Series consists of a variety of records created and used by External Relations units and its predecessors over time to monitor press coverage of World Bank Group news and events and, if necessary, to formulate responses to that press coverage.

A large portion of the records are press clippings or photocopies of clippings dating from 1949 to 1998, however, there is a gap in the clippings from 1962 to 1972 and 1980 to 1993. Press clippings were primarily collected from American newspaper outlets including the Washington Post, Washington Star, New York Times and others, as well as foreign print media such as the London Financial Times. The clippings cover Bank activities and developments, global economic and development events, Annual Meetings and Annual Reports, statements, speeches and trips of the Bank Presidents beginning with President Eugene Black, IDA, Bank personnel, and World Bank anniversaries beginning with its tenth anniversary. There are weekly press reports containing clippings beginning fromNovember 1976 to 1979. The earlier press clippings dating from 1949 were created by the Public Relations Department led by Director Harold N. Graves who served from November 1950 to 1967. Another set of photocopied press clippings relating to Bank activities and its major meetings and conferences were maintained by the News Bureau of the EXT Media Division. These files predominantly date from 1994 to 1998, however, there are two files with information on IDA from 1962 to 1996, and World Bank project summaries from 1977 to 1979. Press clipping files also include a scrapbook on various Bank issues in India in 1957, and press reports, also referred to as news bureau dissemination reports, dating from 1994 to 1998, that provide summaries of news articles, editorials or letters to the editor about the Bank and its activities. Many of the dissemination reports include an attached memo from the Media Division (EXTME) to the External Relations Vice Presidency (EXTVP) that reports on preparation, major EXT activities, media coverage, and lessons learned. The dissemination reports also contain all press releases, briefings, talking points, and letters to the editor, all related to the event, as well as an analysis of media coverage for internal use by EXT to provide a brief overview of media perception and to examine stories for accuracy and thoroughness. Press clipping files also occasionally contain typed translations of foreign news articles and World Bank news releases.

The series also contains compiled reference material including country articles, financial statements, and case books used for internal or public information, created by the Information and Public Affairs Unit (IPA) in the 1960s and 1970s. Country Article files, dating from 1967 to 1972 (predominantly 1970-1972), contain summaries or information reports appended with financial data about developed and developing countries, basic country data and background on its economy, history of Bank operations in the developing country, and figures on Bank loans and IDA credits. For developed countries, the report includes a summary of the country's history of its relationship with the World Bank Group, Bank's borrowings in the country, disbursements, and the country's goods/services contributed to Bank-funded projects and Bank loans.

Other reference files contain: financial statements for World Bank, IDA and IFC, 1966-1967; policy documents including Board papers 1973-1976; a file titled "Irreverent Inquiries" that provides responses to common Bank queriesand criticisms; and an IDA Briefing Book prepared in 1977 that explains Bank policies on a variety of topics. The IDA Case Books from 1961 to 1974 created by IPA include information on a variety of topics, including: IDA replenishment; health and nutrition; and IDA's relationship with the United States government. There is also a list of IDA publication credits from 1961 to 1969. The series also contains Annual Meeting files, 1966 to 1977, compiled for the Special Guests Office including lists of external and press attendees, as well as administrative correspondence on press attendees' attendance and accommodations.

Also included in the series are Public Relations general files, dating from 1947 to 1968, mostly containing correspondence of the Public Relations Department. Records include copies of memoranda and letters, meeting minutes and summaries, handwritten notes, and working documents relating to: the Bank's public relations-related activities such as articles and speeches given by the Bank President and senior staff; leaks in the press; marketing; film and radio production; the first meeting of the Committee on Information, February 20 1947, which examined the Bank's communications and relationship with the press, as well as the Ad Hoc Committee on Internal Information from 1951. There are also yearly reports outlining all publications, press releases, and speeches by Bank staff. A small volume of files relate to the production of Bank posters, Annual Meeting exhibits, and the Bank's participation at International Exhibitions (Expo) as part of the UN family pavilion. The exhibit files contain original invitations to the exhibition, copies of minutes of the UN Expo Committee meetings, copies of outgoing letters and cables to government organization officials and United Nations headquarters, and printed materials from external organizers. There are also two files relating to the Bank's participation in the Washington World Conference on World Peace Through Law held in Washington, DC in September 1965.

Series contains records of the front offices of External Relations Vice Presidency (EXTVP) and Directors of EXT units and EXT predecessor units, including Development Services Department (DSD). EXTVP records include chronological and subject files documenting the unit's strategic management of World Bank Group's communications and relationships with donor countries, international organizations, media, and the private sector as well as internal communication within the Bank.

Records include the chronological files of Mark Malloch Brown, 1994 to 1999, while he was first Director of External Affairs (1994-1995) and then Vice President when EXT was elevated again to a Vice Presidency in January 1996. Chronological files of Brown's successor, Vice President Mats Karlsson, date from 1999 to 2001. Both Vice Presidents chronological files contain copies of outgoing memoranda, letters and printed emails, often with attached incoming letters, facsimiles, reports and external documents. Many of the files also contain the Vice Presidents' handwritten notes and drafts of replies. Correspondence addressees include Managing Director Sven Sandstrom and other Bank senior staff as well as representatives and senior officials of various United Nations (UN) agencies and other international organizations. Chronological files document the day to day management of the Bank-wide external relations program, including the arrangement of speaking engagements and meetings, notes and statements drafted for President Wolfensohn, and cooperation with UN agencies including comments on external papers and collaboration on development operations.

Other chronological files included in the series are those of: Rachel Weaving (Chief, EXT Internal Communications Division) dating from 1998 to 1999; Judith Maguire (Senior Advisor to the EXT Vice President) dating from 1996 to 1998; J. William Stanton (Senior Advisor to the EXT Vice President) dating from 1992 to 1994; and Timothy Cullen (various EXT positions including Senior Advisor to EXT Vice President and Chief of Information and Public Affairs) dating from 1980 to 1999.

Subject files included in this series date from 1984 to 2003. The majority were created and accumulated between 1994 and 2003 by Vice Presidents Mark Malloch Brown (1994-1999), and Mats Karlsson (1999-2003). Other subject files were created by Tim Cullen when he was Senior Advisor, EXTVP responsible for media (1996-1999) and also between 1989 and 1993 when he was Chief, Information and Public Affairs.

With one exception, the subject files in this series were created beginning in 1984. The files between 1984 and 1994 were created primarily by Alexander Shakow while he was Senior Adviser, International Relations Department (1984-1987) then Director, Strategic Planning and Review Department (SPR) (1987-1990) until SPR's termination in 1990 after which Shakow became Director of External Affairs Department (EXT) around July 1990. A small portion of the subject files from this period were also created by the International Relations Department (IRD) Director's Office under Shahid Javed Burki and IRD's United Nations Affairs unit.

EXTVP subject files cover the broad range of the office's responsibilities and are filed by organization or institution, country, region, issue or theme. Files document activities including: the front office's comments on papers; information about Bank and joint meetings; the Vice President's advice and support to the Bank President regarding Bank publicity; development of communications strategies and communication plans including responses prepared for the Bank on sensitive or politically-charged topics and planning and execution of campaigns on Bank-wide issues and outreach; writing, or clearance, of letters to the editor of major publications relating to articles involving the Bank; internal communications products such as Bank's World, and communications support for the Bank-wide change initiatives; internal publications; film and video projects; administration and organization of EXT and its units; Annual Meeting preparations and drafting of the meeting speech for President; and the Bank's relationships with UN institutions including United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Exchange Program, United Nations Foundation, and other intergovernmental or international institutions such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO), Oxfam, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The more voluminous subject files includecorruption, dams and the World Conference on Dams, IDA lending and replenishments, poverty, debt and the Heavily Indebted Countries Initiative (HIPC), Group of Seven (G7) summits, the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project; and planning of events and publicity for the Bank's 50th anniversary in 1994.

Subject files contain correspondence including copies of outgoing memoranda, emails and facsimiles, as well as original memoranda, and incoming letters. Addressees include EXTVP staff and EXT senior staff inthe European offices and Tokyo, Bank President and Vice Presidents, Managing Directors, country or sector directors, other Bank senior staff, and external organizations. The correspondence is often attached to final and draft papers, draft letters and statements, talking points, concept notes, reports and memoranda authored by UN agencies, articles, press releases, press clippings, transcripts, and handwritten notes of the Vice President.

Subject files also document the Vice President's input provided to the Bank President and drafting of statements or letters to be sent by the President, or briefing material for the President or occasionally Managing Directors.

Correspondence between EXTVP and EXT European and Tokyo offices primarily relates to visits of delegations, summaries of meetings attended by Bank President or EXT senior staff, relations with external organizations, feedback from member countries (on IDA and G7), and the Bank's coverage in the press or summaries of press conferences attended by EXT personnel.

There are also files relating to EXTVP retreats that took place in 1996 to 1997 and a 1988 press briefing speech by EXT Director Francisco J. Aguirre-Sacasa, as well as five photographs of World Bank-Switzerland signing agreement in April 1997 attended by President James Wolfensohn.

Among the earlier records of the series are those of William Clark who served as Director of Information and Public Affairs from 1967 to 1973 while reporting to the Development Services Department (DSD) and then as Director of External Affairs from 1973 to 1974 in the newly established External Affairs Staff (ERS) complex following the Bank's 1973 reorganization. When External Affairs was elevated to the status of a Vice Presidency in 1974, William Clark was promoted to Vice President, External Affairs (VPE). Clark's records relate to the Pearson Commission on International Development from 1968 to 1970 and include correspondence on the selection of Commission members, copies of statements of various national and international development agencies, as well as a copy of the President's memoranda on the report's recommendations.

Clark's records related to the Independent Commission on International Development Issues, also known as the Brandt Commission, date from 1976 to 1981. The records primarily contain chronological files of memoranda, letters and cables between the organizers and candidates/members of the Commission, as well as press clippings, reports and notes on conversations and meetings. Clark's Brandt Commission chronological files are accompanied by several subject files on the establishment and membership of the Commission; public reaction to its establishment; the Bank's follow-up on its conclusions, including lists of Commission proposals to be reviewed by the Board (some of which are heavily annotated by Bank President McNamara); and correspondence handled by Clark for President McNamara.

The series also contains records of the International Relations Department (IRD) Director's Officepredominantly dating from 1973 to 1983 during Director Shirley Boskey's tenure. Records created by Boskey's predecessors, Richard H. Demuth, Director of Development Services Department (DSD) dating 1965 to 1973, and Michael Hoffman, Director of IRD from 1973 to 1975 are also included. The records of Directors Boskey, Hoffman and Demuth are mainly comprised of subject files related to the management of the Bank's relationships with intergovernmental organizations and international institutions, primarily UN institutions (including the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] and the International Labour Organization [ILO]) on development issues, meetings, arrangement of visits, comments on UN papers; and internal meetings attended by the Director. There are also several files dating from 1969 to 1970 and 1978 related to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and its working parties, in which the Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)were observers. Correspondence contains copies of outgoing memoranda, letters, and telexes, and is often filed with: minutes or summaries of external meetings; reports and proposals intended for presentation by Bank staff; annotated copies of draft speeches or letters to UN officials prepared for Bank President McNamara along with the original addressed to President; articles; and Boskey's handwritten notes. There are also copies of memoranda and letters on which the Director was copied, particularly regarding the Publication Committee chaired by the Vice President of External Relations.

The series also contains separate chronological files of Assistants to the Development Services Director, Max Ebstein (1972, 1974) and Pastor B. Sison (1972 to 1975), and consist of copies of memoranda and cables.

Also included in the series is a small number of 'General' correspondence files including outgoing memos and letters written by Special Advisor Peter L. Chatenay on behalf of the IRD Director to other IRD staff, Bank staff or external addressees including UNDP. Correspondence relates to meetings of the President, dignitary visits, UNDP projects and financing and Bank-UN relations.

Series contains sound recordings and videos created by External Relations and its predecessor units documenting World Bank meetings and other events organized, sponsored, or attended by Bank units. The series primarily contains audio reels of Annual Meeting speeches by Bank Presidents, Governors and world leaders as well as various Annual Meetings sessions. These materials date from 1954 to 1999. Records from Annual Meetings from the years 1955, 1961, 1964 and 1967 are missing from this series. Audio reelsof consultative group, consortia, and aid meetings, from 1965 to 1980, are also included.

The series also contains a collection of recorded speeches, press conferences, and interviews, primarily of Bank Presidents but also featuring other Bank staff. These audio reels cover the period 1956 to 1987. Speeches given by President McNamara are the most common, but Presidents Clausen, Conable, Woods, and Black also appear in the recordings. There are audio reels recording President Black's television addressto the National Farm Institute in 1956 and a press conference in April 1957.

Other sound recordings consist of speeches given by various Bank staff, including Vice President Robert L. Garner, at conferences, seminars, and other forums, audio reels relating to the Orangi Pilot Project in Pakistan which was launched in 1980, and audio cassettes of various Bank press conferences from 1997 to 1999.

Videos included in this series contain Bank Presidents' speeches, addresses, press conferences, and interviews covering the period 1985 to 2010 but are predominantly from President Wolfensohn's tenure from 1995 to 2005. Videos include: speeches and press conferences at Annual Meetings by Presidents Conable, Preston, Wolfensohn, Wolfowitz and Zoellick; World Development Report (WDR) press conferences; town halls; President Wolfensohn's speeches and addresses given at high-level meetings, conferences, or trips to countries; and international media interviews of Bank presidents. Other videos document interviews with other World Bank staff. A small number of videos relate to orientation for new staff (1988) and proceedings of meetings such as Second Africa Regional Workshop on Harmonization, Alignment and Results for Development Effectiveness (2004), and the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) in 2006.

Series contains sound recordings and films intended for public audiences that promote the World Bank Group or provide information about its operations. The series also contains a small amount of textual records relating to the production and distribution of films and radio programs by the External Relations (EXT) Vice Presidency and its predecessors. In most cases, EXT units were responsible for producing the material for radio, film and television.

The Bank's Public Relations Department (PRD) began producing documentary films about the Bank's work in 1951. These early films were circulated broadly to movie theaters, television stations, schools, universities, and adult discussion clubs. These earliest films are not contained in this series, presumably because they were discontinued after 2 to 3 years in circulation and may have been destroyed by the Office of Information.

With regard to radio programs, PRD's successor, the Office of Information (INFO), began creating and distributing recorded interviews with or speeches by Bank staff or senior country officials in 1955. These segments were used and distributed by the United Nations and carried to numerous radio stations in the United States.

The series is predominantly comprised of documentary or informational videos produced or co-produced by World Bank for international television media outlets or for development education. Videos date from 1984 to 2005 but are mostly from 1990 to early 2000. They document: development activities in various countries; interviews with government officials, citizens and workers; and raw footage shot in various countries including city, village and industrial scenes. Themes and topics include: first loans signed; Uganda education reform; industry in Russia; the aftermath of the 2005 tsunami in Asia; World Bank