U.S. Committee on Public Information

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=NARA-NGC-2021-001235&type=request)

* Tracking Number: NARA-NGC-2021-001235
* Requester Name: Erin Marie Miller
* Date Submitted: 08/06/2021
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

- All responsive documents and records related to the planning, activities, and closure of the Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or Creel Committee.

For further reference or clarification, refer to this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

To assist you in your search, please refer to the following link for the specific locations of all of the requested records: https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/063.html.

However, the records are old and I have reason to believe they have been digitized previously for an earlier requester.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my portfolio at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism.

Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the historical operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest.

Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of all fees.
If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller

Dear Ms. Miller:

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via the *FOIAonline*
website. We received your request on August 6, 2021. Your request concerns
records of the Committee on Public Information (Record Group 63).

Our office uses the *FOIAonline* portal for FOIA and Privacy Act requests
for the National Archives and Records Administration's operational records
(records created by this agency). Because your *FOIAOnline *request is for
records that may be textual archival records (records created by or
originated in a different agency but that may have been transferred to the
legal custody of NARA), we have forwarded it to our *Office of Research
Services, Textual Reference (RR2R)* staff who handle FOIA requests for
archival records.

Since *Research Services* does not process FOIA requests through
*FOIAOnline*, we removed your request from the *FOIAOnline* website.
Textual Reference will assign you a new tracking number, and respond
directly to you. In the future, if you need to follow up with that office,
please contact them at the address below, or electronically via email
(email is preferred).

National Archives and Records Administration
Research Services, Textual Reference Branch (RR2R)
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 2400
College Park, MD 20740

By phone: 301-837-3091
By fax: 301-837-1752
By email: archives2reference@nara.gov

For your reference, a copy of your request is below.

Please visit our website at www.archives.gov/foia for further information
about submitting a FOIA request to NARA. On our main website,
www.archives.gov, you can learn more about the resources we offer to the
public, and you can access our online catalog.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and pursuant to guidance received from the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal
operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work
while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of
our staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may
experience a delay in receiving a substantive response to your FOIA
request. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your
understanding and patience.

Sincerely,
Susan Gillett
Government Information Specialist
Office of General Counsel
National Archives and Records Administration
College Park, MD 20740-6001
susan.gillett@nara.gov

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <admin@foiaonline.gov>
Date: Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 7:56 AM
Subject: FOIA Request Deletion: NARA-NGC-2021-001235
To: <susan.gillett@nara.gov>

Below is an export of the submitted request information for the FOIA
request NARA-NGC-2021-001235.

- *Name and Address*
- First Name: Erin
- Middle Initial: Marie
- Last Name: Miller
- Organization:
- Mailing Address Location: United States/U.S. Territories
- Address Line 1: MuckRock News DEPT MR 117334
- Address Line 2: 411A Highland Ave
- City: Somerville
- State/Province: MA
- Zip/Postal Code: 02144-2516
- *Contact Information*
- E-mail Address: requests@muckrock.com
- Phone Number:
- Fax Number:
- *Agency and Fee Information*
- Assigned Agency: NGC - Office of General Counsel
- Will Pay Up To: $0.00
- *Description*
- To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the
following records:

- All responsive documents and records related to the planning,
activities, and closure of the Committee on Public Information,
also known
as the CPI or Creel Committee.

For further reference or clarification, refer to this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

To assist you in your search, please refer to the following link for
the specific locations of all of the requested records:
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/063.html.

However, the records are old and I have reason to believe they have
been digitized previously for an earlier requester.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public,
and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know
that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently
by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my
portfolio
at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism.

Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public
interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of the historical operations or activities of the
government
and is not primarily in my commercial interest.

Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of
all fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up
to $25 for
the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds
this amount,
please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20
business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller
- *Fee Waiver*
- Fee Waiver Requested: Yes
- Fee Waiver Reason: The requested documents will be made available
to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial
purposes. In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should
know that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published
frequently by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You
can view my
portfolio at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism. Disclosure of the
requested information to me is in the public interest because it
is likely
to contribute significantly to public understanding of the historical
operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my
commercial interest. Because of my status as a news media requester, I
request a waiver of all fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I
am willing
to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for
this request
exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing prior to
beginning work on
the request.
- *Expedited Processing*
- Expedited Processing Requested: No
- Expedited Processing Reason:

August 30, 2021

Erin Marie Miller

Dept MR 117334

MuckRock News

411A Highland Avenue

Somerville, ME 02144-2516

Dear Ms. Miller:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information (FOIA) request
(21-49402) concerning records of the Committee on Public Information
(Record Group 63). We received it in this office on August 10, 2021.

The finding aid to the records (Preliminary Inventory NC-7) is
attached. Digitized
records would appear in the National Archives Catalog. You can do an
advanced search at https://catalog.archives.gov/advancedsearch.

We make reasonable efforts to assist researchers with their work. As a
matter of policy, the National Archives is staffed to assist researchers
with their work, including but not limited to pointing researchers to
helpful finding aids to begin their research. However, given the
limitations on staff resources, we do not generally conduct substantive
research in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information
Act, except in circumstances where documents are easily locatable.

Unfortunately, all NARA Research Rooms were closed effective at the end of
business on March 13, 2020, as a public health precaution due to the
coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Under standard circumstances, we would
welcome you to visit our research room so you or your representative can
examine and select documents relevant to your research. You could also hire
a researcher to conduct research on your behalf. However, visiting is not
an option at this time.

If you are interested in hiring a researcher who works for a fee, see the
list provided as a courtesy at https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help
on our website.

You asked for a waiver of the fees normally charged for providing
researchers with copies of archival records. The fee and fee waiver
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), however, do not apply
to archival records. The FOIA fee section states that "Nothing in this
subparagraph shall supersede fees chargeable under a statute specifically
providing for setting the level of fees for particular types of records."
[5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(vi)]. Accordingly, the NARA fee statute, 44 U.S.C.
2116(c), and implementing regulations at 36 C.F.R. Part 1258, apply
exclusively to your request, under which the National Archives does not
waive reproduction charges for individual requesters. Our inability to
grant you the requested fee waiver does not constitute a denial for the
purposes of the FOIA.

We do not consider this response a denial under the Freedom of Information
Act because the records are open and available for research and do not
require a FOIA request. However, if you are not satisfied with our action
on this request, your options for appeal and dispute resolution are
outlined in the attachment.

Sincerely,

TAB LEWIS

Textual Reference Operations

National Archives at College Park, Maryland

Your FOIAonline user account for requests@muckrock.com will be deactivated in 5 days due to inactivity.

Sent via Email <requests@muckrock.com>

MuckRock News

DEPT MR 117334

263 Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02115

RE: Freedom of Information Act Request ARA-NGC-2021-001235

To Whom It May Concern:

Your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted to the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via FOIAonline. Your
request, dated August 6, 2021, was received by NARA's Office of General
Counsel on the same day.

Due to the nature of your inquiry, we had forwarded your request to
Research Services, Textual Reference Branch (RR2R) for appropriate
handling, on August 6, 2021. It appears that RR2R responded to your
request on August 30, 2021, and assigned your case tracking number
21-49402. I will forward your request for a status update to the RR2R
office. In the future, if you need to contact the RR2R, you can do so by
email, mail or fax to the following address:

National Archives and Records Administration
Research Services, Textual Reference Branch (RR2RR)
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 2400
College Park, MD 20740

Phone: 301-837-3091
Fax: 301-837-1752
Email: archives2reference@nara.gov

Sincerely,

Ashley A. Bryan

Government Information Specialist

Office of General Counsel (NGC)

National Archives and Records Administration

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, Maryland, 20740-6001

301-837-3642

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 1:00 AM
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request #NARA-NGC-2021-001235
To: <foia@nara.gov>

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin
FOIA Office
Room 3110
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740

November 3, 2022

This is a follow up to request number NARA-NGC-2021-001235:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request,
copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 6, 2021. Please let me know
when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference
number #NARA-NGC-2021-001235.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 117334
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

---

On Sept. 4, 2022:
Subject: FOIAonline Account Will Be Deactivated Due To Inactivity
Your FOIAonline user account for requests@muckrock.com will
be deactivated in 5 days due to inactivity.

---

On Sept. 1, 2021:
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request #NARA-NGC-2021-001235
Hello,

Following up on my request for the archives of the U.S. Committee on Public
Information (tracking number NARA-NGC-2021-001235 ) one last time.

It came to my attention this morning that the records I requested from NARA
regarding the U.S. Committee on Public Information have previously been
digitized and are already available in full online. In this particular
case, the requested documents appear to have already been published by the
Ohio State University Library's "Brittle Books" Reformatting Program --
which potentially appears to suggest that your agency has already provided
the requested documents to others in the past.

The digitized archival documents I requested can be viewed here:
https://archive.org/details/CompleteReportCommitteeOnPublicInformation191719181919/page/n3/mode/2up

I just wanted to let you know in case anyone in the future requests the
documents under the FOIA, since there seemed to be some confusion on your
agency's part about whether or not the requested documents had already been
digitized and made available to the public.

Thank you,

Erin Miller
---

On Aug. 30, 2021:
Subject: Re: [21-49402] Freedom of Information Act Request - Erin Marie
Miller
August 30, 2021

Erin Marie Miller

Dept MR 117334

MuckRock News

411A Highland Avenue

Somerville, ME 02144-2516

Dear Ms. Miller:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information (FOIA) request
(21-49402) concerning records of the Committee on Public Information
(Record Group 63). We received it in this office on August 10, 2021.

The finding aid to the records (Preliminary Inventory NC-7) is
attached. Digitized
records would appear in the National Archives Catalog. You can do an
advanced search at https://catalog.archives.gov/advancedsearch.

We make reasonable efforts to assist researchers with their work. As a
matter of policy, the National Archives is staffed to assist researchers
with their work, including but not limited to pointing researchers to
helpful finding aids to begin their research. However, given the
limitations on staff resources, we do not generally conduct substantive
research in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information
Act, except in circumstances where documents are easily locatable.

Unfortunately, all NARA Research Rooms were closed effective at the end of
business on March 13, 2020, as a public health precaution due to the
coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Under standard circumstances, we would
welcome you to visit our research room so you or your representative can
examine and select documents relevant to your research. You could also hire
a researcher to conduct research on your behalf. However, visiting is not
an option at this time.

If you are interested in hiring a researcher who works for a fee, see the
list provided as a courtesy at https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help
on our website.

You asked for a waiver of the fees normally charged for providing
researchers with copies of archival records. The fee and fee waiver
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), however, do not apply
to archival records. The FOIA fee section states that "Nothing in this
subparagraph shall supersede fees chargeable under a statute specifically
providing for setting the level of fees for particular types of records."
[5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(vi)]. Accordingly, the NARA fee statute, 44 U.S.C.
2116(c), and implementing regulations at 36 C.F.R. Part 1258, apply
exclusively to your request, under which the National Archives does not
waive reproduction charges for individual requesters. Our inability to
grant you the requested fee waiver does not constitute a denial for the
purposes of the FOIA.

We do not consider this response a denial under the Freedom of Information
Act because the records are open and available for research and do not
require a FOIA request. However, if you are not satisfied with our action
on this request, your options for appeal and dispute resolution are
outlined in the attachment.

Sincerely,

TAB LEWIS

Textual Reference Operations

National Archives at College Park, Maryland
---

On Aug. 6, 2021:
Subject: Fwd: FOIA Request Deletion: NARA-NGC-2021-001235
Dear Ms. Miller:

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via the *FOIAonline*
website. We received your request on August 6, 2021. Your request concerns
records of the Committee on Public Information (Record Group 63).

Our office uses the *FOIAonline* portal for FOIA and Privacy Act requests
for the National Archives and Records Administration's operational records
(records created by this agency). Because your *FOIAOnline *request is for
records that may be textual archival records (records created by or
originated in a different agency but that may have been transferred to the
legal custody of NARA), we have forwarded it to our *Office of Research
Services, Textual Reference (RR2R)* staff who handle FOIA requests for
archival records.

Since *Research Services* does not process FOIA requests through
*FOIAOnline*, we removed your request from the *FOIAOnline* website.
Textual Reference will assign you a new tracking number, and respond
directly to you. In the future, if you need to follow up with that office,
please contact them at the address below, or electronically via email
(email is preferred).

National Archives and Records Administration
Research Services, Textual Reference Branch (RR2R)
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 2400
College Park, MD 20740

By phone: 301-837-3091
By fax: 301-837-1752
By email: archives2reference@nara.gov

For your reference, a copy of your request is below.

Please visit our website at www.archives.gov/foia for further information
about submitting a FOIA request to NARA. On our main website,
www.archives.gov, you can learn more about the resources we offer to the
public, and you can access our online catalog.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and pursuant to guidance received from the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal
operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work
while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of
our staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may
experience a delay in receiving a substantive response to your FOIA
request. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your
understanding and patience.

Sincerely,
Susan Gillett
Government Information Specialist
Office of General Counsel
National Archives and Records Administration
College Park, MD 20740-6001
susan.gillett@nara.gov

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <admin@foiaonline.gov>
Date: Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 7:56 AM
Subject: FOIA Request Deletion: NARA-NGC-2021-001235
To: <susan.gillett@nara.gov>

Below is an export of the submitted request information for the FOIA
request NARA-NGC-2021-001235.

- *Name and Address*
- First Name: Erin
- Middle Initial: Marie
- Last Name: Miller
- Organization:
- Mailing Address Location: United States/U.S. Territories
- Address Line 1: MuckRock News DEPT MR 117334
- Address Line 2: 411A Highland Ave
- City: Somerville
- State/Province: MA
- Zip/Postal Code: 02144-2516
- *Contact Information*
- E-mail Address: requests@muckrock.com
- Phone Number:
- Fax Number:
- *Agency and Fee Information*
- Assigned Agency: NGC - Office of General Counsel
- Will Pay Up To: $0.00
- *Description*
- To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the
following records:

- All responsive documents and records related to the planning,
activities, and closure of the Committee on Public Information,
also known
as the CPI or Creel Committee.

For further reference or clarification, refer to this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

To assist you in your search, please refer to the following link for
the specific locations of all of the requested records:
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/063.html.

However, the records are old and I have reason to believe they have
been digitized previously for an earlier requester.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public,
and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know
that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently
by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my
portfolio
at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism.

Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public
interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of the historical operations or activities of the
government
and is not primarily in my commercial interest.

Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of
all fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up
to $25 for
the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds
this amount,
please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20
business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller
- *Fee Waiver*
- Fee Waiver Requested: Yes
- Fee Waiver Reason: The requested documents will be made available
to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial
purposes. In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should
know that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published
frequently by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You
can view my
portfolio at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism. Disclosure of the
requested information to me is in the public interest because it
is likely
to contribute significantly to public understanding of the historical
operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my
commercial interest. Because of my status as a news media requester, I
request a waiver of all fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I
am willing
to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for
this request
exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing prior to
beginning work on
the request.
- *Expedited Processing*
- Expedited Processing Requested: No
- Expedited Processing Reason:
---

On Aug. 6, 2021:
Subject: FOIA Request NARA-NGC-2021-001235 Submitted
This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline
application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (
https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=NARA-NGC-2021-001235&type=request)

* Tracking Number: NARA-NGC-2021-001235
* Requester Name: Erin Marie Miller
* Date Submitted: 08/06/2021
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following
records:

- All responsive documents and records related to the planning, activities,
and closure of the Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI
or Creel Committee.

For further reference or clarification, refer to this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

To assist you in your search, please refer to the following link for the
specific locations of all of the requested records:
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/063.html.

However, the records are old and I have reason to believe they have been
digitized previously for an earlier requester.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I
am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently by print
and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my portfolio at
www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism.

Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest
because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of
the historical operations or activities of the government and is not
primarily in my commercial interest.

Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of all
fees.
If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up to $25 for the
requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount,
please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller
---

On Aug. 5, 2021:
Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Committee on Public
Information
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following
records:

- All responsive documents and records related to the planning, activities,
and closure of the Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI
or Creel Committee.

For further reference or clarification, refer to this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information

To assist you in your search, please refer to the following link for the
specific locations of all of the requested records:
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/063.html.

However, the records are old and I have reason to believe they have been
digitized previously for an earlier requester.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I
am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently by print
and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my portfolio at
www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism.

Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest
because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of
the historical operations or activities of the government and is not
primarily in my commercial interest.

Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of all
fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up to $25 for the
requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount,
please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 117334
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

Dear Erin Marie Miller:

This is in response to your November 3, 2022, Freedom of Information (FOIA)
request (23-06732) concerning a follow-up question you had about Record
Group (RG) 63, Records of the Committee on Public Information (CPI), also
known as the Creel Committee. We received your request on November 8, 2022.

The online document you cited
<https://archive.org/details/CompleteReportCommitteeOnPublicInformation191719181919/page/n3/mode/2up>in
your follow-up appears to be the final report of Chairman of the CPI, which
was printed by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Additionally, the same
online source has 48 other publications put out by the CPI and printed by
the GPO. Publications of the GPO are available from
Federal Depository Libraries <https://ask.gpo.gov/s/FDLD>, although
publications this old may only be available from a regional library. We
also found a copy of the Chairman’s report
<https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7cr6hg6c&view=1up&seq=10>
on HathiTrust <https://www.hathitrust.org/>. While it’s possible that Ohio
State University Library obtained these documents from us, they could have
also come from one of two Federal Depository Libraries associated with Ohio
State University.

Your original request was for “all responsive documents and records related
to the planning, activities, and closure” of the CPI, which pretty much
encompasses all of RG 63. Our original response on August 30, 2021, stated
that while we “make reasonable efforts to assist researchers with their
work. As a matter of policy, the National Archives is staffed to assist
researchers with their work, including but not limited to pointing
researchers to helpful finding aids to begin their research. However, given
the limitations on staff resources, we do not generally conduct substantive
research in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information
Act, except in circumstances where documents are easily locatable’. RG 63
consists of roughly 150 cubic feet of records, well over 300,000 pages.
Those records represent only a tiny fraction of the material available with
RG 63.

All the records in RG 63 are open and available for public review, so it is
not necessary to file FOIA request to gain access to them.

We can make these records and their finding aids available to you in the
Textual Research Rooms at the National Archives in College Park, MD
(Archives 2). We are now using Eventbrite to schedule research appointments
for the Textual Research Room and the Microfilm Reading Room. You can also
hire a professional researcher <https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help>
to conduct research on your behalf.

We are scheduling visits no more than three months in advance as we are
closely monitoring local public health metrics due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Research room hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm.

Visit the Textual Research Room Appointments page
<https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/textual-research-room-appointments-487599>
if you are interested in accessing textual records. Visit the Microfilm
Reading Room Appointments page
<https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/microfilm-reading-room-appointments-578089>
if you are interested in viewing microfilm.

· Navigate to Upcoming Events and click on the desired date

· Click Register and complete the registration process

*If tickets for a particular room do not appear during registration,
appointments for that day are sold out. We recommend checking back in the
event of cancellations.

Complete the online Researcher Orientation
<https://rise.articulate.com/share/uK5NGkSpg74JHLTOcGPmM4e94MJyxQgD#/> as
well as the online researcher registration form
<https://researchercommunity.force.com/securitycentral/s/kiosk-registration>
before scheduling an appointment on Eventbrite.

Please note the important information:

· Research room hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm

· Records must be from the same stack area per pull

· On-site pulls must be submitted before 3:00pm.

· Any reproduction equipment that we provide is available on a first-come,
first-serve basis.

· You may bring your own equipment provided that it meets our
specifications
<https://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/self-service-copying.html#rsrequip>;
overnight storage is not available

· We do have lockers, but you will need to bring a quarter to use the
lockers

· Masks are required in the building in High transmission. In Medium and
Low community transmission, all facility occupants at Archives II are
permitted to *voluntarily *wear a face covering in Medium and Low, if they
choose.

· Face coverings will continue to be required for all passengers on the
A1/A2 shuttle, at all community levels.

You can also hire a researcher to conduct research on your behalf. A list
of private researchers who are familiar with National Archives facilities
is available on our web site at
https://www.archives.gov/research/hire-help/index.html.

If you hire a researcher, they will need to make an appointment through
Eventbrite.

We do not consider this response a denial under the Freedom of Information
Act because the records are open and available for research and do not
require a FOIA request. However, if you are not satisfied with our action
on this request, your options for appeal and dispute resolution are
outlined in the attachment.

Sincerely,

EUGENE F. MORRIS

Archives II Textual Reference Branch (RR2RR)

National Archives at College Park, MD

From: NARA General Counsel FOIA Office <foia@nara.gov>