conference notes.
From the planning stage to conclusion, a conference normally publishes the following materials:
(1) Circular.
(2) Conference program.
(3) Advance abstracts, or preprints. Some conferences publish only conference paper preprints, and not conference notes. For example, the above-mentioned AIAA does this.
(4) Conference reports. These are conference outlines or notes issued by conference attendees or sponsors in a journal or magazine during or not long after a conference.
(5) Conference proceedings. These is a published summary of papers issued at a conference. Sometimes the conference papers are appended. They are the formal record of a conference. However, this type of publication is normally not available to readers until three months to two years after a conference.
The format in which conference proceedings are published is not at all standardized. It general it takes four forms:
(a) In periodicals. Published in some edition of a periodical, or in a special edition produced for a conference.
(b) Special compilations of papers. Conference papers assembled into a volume and assigned an appropriate title. Publication in book form.
(c) Conference serial. Publication as a periodic or aperiodic serialized item. Some are published directly according to the sequence of the conference, using the conference's title. For example, Notes from the 10th International Conference on Combustion. Some are published as a book series by way of an academic group, such as the papers from the 18th Conference of the U.S. National Space Society, included in the group's Progress in Interplanetary Space Flight and Aviation Science, Volume 77, published in 1981.
(d) S&T reports, published by some government organization or industrial or commercial enterprise.
Organizations which publish conference notes can be classified as five types:
(a) Research organizations of enterprises, including research institutes and laboratories belonging to enterprises, as well as associations and federations under the enterprise.
(b) Government departments, including research organizations subordinate to government departments, and international organizations among governments.
(c) Academic groups, including specialized societies and associations.
(d) Publishing companies.
(e) Publishing houses of universities and other institutes of higher learning.
Of the above five types of publishing organizations, the one publishing the greatest volume of conference notes is academic groups. Publishing companies come second. The vast majority of publishing organizations tend to use serialized formats for the publication of conference notes, or they publish them in specialized periodicals. Only publishing companies and some university publishing houses are interested in publishing conference notes in book form. Normally academic groups do not publish conference notes in book form (or at least such books are hard to obtain). As for conference notes published in the form of S&T reports, government departments are practically the only organizations which use this format.
Of the above five types of conference materials [circulars, programs, etc.], the main type of materials for research use are a conference's formal record, its conference papers or notes. However, when conference papers cannot be published promptly or at all, advance abstracts and preprints have a certain usefulness in making up for this, or can serve as replacements.
3. The intelligence Value of Conference Documents
Papers read or issued in writing at a seminar are normally more academic, with more novel content. Major discoveries in some fields of learning are often first made public in this sort of forum.
Academic groups normally invite to their conferences groups or individuals whom the group believes have achievements to their credit. The papers delivered at conferences by these groups or individuals are all subjected to rigorous examination and selection by the academic group. Thus these papers are of very high quality. They may be prompt reflections of the newest developments (new discoveries or achievements) in research activities in a certain field of study, and reflections of developing trends in such research activities. With an international conference, of course the papers presented there may reflect the worldwide level and status of a certain field of study, as well as the level and status in each country.
For conference participants, the timeliness of conference papers far exceeds that of other documents.
Besides this, conference documents are rich in content. They are compilations of several essays on one core topic. They touch upon different facets of the same specialty. Thus one volume of conference notes often has reference value for researchers in many specialities. People compete to be the first to read them.
In light of the great intelligence value of conference documents, they are attracting more and more attention from S&T personnel. A researcher at a certain university in Beijing had this appraisal for the Notes from the 1983 IEEE Conference on Acoustics, Language, and Signal Processing: "It affords an opportunity, and convenient conditions, in which to learn about the latest foreign scientific research achievements and trends in digital signal processing. It will be one or two years before some of the papers are published openly in IEEE periodicals." (Note: IEEE normally publishes conference notes prior to or at the start of a conference.) Or, in the appraisal of notes from a certain conference by an S&T researcher from a certain ministry, "This collection of papers explains the latest developments in defense electronics research. It represents the advanced foreign level in this field. Some of these papers state principles clearly, explain advanced technology, and have detailed block diagrams. They are very valuable to our S&T workers." From the two examples above, we can see that the intelligence value of conference documents is out of the ordinary.
4. Problems and Difficult Points about Collecting Conference Papers
The major information centers of all countries now make it a point to collect conference papers. At the same time, they all feel that doing so is a headache. The major problems and difficult points are:
(1) Order receipt rates are not high, and it is hard to assemble complete sets of conference papers in a series. The reasons for this are:
(a) The convenors of some conferences, especially international conferences, have no fixed, standing organization or office address, and there is no way to contact them after the conference.
(b) The times when conference notes are published are irregular. Some notes are published two to three months after the conference, and some not for one or two years. By making contact early, one may find that notes have not been published yet and cannot be ordered. Making contact later, one may find that they cannot be supplied because they are sold out or out of print.
(c) Picking up clues to how conference notes are published is difficult. It is difficult to obtain prompt and complete information about conference notes, first because publishing organizations are many and varied, and second because news about the publication of conference notes is scattered. In particular, no news is published about many basic level conferences, and so naturally people on the outside have no way of knowing about them.
(d) With some conferences, the original plan for publishing conference papers later changes, and they are not published. Some basic level conferences do not publish notes at all. Others publish only preprints, and not conference notes.
(e) Most of the time the print run for conference notes is small, and cannot meet demand. Some sets of conference notes are basically only provided to conference attendees.
(f) Notes from a small number of conferences have limited distribution.
(g) Procedures for purchasing conference notes are loaded with trivial detail. A mistake made at any juncture means the whole effort is wasted.
(2) Receipt is slow. The main reasons for this are that ordering procedures are complex and channels are not smooth. This means that some urgently needed conference notes cannot be ordered and received quickly.
(3) The problem of duplication is significant. The reasons are:
(a) Reports are not clear. The same conference may be reported by several names without reference.
(b) Sometimes the same set of conference notes may be published in several forms, such as a special edition of periodicals and a report by some organization.
(c) In terms of methods of procurement, there may be a conflict between ordering a single item and ordering a complete set of an organization's publications. This can easily lead to duplication.
(d) When a conference is convened jointly by several organizations, sometimes they all have the right to publish conference notes.
In summary, obtaining news about relevant conferences and discriminating among and collecting conference documents is a deep subject. People engaged in collecting conference documents put a lot of effort into searching. The various organizations which do this work each have their own set of effective methods and their own experiences, although their methods await further improvements and supplements.
XIV. China National Defense S&T Reports
1. Since China was founded, China's national defense S&T effort has developed by leaps and bounds. Along with this development, we have achieved many scientific research successes. We have innovated many theories and methods, and we have summarized many experiences and lessons learned. If we take these things and promptly assemble them into S&T reports, put them in order, and circulate and apply them in society, then this will create an even more enormous amount of wealth. This can redouble the effectiveness of China's national defense S&T effort with no need for additional investment.
Currently, many S&T information organizations in China use a great deal of Chinese language national defense S&T reports or other types of Chinese language materials. Judging from usage, the borrowing rate of these materials is far higher than that of similar foreign language materials, and facts have proven the information value of establishing a system of China National Defense S&T Reports.
In recent years, leaders and scientific researchers in many organizations have recognized this point in full, and they are putting forth a great effort toward laying the foundation for the establishment of a system of National Defense S&T Reports for their organization. The national level is also taking action on the establishment of a China National Defense S&T Reports system.
Along with the development of the effort and the passage of time, China National Defense S&T Reports are becoming fresh troops in the effort to find sources of information on national defense S&T. They will certainly display their exuberant vitality more and more.
2. Brief Introduction to China National Defense S&T Reports
(1) What are China National Defense S&T Reports?
"China National Defense S&T Reports" is the general term for S&T reports produced in the course of defense scientific research, testing, production, and operations and training, and then processed and organized. They include scientific research reports, technical reports, reports on experiments, testing reports, etc. The object in establishing a system of China National Defense S&T Reports is to accumulate and disseminate S&T achievements, to promote the exchange and development of national defense science and technology, and to make these things better serve national defense modernization and the construction of the civilian economy.
(2) Sources of China National Defense Science and Technology Reports
China National Defense S&T Reports mainly come from the various organizations involved in the research, development, production, testing, and use of weapons and equipment, from the various professions of the national defense S&T industry, and from the various national defense professional associations and societies and information network stations.
(3) Classification and Numbering of China National Defense S&T Reports
China National Defense S&T Reports have five classifications; namely, open, for internal use, confidential, secret, and top secret. The level of classification is determined by the organization producing the S&T Report. Declassification or lowering the classification is the responsibility of the producing organization.
China National Defense S&T Reports have a unified numbering system. The serial number consists of two parts, a Chinese Pinyin designator and an Arabic number. For example, in GF-830001Mc, the designator GF is the first letters of the Chinese Pinyin words "Guo Fang" (national defense). Thus, China National Defense S&T Reports are called for short, "GF reports." In the Arabic number 830001, "83" stands for the year of archiving and "0001" is the sequence number by which that report was archived that year. The Chinese Pinyin letter at the end, "M" stands for the character "mi" in the classification "confidential" [mimi]. "Mc" stands for confidential, "Mb" stands for secret, and "Ma" stands for top secret.
(4) Reporting and Searching China National Defense Science and Technology Reports
The reference book for reporting and searching China National Defense S&T Reports is the China National Defense S&T Reports Notice and Index [Zhongguo Guofang Keji Baogao Tongbao Yu Suoyin].
The China National Defense S&T Reports Notice and Index is a topic list format search publication, without abstracts. It records catalog number, volume and issue number, title, subject, name of group and individual authors, report date, and page count.
The Notice and Index divides the content into 20 major categories:
General science
Missile technology and space technology
Aviation
Propulsion and combustion
Navigation and guidance
Communications and sensing
Nuclear technology
Military science
Ordnance
Mechanical engineering and other engineering
Electrical engineering technology and electronic technology
Computers and mathematics
Materials
Physics
Chemistry
Astronomy
Geoscience
Biology and medicine
Research and equipment
Common concepts
Reports are listed under the related category. Each issue reports on about 1,000 items. At the end of each issue is a keyword index and a conference report index.

On to Chapter Five