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    "label": "Report, OSI - 4/49, Central Intelligence Agency, Abstracting Services as an Intelligence Tool for Assessing Soviet Chemical Research",
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    "title": "Report, OSI - 4/49, Central Intelligence Agency, Abstracting Services as an Intelligence Tool for Assessing Soviet Chemical Research",
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        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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            "day": 19,
            "logicalDate": "1949-12-19",
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            "year": 1949
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{
    "seq": 13,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602196/875491/875491-03-013.tif",
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    "ocrText": "CONFIDENTIAL\nV. CHANGES IN THE POSTWAR PERIOD\n1. The Statistical Picture\nThe extent to which coverage of the chemical literature has decreased in the post-\nwar years, is indicated in Table 1, page 3, which shows that the number of journals ab-\nstracted, as well as the number of abstracts derived therefrom, has decreased about 50\npercent but at the same time the number of abstracts per journal has remained nearly\nconstant. This, in itself, is a strong indication that the journals no longer covered are\nfairly evenly distributed throughout the range of those producing a high number of ab-\nstracts and the ones yielding only a few. But it does not constitute proof, because a loss\nof a large majority of the journals at the low end of the range could have occurred con-\ncurrently with a general decrease in the number of abstracts derived from the larger\njournals, in which case the average articles per journal would still remain constant.\nHowever, graphical analysis of the data upon which Table 1 is based clearly demonstrates\nthat the former is true, and the latter is not.\nGraphs were made for 1941 and for 1947-1948, showing the distribution of journals\nin descending order by number of abstracts derived from each journal. Because the data\nfor 1947 and 1948 were so nearly alike a single value for the number of abstracts for each\njournal was selected, in some cases the actual number counted in one year or the other,\nand in others a number estimated to be representative of a year's number for the specific\njournal. The estimates were based upon a critical inspection of the relation of the ab-\nstracts found to the number of pages and probable number of issues for the year.\nThese graphs were then transposed to a percentage basis, relating the percentage of\ntotal abstracts to the percentage of total journals yielding these abstracts. These latter\ncurves are practically identical, which must mean that the \"missing\" journals, that is,\nthe ones no longer available for abstracting, were distributed fairly evenly between those\nyielding a large number of abstracts and those a small number. As confirmation, of the\njournals abstracted in 1941 every other one was arbitrarily eliminated and similar curves\nwere made based on the remaining journals. These curves were almost identical with\nthe ones representing the journals being abstracted currently, although there was some\nindication that the number of journals missing in 1947-1948 was somewhat greater from\nthe area of journals supplying a medium number of abstracts. It follows that, intelligence-\nwise, Chemical Abstracts is less valuable than would be the case if these \"missing\" jour-\nnals were the obscure ones.\nThe graphs discussed here are not reproduced in this paper. However, data from\nthem are collected in Table 3, page 7, showing the cumulative number of abstracts and\nthe percent of total abstracts for each 10 percent of the total journals covered in 1941,\n1947-1948, and under assumed conditions where every other journal covered in 1941 was\narbitrarily eliminated. The similarity of the three sets of values is convincing support\nof the statement made earlier that the effective coverage of the literature in postwar\nyears is the same as if every other journal available in 1941 had not been abstracted.\nThe reasons for the large decrease in the number of journals abstracted in the\npostwar years can only be surmised; possibly a combination of the following: (1) embargo\non foreign dissemination of certain journals (security measures); (2) a general consoli-\ndation and more stringent standards; and (3) disruption of the printing industry and lack\nof supplies, as a direct consequence of the war.\nThe only known facts are that numerous journals, particularly those concerned\nwith the interests of the Ministries and covering an industry, ceased publication during\nthe war, and, according to an official Russian source, publication had not been resumed\nin 1946 nor had new publications started up to cover the same field. Typical areas of\ninterest no longer covered are, to sight a few: Leather and Shoe Products Industry, Oils\nCONFIDENTIAL\n- 6 -"
}