Series consists of a numerical index finding aid to the main decision file series from 1966 to 1996. (RG 55 volumes 1583-1643, 21982-22037).
This "index" is in fact a practical finding aid created by the Treasury Board in 1966 to provide limited subject access to the main decision file series which is arranged numerically by Treasury Board number and is, therefore, inaccessible on a subject basis. The "numerical index" is a relatively primitive tool composed of the first (summary) page of each submission which, by virtue of its arrangement, provides limited subject access to the main decision file series to the level of department or agency by year. This system replaced a card index system maintained from 1948 to 1965. The portion of the index card system, arranged by year, by department and then by main type of submission does not survive. The loss of this earlier card index system has bedevilled extensive research use of the decision file series for the years in question, making a search on the main decision file impractical for most subjects unless the date of approval were known in advance. (See R776-40-6-E for a description of other tools to subject access pre-1966 files.
The numerical index arranges the first page of each submission by year of approval and then by department (and then by subordinate agency) and then, for the larger departments, by one of four main types of submission related to personnel matters, contracts, expenditures, and miscellaneous matters not falling into one of the other three and finally, within each subject type, by discrete Treasury board number. With a date range and a narrowed focus on one or two agencies a search, while still laborious, becomes practical using this access tool. With the main series arranged simply by number, this original finding aid is also the only method of retrieving a decision where the authority number reference has been lost.
In order to use the index files effectively, researchers must be aware that the original order within each larger departmental file has been maintained according to the four categories of submission (personnel, contracts, expenditures and miscellaneous) but that there is absolutely nothing to indicate where the divisions occur. The only means of determining the shifts from one type to another is that the sequential decision numbers will be arranged in order by type; thus, where contract decisions end and expenditures begin will show a sudden jump backwards in the numbered sequence. In theory, the order of four types of decisions is always the same so that a researcher would proceed as if decisions related to personnel preceded contracts which preceded expenditures which preceded decisions on the residual miscellaneous category.
