This series consists of records relating to support of travel by President Wolfensohn undertaken in his capacity as World Bank Group (WBG) president. Destinations included member countries of both advanced and developing economies. The objectives for Wolfensohn's travel were wide ranging, including reviewing WBG financed projects, meeting the institution's clients, promoting its work and mission, building and maintaining relationships with donors and supporters, participating in bilateral and multilateral meetings with world leaders and other stakeholders, and attending conferences.

Guidance for the preparation of the president's briefing materials by country directors, resident representatives, the Office of External Affairs (EXT) or other WBG staff is managed by the Office of the President's (EXC) Middle Office, which also participates in the planning and logistics of the president's travel. The Middle Office also receives the briefing materials from authors and disseminates to the president.

Briefing materials for each trip can range significantly in terms of content and size, depending on the nature and length of the trip. Briefing materials for most multi-country trips are organized in multiple volumes, often divided by country. Towards the end of Wolfensohn's tenure, briefing materials are, at times, divided even further into briefing materials for specific meetings or events.

Earlier travel briefing packages, from President Wolfensohn's arrival at the WBG in 1995 through 2002 or 2003, were logged in the Office of the President's (EXC) Lotus Notes archiving database together with related correspondence and other briefing materials. Each logged briefing package is given a sequential number and a "Document Log" profile was generated. In these earlier travel briefing folders, a hard copy of the log is included at the beginning of the folder; it consists of a subject or title field indicating what trip the material relates to and the date of the trip. In some cases, the table of contents for the briefingmaterials is also included. If the folder is part of a multivolume set of folders relating to a multi-country trip, the log will also indicate what portion of the trip that particular folder relates to.

Most briefing packages include a table of contents at the beginning of the file, but the types of information in each briefing package is not consistent. Travel briefing materials can include: cover note authored by EXC, EXT, or other senior WBG staff summarizing the trip; invitations from country leadersto visit their country; itineraries; logistical plans including transportation and security arrangements; information about country offices and country office staff; country fact sheets or "key data"; briefing notes covering "themes" or WBG priorities in the country or region; International Finance Corporation (IFC) briefs; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) briefs; International Monetary Fund (IMF) briefs; Bank Group or externally published materials relevant to the trip; documents illustrating different aspects of the WBG's work in specific countries or regions, including Bank country strategy, project briefs, projects under preparation, portfolio management, and Economic and Sector Work (ESW); internal memoranda related to topics relevant to the trip or to meetings Wolfensohn will participate in during the trip; maps; meeting information (including list of attendees, biographies of attendees, talking points, background on event/meeting, etc.); briefings for engagement with the media; speeches or notes for speeches to be made by President Wolfensohn; recent articles by the media on the country or related topics; articles by the media that were published during the trip and added to the briefing materials following the conclusion of the trip; thank-you letters from Wolfensohn to individuals he met with on trips and to WBG staff who organized the trips to be sent at the conclusion of the trip; notes on the trip and/or summary of the trip prepared for post-travel briefings and town halls.

The president's wife, Elaine Wolfensohn, accompanied him on many of his WBG-related trips. Briefing materials for Mrs. Wolfensohn are included for some trips. Materials include much of the same types of information included in President Wolfensohn's briefing materials, such as itinerary, country data and themes, WBG programming in the country, meeting notes, and press articles. In some cases, materials created for Mrs. Wolfensohn are integrated into the president's briefing package.

Note that handwritten notes,some in President Wolfensohn's hand, are sometimes found on the records in this series.

Finally, files containing itineraries from President Wolfensohn's travel throughout his tenure as WBG president are included in this series. Itineraries are logistical in nature, as they contain information on flights, ground transportation, and contact information in addition to basic information on scheduled meetings and events (location, participants, etc.)