The literature of a profession—or the quality of its theory, research on that theory, and the dissemination of that research—is one indication of a profession's health and vitality. Fortunately, American archival literature has shown steady and considerable improvement over the years, but archivists still must grapple with some serious problems challenging their literature; more importantly, the archival profession's future partly depends on the resolution of problems such as those that affect its literature. This essay reviews the history of archival writing in the United States, analyzes the development of this literature, evaluates obstacles to archival research and publication, and recommends actions for the improvement of the literature.

Film archives—despite the "published" nature of many collections—share conventional archivists' problems in processing information on their holdings. Also common to both is the feeling that the introduction of computers should make easier the sharing of processed information and the realization that such data exchange is dependent on the acceptance of common standards and formats. Information given to the Cataloguing Commission of the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF), which is developing such standards, indicates that progress at the national level in some countries may come to hinder, not help, international developments and illustrates some of the problems in planning international cooperation.

In recent years several archivists have challenged the profession's approach to collection development as being haphazard, uncoordinated, and random. Collection analysis, the evaluation of the characteristics of a repository's holdings, attempts to systematize and bring more planning to the collecting process. Between 1980 and 1986 three midwestern state historical repositories conducted collection analysis studies—the Minnesota Historical Society, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Staff members analyzed the manuscript holdings to determine what topics their collections documented, and in what number. The quantified data was reviewed in detail and eventually resulted in the development of new collecting priorities and strategies. The analysis was a useful managerial tool that brought greater consciousness to the collecting process. Its value, however, went beyond individual repositories to foster interinstitutional cooperation.

Over the past several years archivists have discussed a wide range of institutional and extra-institutional policies that affect the appraisal of records. This article attempts to conceptualize how the appraisal process operates and the various appraisal tools fit together. It concludes by discussing the efficacy of current archival vocabulary in accurately portraying what archivists do when they appraise.

Women have been members of the Society of American Archivists since its inception in 1936. Of the 226 founding members, 28 percent were women. In the following decades their numbers increased to 33 percent of the membership and that percentage held through the 1970s. Yet women's participation in the formal activities of the Society was well below the percentage of women members in the Society. Furthermore, until the 1970s little thought was given by the Society to the interests of women. This article examines and analyzes the status and role of women in the Society of American Archivists from its inception to the establishment in 1972 of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Archival Profession. Included are a discussion of the inequities and obstacles to participation present in the Society, and descriptions of the women who participated and their contributions.