In 1998, we initiated the systematic digitization and online publication of DDRS . We scanned and keyed the text of every page of every document in the collection, which we will offer in its entirety by June 1999. An advisory panel of government documents librarians, journalists, diplomats and academic experts in American history, foreign policy, international relations and economics has begun supplementing the documents we receive via researcher requests with selections based upon current trends in research. We will begin integrating these selected documents in the online offerings in 1999. DDRS makes possible both broad-based and highly targeted investigation of government documents.
Users can query every document in the database for any name, date, word or phrase.
Searches can also be focused according to document type, issue date, source institution, classification level, date declassified, sanitation, completeness, number of pages, and document number. The database ranges from the years immediately following World War II, when declassified documents were first made widely available, through the 1970s. We have been asked by customers to provide information on the significance of the classification levels found in DDRS documents. In 1997 a United States Senate Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy published an extensive report both reviewing and revising the classification process. An Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to access the text.