The vision for the World Basic Information Library is to be the premiere open source collection and analytical tool for the Intelligence Community.

The primary focus of the program was originally on Individual Ready Reserve personnel of the RC by allowing unit members to work remotely and accrue points towards retirement, while supporting IC and DoD requirements.

[2] The mission of the WBIL project is to collect, research and catalogue open source information documents in support of validated intelligence community and DoD requirements.

[2] Since the WBIL's 1997 inception as a pilot project focused on Africa, it has grown extensively to include authoritative Open Source materials for selected countries worldwide as well as a broad range of transnational security topics.

[3] The intent of the WBIL is to provide analysts with selected "best sources" of information as chosen and collected by regional and functional specialists in accordance with stated IC requirements.

This material seeks to answer basic questions about the military, political, economic, and infrastructure dimensions of a country, and focuses on emerging threat issues falling under six categories: Upon completion the WBIL training course, participating RC personnel receive a software package from the WBIL administrators and access to a virtual private network (VPN) enabling eligible participants to submit information to the OSIS network.

For Superior collection and production achievement, performance and service will be recognized by the U.S. Army award system administered by the Combined Arms Center, Ft Leavenworth, KS.