Stages in the Creation of a Foreign Relations
Volume
- History of the Foreign
Relations Series - Historical Documents
Toward “Thorough, Accurate, and Reliable”: A History of the
Foreign Relations of the United States Series
Stages in the Creation of a Foreign Relations
Volume
- Grand conceptualization: At any given time,
Department officers overseeing FRUS devise an
organizational scheme for the series as a whole. Compilers of individual
volumes (or portions thereof) fit their efforts to this holistic vision. The
basic 19th-century structure called for volume releases on an annual basis,
soon after the events chronicled, with the chapters organized by country. On
occasion, a “special edition” covered a specific topic of sufficient import
to warrant a dedicated volume. As the series grew in size and scope over the
20th century, the overarching arrangement changed to cover regions, or a
multi-year time period, or a key topic, or a Presidential administration.
Again, special cases like the 1919 peace negotiations and World War II
conference diplomacy merited separate subseries.
- Volume conceptualization: Each compiler (or team of
compilers) must determine the parameters of their individual volume. The
19th-century FRUS grand conceptualization rendered
this a straightforward process. In the 20th century, as the volumes offered
more in-depth treatment of both policymaking and implementation, compilers
often consulted histories, memoirs, and other accounts to inform their
collection and selection strategies.
- Collection: Compilers identify important records to
be consulted, search for them, and make copies or take notes of documents
likely to be selected for publication, or which provide background
information necessary to contextualize the volume. In the 19th and early
20th centuries, these researches only involved Department of State
files.
- Selection: After gathering all relevant materials,
compilers choose a subset of the available record for publication. In the
19th century, compilers usually did not opt to reprint documents already
included in Supplemental FRUS Submissions transmitted
to Congress (see chapter 4 and appendix C). As the 20th century progressed,
the number and size of files greatly increased. Consequently, the subset of
documents selected comprised a shrinking percentage of the total
record.
- Annotation: As filing systems grew in complexity
over time, it became increasingly important to provide the provenance of
documents published. In recent decades, annotation has also included
significant amounts of information about persons, events, policies, other
documents referenced, and attachments. Since the 1960s, compilers have
relied on expanded annotation to mitigate the increasing selectivity of the
series.
- Review: One or more Department officials, typically
of a higher level of authority than the compiler, review the manuscript for
completeness, cohesion, and concision. The review includes judgment of the
appropriateness of the content and the accuracy of annotations. In the 19th
century, this review might include the highest officers of the Department,
and the president as well. In recent decades, volumes typically go through a
two-stage review, with a front-line supervisor making recommendations for
amendment, followed by a second assessment from the series General Editor or
other senior manager in the Office of the Historian.
- Clearance/Redaction/Declassification: All documents
selected by FRUS compilers for publication undergo a
vetting process to ensure that sensitive or protected material is not
divulged. In some cases entire documents are withheld, while in other
instances only a part (and often a very small part) is excised. The
procedures have varied greatly over time. In the 19th century, Department
officers conducted this task at the same time they reviewed the manuscript.
In the 20th century, declassification specialists organized separately from
the compilation and review functions performed this task. From the 1920s
until 1980, Department desk officers reviewed documents related to their
operational responsibilities. After 1980, retired Senior Foreign Service
Officers took over clearance duties. Increasingly over time, this stage
involved securing clearance from other agencies when documents included
their equities. At times, permission has been sought from other governments
when foreign government information is included in documents selected for
FRUS publication.
- Editing: After the volume has been completed, the
text is edited for publication. This is a multi-stage process: first the
text is prepared for typesetting and then carefully reviewed to ensure that
all information about a document (classification, drafting, date, and so on)
is correctly rendered in the notes. Until the late 1970s, this typesetting
process preceded declassification review. Since then, compilations have been
cleared in manuscript before proceeding to typesetting. After the text is
typeset, the pages are compared to the original documents to make sure that
they have been faithfully copied by the typesetter. Any remaining textual
issues are flagged for consultation with the compiler. The front matter
(preface and lists of sources consulted, persons mentioned in the text, and
abbreviations used in the text) and an index are added to complete the text.
Once remaining editing issues are resolved with the typesetter, the volume
is then finished.
- Publishing: The Department of State contracts with
the Government Printing Office to prepare and publish FRUS volumes. In the 19th century, the manuscript often went to
the printer in parts, and when the final segment was submitted, GPO would
bind the entire volume together. At times, lack of funding has delayed the
publication of fully-prepared volumes.