A half century after the beginnings of records management and institutional archives in American colleges and universities, the authors undertook a broadly based national survey to analyze the state of records management in academe and to identify program characteristics. Campus-wide programs were identified at approximately one-third of the 449 responding colleges and universities, particularly at public institutions subject to state legal requirements for public accountability. The survey also identified widespread implementation of decentralized, office-centered records management programs by registrars and other campus officials. Archivists accounted for most of the survey respondents reporting no campus-wide programs. College and university archivists have long been tireless supporters of academic records management, believing that records management responsibility provides a legally mandated means to identify and accession records of enduring value. But archivists should modify their traditional approach to records management in order to implement and maintain viable programs.

Three archivists describe the development of archival programs that they formerly directed: the Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston, the Utah State Archives, and the Yale University Archives. Each case study provides a description of program development and analyzes the institutional setting and the role of managerial planning, communication, internal and external alliances, and professional standards. The three case studies, which were first presented in a session at the fifty-second annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Atlanta in October 1988, are accompanied by an introduction and commentary.

Oral records are an important source for the study of history in Senegal. As early as 1935 the French colonial government recognized the need to record the native oral traditions, but acting on those intentions had to wait until after independence in 1960. The Cultural Archives of Senegal, the Center for the Study of Civilizations, the Primary Institute of Black Africa, and the National Archives of Senegal all collect and conserve oral records, but practice has preceded theory and there is no national plan to define areas of responsibility and no agreement on uniform practices. The author describes current holdings and practices and advocates the development of a coherent policy to ensure the collection, preservation, and use of oral records.

The archival communities of the Baltic republics are engaged in political activities to reestablish independence in archival affairs. The Estonian archival community is fighting what it considers to be a Soviet campaign to control Estonian archives by subordinating the state archives under the Ministry of Justice. Estonian archivists are addressing the problems of excessive access restrictions and the lack of adequate material and technical facilities. Perhaps most importantly, work began in 1989 on the drafting of an Estonian archives law to regulate the reorganization of archives in independent Estonia.

The founding of the Dutch Association of Archivists (VAN) in June 1891 was related to developments in the organization of public records in the Netherlands at the end of the nineteenth century. That organization, which continues today, is described by the author. The role of the Dutch association, especially in the commissioning of a manual to provide practical interpretation of archival principles, and in the drafting of the first and subsequent Dutch national archives laws, is also discussed.

Archives & Museum Informatics disseminates news and analysis of developments in automation and information technologies and their effects within the archival and museum communities through the publication of a quarterly newsletter and a technical reports series, both of which are edited by David Bearman. The author reviews the contents of both the newsletters and the technical reports, concluding that they comprise a unique and badly needed means to help archivists understand the new approaches, techniques, and technologies that are reshaping human communication.