Collection: United States Publication Board Documents

Content Description

The United States Publication Board Documents consist of 119 documents or photocopies of documents released by the U.S. Publication Board. Most documents are technical reports captured from the Axis countries during World War II, or reports on Allied defense-related topics. These documents were classified during the war, and released from classification by the Board after the war. Specific topics vary, but generally cover chemical or industrial processes of strategic importance in Germany or the U.S., some of which are agriculture related.

Dates

Creation: 1940-1945

Language of Materials

Documents are in English or in German.

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Organizational History

The Publication Board was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 under the United States Department of Commerce, on the advice of Ralph Shaw, librarian of the USDA library. The purpose of the Board was to declassify and make available technical information obtained through war research performed by the Allies or captured from the Axis countries. (Source: The Birth of Information Science (digitized edition of "From Documentation to Information Science" by Irene S. Farkas-Conn))