The Cold War and the East-West Battle for Information Superiority, 1945 - 1969
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University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 2016 Empowering The neE my: The oldC War And The East-West Battle orF Information Superiority, 1945 - 1969 Stan Trembach University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Trembach, S.(2016). Empowering The Enemy: The Cold War And The East-West Battle For Information Superiority, 1945 - 1969. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3882 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EMPOWERING THE ENEMY: THE COLD WAR AND THE EAST-WEST BATTLE FOR INFORMATION SUPERIORITY, 1945 - 1969 by Stan Trembach Bachelor of Arts Samara State Pedagogical University, 2002 Master of Arts Clemson University, 2004 Master of Library Science University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 2006 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science College of Information and Communications University of South Carolina 2016 Accepted by: Samantha K. Hastings, Major Professor R. David Lankes, Committee Member Patricia E. Feehan, Committee Member Charles Bierbauer, Committee Member Cheryl L. Addy, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School © Copyright by Stan Trembach, 2016 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people whose contributions have made this work possible. I would like to thank my Dissertation Committee: Samantha K. Hastings (Chair), R. David Lankes, Patricia E. Feehan, and Charles Bierbauer for sharing their expertise and providing numerous insights and suggestions throughout this research. I would then like to thank Dr. Robert V. Williams for encouraging me to pursue this topic and giving me invaluable guidance at the initial stages of the project. I want to recognize Bill Sudduth for all his assistance with finding and evaluating secondary sources on American and foreign information policies. I am also indebted to Dr. Eugene Garfield, Bonnie Lawlor, Dr. Toni Carbo, and Dr. Tefko Saracevic for generously spending their time with me to share their experiences with the Soviet information management system. I am certainly thankful to the entire SLIS faculty who provided their feedback and constructive criticism of my research at many professional conferences and during private conversations. I would like to acknowledge the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the University of South Carolina Walker Institute for providing financial support of my research. Finally, I am eternally grateful to Liya Deng for her love and care, unflinching support, and encouragement that have kept me sane and propelled me forward from the beginning of this dissertation until this very day. The journey would not have started and would not have been completed without you. iii ABSTRACT This comparative study employs a historical perspective to narrow the gap in the existing knowledge of the origins of an information explosion phenomenon that dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century. It argues that the root cause of the unprecedented growth of the overall amount of documents was the rapid expansion of scientific and technical advances across the world and the subsequent spread of modern technologies, particularly those applied to scientific and technical information (STI). This research is based on the premise that the thriving of the Soviet military- industrial complex went hand in hand with the rise of the STI management system in the mid-twentieth century United States. However, the specific nature of that two-way relationship has been insufficiently studied, in part due to information isolation and the scarcity of original sources. Reflecting the regime in place, the Soviets and the Western world pursued a unique course in managing STI. Using a number of primary and secondary sources, this research examines the Soviet centralized system of tightly regulated government control over information versus an amalgam of various U.S. agencies, jurisdictions, private and even academic institutions playing a role in STI gathering, storage, and dissemination. Overall, by exploring the practices of a range of the U.S. and Soviet information agencies, this research throws additional light on how the United States and the Soviet Union handled the Cold War information overload. In doing so, it opens up new iv educational opportunities and informs our judgment about the challenges and possibilities in scientific and scholarly research brought about by today’s global information age. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 1.1 Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................2 1.2 Background: The Global Information Crisis Ensues .......................................4 1.3 The German Influence: 1939-1945 ...................................................................7 1.4 Research Questions .........................................................................................13 1.5 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................15 1.6 Definition of Terms .........................................................................................16 1.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...........................................................22 2.1 The post-1945 Information Explosion Uncovered .........................................24 2.2 "Information" as a Central Phenomenon of the Cold War .............................28 2.3 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................34 vi 2.4 Conflict Theory in the Information Race .........................................................37 2.5 Application to the Current Study ....................................................................39 2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................41 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................44 3.1 Comparative Historical Analysis ....................................................................46 3.2 Qualitative Research Design: Relevance for the Current Study .....................50 3.3 The Interview Protocol ...................................................................................52 3.4 Justification of Methods ..................................................................................55 3.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................58 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS .................................................................60 4.1 Scientific and Technical Information in the United States .............................60 4.2 Scientific and Technical Information in the Soviet Union .............................74 4.3 Interviews ........................................................................................................87 4.4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................113 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................114 5.1 Interpretation of Findings .............................................................................114 5.2 Outcomes and Implications for Research and Practice .................................124 5.3 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................132 5.4 Conclusions ....................................................................................................134 vii REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................140 APPENDIX A: LIST OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ...................................................151 APPENDIX B: USC INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL ...................152 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Federal Research and Development Expenditures as a Percentage of the U.S. Budget, 1940-60, millions of dollars .................................................................................67 Table 4.2 Federal Research and Development Expenditures as a Percentage of the U.S. Budget, 1950-69, millions of dollars .................................................................................68 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AEC.......................................................................................... Atomic Energy Commission FIAT ..........................................................................