Guide for Researchers WELCOME TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE The National Security Archive is an award-winning investigative journalism center research institute and archive of declassified U S documents In 1999 we won a Special George Polk Award for “piercing self-serving veils of government secrecy guiding journalists in search for the truth and informing us all ” Since then the organization its staff and fellows have variously earned an Emmy a Peabody two Pulitzers and numerous other honors Regrettably ongoing COVID-19 issues mean that we cannot welcome visitors in person for research However during the pandemic we have put renewed emphasis on providing extensive online resources that will meet the vast majority of documentary research needs Read on In fact our most important and widely used materials are accessible through the Web including more than 780 expertly curated electronic briefing books of key primary sources and our enormous dataset of professionally indexed declassified documents in the Digital National Security Archive published by ProQuest see page 8 below So if you are a student or instructor these records are tailored to your needs — curated fully searchable and ideal for research papers or the classroom 1 This guide is primarily aimed at students but instructors and general users will also benefit It will help you navigate our online files – and point you to other essential sources on the Internet Table of Contents Documentation from the National Security Archive 3 How to access National Security Archive online resources 4 Basic search options on the Archive’s web site 4 Specific resources at the National Security Archive 6 Electronic Briefing Books 6 Sourcebooks 6 Special Exhibits 7 Unredacted Blog 7 Digital National Security Archive DNSA 8 How to use the DNSA 9 Where else can you find documents on the Web 11 Citing our materials 13 Terms and Conditions 15 Contact Us 16 Note The Archive's aim is to encourage wide use of our materials so unless otherwise indicated all declassified U S government records on this site are freely available to the public For details about reprinting or citing original content please see Terms and Conditions below 2 Documentation From The National Security Archive The following are our main online resources All U S government records contained in these publications are free to use without copyright restrictions The Archive encourages re -use and re -publication of its documents All we ask is that you follow our citation guidelines see the final section of this Guide and include a link to our web site as the source Electronic Briefing Books on our web site Over 790 e -books featuring more than 10 000 annotated declassified documents Sourcebooks on our web site Compilations of related Archive postings that facilitate in-depth research Special Exhibits on our web site Unusual collections of lasting historical and public interest Digital National Security Archive - DNSA access through major libraries 60 large-scale publications totaling 150 000 documents and a million pages Documents or Virtual Reading Room on our web site Collection more than 10000 PDF documents Unredacted our blog site A platform for breaking news and discussion of secrecy government transparency FOIA and the international right to know Pic 1 Easy access to all resources from the main menu on every page of our website 3 Good to know “Briefing Books” are one-stop resources covering a full range of topics in U S foreign policy Containing from 5 to 100 documents each briefing book features an introductory essay individual document descriptions related photo or video content plus links for further reading The Digital National Security Archive is an invaluable online collection of more than 100 000 declassified records documenting historic U S policy decisions How to access National Security Archive online resources Basic search options on the Archive’s web site There are two main ways to search for material from the home page The first is the Site Search box at the top right of the page which will take you to the dialogue box pic 3 below that includes a variety of helpful filters This option primarily searches text from postings of all kinds on the web site Typically it will not pick up actual documents which are reproduced in PDF form and can be searched via the Documents—Virtual Reading Room –VRR option pic 4 on next page Pic 2 Two main search options Good to know “Legacy Postings” are the postings e-books and news postings published before 2016 and located on our legacy site https nsarchive2 gwu edu In 2016 Archive moved from the HTML based site to the CMS based one in order to be more secured and user friendly Our long goal is to move all materials from the legacy site to the new one Legacy postings look like on example below Pic 3 Advanced search through the site 4 Basic search options on the Archive’s web site - continued The second general approach is via our Virtual Reading Room also linked on the home page The VRR here ’s what the search dialogue looks like including options to narrow by date and or field Pic 4 Documents VRR search dialog window Good to know The search fields Description—the explanation of the document content made by our analysts Document Text—the OCRed document content please note some old documents or poor quality copies of documents can’t be OCRed properly Source—the source where our analysts obtained the document Title—this field usually contains much more information than the document title itself example Special Coordination Committee Summary of Conclusions Iran Top Secret-Sensitive November 8 1979 5 Documents are sorted by date they were created newest first Some documents have no date they appears last on the documents list The two oldest documents in our collection dated 1868 and 1884 Specific resources at the National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Books The National Security Archive has published over 790 e -books on our public web site presenting more than 10 000 declassified documents on a broad range of topics expertly selected and annotated Introductory essays provide historical context and related links point readers to additional resources New e-books are added one or two weeks You can peruse EBBs by subject or other criteria through this menu at the top right of the page Good to know The 9 latest Briefing Books are presented on the center column of Archive’s home page List of all briefing books accessible from the main menu Postings Briefing Books see pic 1 Lists of all Sourcebooks and Special Exhibits also available through the main menu under Postings tab Pic 5 Available filters to browse the briefing books Sourcebooks These in-depth collections bring together related Archive postings on certain topics to make it easier to explore selected issues in detail Topics include the January 6 Capitol Riot September 11 terrorist attacks U S policy toward Saddam Hussein and the 1983 War Scare Pic 6 “The Capitol Riot Documents You Should Read Sourcebook ” - an example of one of the Sourcebooks 6 Specific resources at the National Security Archive - continued Special Exhibits These unusual collections reflect special events stimulating projects issues of lasting significance – or just memorable historical moments – that have caught the Archive’s interest over the years Pic 7 The “Special Exhibits” page Unredacted blog A platform for breaking news and discussion of secrecy government transparency FOIA and the international right to know Accessible from main menu on any page on Archive’s site see pic 1 or through the direct link https unredacted com Good to know Latest postings of Unredacted blog are listed on the top of the left sidebar on Archive’s home page You can find related Unredacted postings on the left sidebar on any Archive’s project page Pic 8 The Unredacted blog banner 7 Specific resources at the National Security Archive - continued Digital National Security Archive DNSA – ask your local librarian The Archive’s flagship series currently comprises 60 large -scale collections totaling 150 000 documents and a million pages The DNSA is distributed through the academic publisher ProQuest and the entire series is available at many university and research libraries Be sure to check with your local Librarian DNSA collections are compiled by recognized experts and fully indexed by professional librarians Along with PDFs of the documents the sets include chronologies glossaries and other research aids For a full listing of titles see here Pic 8 The “Digital National Security Archive ” page and how to access it 8 Digital National Security Archive DNSA - continued How to use the DNSA Navigate to the ProQuest Digital National Security Archive site either by clicking on this link or going to your library’s Database page and typing “National Security Archive” into the search box When you get to the page below fill in the search query fields as appropriate Note that you can limit your search any number of ways including by title date author document type or collection Pic 9 ProQuest’s Digital National Security Archive advanced search page which you access through your university or other subscribing library 9 Digital National Security Archive DNSA - continued How to use the DNSA - continued When you get a hit it will look something like this Pic 10 ProQuest Digital National Security Archive document page From here you can scroll through the document check detailed metadata download print email or get the full citation for footnoting 10 Where else can you find documents on the Web If you’re not finding exactly what you need at nsarchive gwu edu or on DNSA these online U S government repositories contain literally millions of pages of primary documents that are searchable downloadable and copyright-free These are essential resources that every national security or foreign policy researcher should know about The National Archives and Records Administration NARA NARA is the “nation’s record keeper ” comprising billions of pages of historically significant government materials including the Constitution Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights Archives II is located in College Park Maryland and is where most researchers go to explore U S federal records Access to Archival Databases AAD at NARA AAD is an online searchable resource covering 60 archival series at NARA Among those of most interest to national security researchers are military files from World War II Korea Vietnam the Gulf War and the War on Terrorism along with a growing compilation of State Department telegrams from the mid-1970s The Presidential Libraries at NARA NARA maintains 15 libraries of documentation from presidential administrations going back to Franklin Roosevelt Many of these include museums honoring that particular president and were built with private funds but the archives are maintained by the government If a document was created by or sent to the president or a member of the White House or NSC staff during a given period the relevant presidential library is probably the place to start your research 11 Where else can you find documents on the Web - continued Department of State FOIA Electronic Reading Room The State Department posts a large number of materials released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act in its online Reading Room Most of these are cables to and from embassies and other foreign posts but there are many emails and other records too Central Intelligence Agency FOIA Electronic Reading Room Perhaps surprisingly the CIA also posts a very large quantity of records on its website Even though many of the materials are incidental items that were simply part of an analyst’s file system including public sources like newspaper clips and despite the frustrating search engine this is an absolutely critical resource 12 Citing Our Materials Note The National Security Archive follows The Chicago Manual of Style The online manual and its Quick Guide are at http www chicagomanualofstyle org home html Published Collections I To cite correspondence such as letters memoranda and cables identify as many of the following elements as are available and relevant Names of sender and recipient Title or subject Place at which it was written Type of communication and identifying number Date of communication Title of published collection Editor of published collection Place of publication publisher and publication year Document number Examples John F Kennedy to Nikita S Khrushchev 22 October 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 ed Laurence Chang Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-Healey 1990 Digital National Security Archive accession number CC00844 Armin H Meyer to Secstate Iranian Arms for Jordan Tehran cable 04494 2 May 1968 Iran The Making of U S Policy 1977-1980 ed Eric HoogIund Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-Healey 1990 Digital National Security Archive accession number IR00661 II To cite documents other than correspondence such as all kinds of reports memoranda of conversation and executive orders identify as many of the following elements as are available and relevant Personal or corporate author Title of document Type of document and identifying number Date of document Title of published collection Editor of published collection Place of publication publisher and publication year Document number Examples Harlan Cleveland A Most Dangerous Time speech 23 November 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 ed Lawrence Chang Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-Healey 1990 Digital National Security Archive accession number CC02570 U S Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research Land Reform in Iran Implications for the Shah's 'White Revolution' memorandum RNA-3 8 February 1965 Iran The Making of U S Policy 19771980 ed Eric Hooglund Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-HeaIey 1990 Digital National Security Archive accession number IR00548 13 Citing Our Materials - continued Bibliographic Entries for Published Collections and Web Briefing Books Examples Chang Laurence ed The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-Healey 1990 Hooglund Eric ed Iran The Making of U S Policy 1977-1980 Washington D C The National Security Archive and Chadwyck-Hea1ey 1990 Gregg Henneman “Black Sheep Over Iraq The 8th Fighter Squadron in Operation Iraqi Freedom ” November 2004 Secret in Jeffrey T Richelson “The Area 51 File Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs ” EBB #443 October 29 2013 https nsarchive gwu edu briefing-book intelligence 2013-10-29 area-51-file- Pic 11 Gelman Library at George Washington University—home of the National Security Archive 14 Terms and Conditions A fundamental tenet of the National Security Archive's mission is to expand and enhance public discourse on U S foreign intelligence and economic policy Unless particular materials are specifically restricted as noted on the site it is the National Security Archive's policy to encourage reproduction and distribution of the materials posted on our site Your use of this site indicates your acceptance of these terms and conditions License to Use Materials Posted on Web Site You may copy reproduce and distribute materials from this site pursuant to this nonexclusive limited license provided that 1 You maintain all copyright trademark or other proprietary notices contained in any site content in the course of any use of such content Copyright is not claimed as to any work of the United States government 2 You cite the National Security Archive as the source of the materials in any reproduction publication distribution or transfer of the materials and you link to the www nsarchive org Web site in any electronic reproduction publication distribution or transfer of the materials a When reproducing publishing distributing or transferring a published or unpublished document in the National Security Archive collection you credit the National Security Archive as the source of the document For your convenience we provide citation standards for unpublished and published documents in the National Security Archive collection b When reproducing publishing distributing or transferring an article or section of the Web site in its entirety you include the following statement These materials are reproduced from www nsarchive org with the permission of the National Security Archive c You may not edit or otherwise change the substance of the content in any reproduction publication distribution or transfer of an article or section of the Web site that is credited to the National Security Archive except that you may excerpt portions of the content with credit to the author where applicable and the National Security Archive Limitation of Liability The National Security Archive site includes information about the Freedom of Information Act and other laws relating to access to government information This information does not constitute legal advice The law changes very rapidly and accordingly we do not guarantee that any information on this Web site is accurate and up-to-date Additionally the law differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is subject to interpretation of courts located in each jurisdiction Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case and the tools and information provided to you may not be an appropriate fit in your case Nothing that you read or is provided on this Web site should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel 15 Terms and Conditions - continued Disclaimer of Warranties - continued The National Security Archive its officers directors employees subcontractors agents successors or assigns shall not be liable for any loss injury claim liability or damage of any kind including any special or consequential damages resulting in any way from the unavailability or interruption of its site delays inaccuracies errors or omissions on its site or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof Disclaimer of Warranties The materials contained on this Web site have been prepared and compiled by the National Security Archive as a service to its readers The National Security Archive endeavors to provide accurate material on its Web site but it does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy completeness adequacy or currency of the information contained in or linked to this Web site People using these or other government documents are reminded that government records sometimes contain material that is unverified inaccurate distorted or untrue Further under the Privacy Act 5 U S C Sec 552a federal agencies are not required to verify personal information that may be released under the Freedom of Information Act 5 U S C Sec 552 The government records available on this site are merely true facsimiles of government records to the best of our knowledge and the Archive has not necessarily verified their content independently Users of information from the National Security Archive site and related sites or links do so at their own risk THE SITE AND ALL ITS CONTENTS AND ALL SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED TO YOU AS IS AND AS AVAILABLE WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THE RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION FOUND ON THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES THESE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU Contact Us If you still have a question about Archive sources or need more information please let us know by using our contact form click here Because most of us are working remotely we can't promise to get back to you immediately but we check these queries daily and will do our best to respond as quickly as possible National Security Archive Phone 202 994-7000 Suite 701 Gelman Library Fax 202 994-7005 George Washington University nsarchiv@gwu edu 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 16