Recent critics have argued that archival work is inherently too simplistic for theoretical discussion. Careful definition of terms and systematic analysis of historical development demonstrates that archivists can benefit from the conscious development of general principles to explain and analyze in ways that solve problems and redress past mistakes. Archives is a metadiscipline in an applied context, whose theory embraces elements from the humanities, science, and organizational theory. The author proposes a general theory or mission statement for archivists that balances their administrative responsibilities with their duty to insure the development of a documentary heritage.

To gain a full picture of research use, it is necessary to explore not only who uses archives and what they use archives for, but also at what point researchers turn to archival materials, and where, how, and why such materials are used. To explore the potential of a broader-based analysis of information seeking and use, ten historians were interviewed about their views of research and their research practices, with special reference to their use of archival sources. Recommendations are offered concerning the training of both researchers and archivists.

Documentation strategy received a great deal of professional attention and interest during the 1980s. It appeared to provide a theoretical basis for the acquisition of primary source materials and suggested a number of specific methodologies. But are documentation strategies that different from collection development? A review of the archival literature over the past twenty years suggests that any difference may be more apparent than real.

During the past five years, archivists have shown considerable interest in the mechanisms for carrying out collections analysis projects. Little attention has been given, however, to what happens after the completion of the collections analysis project. In 1986 the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan carried out a collections analysis project that in large part has shaped subsequent field work efforts. The author discusses the ways the library has prioritized subject interests and implemented new procedures for acquiring collections. She discusses efforts in four priority collecting areas: the automobile industry, alcohol and substance abuse, African-American churches, and abortion politics.

In Oklahoma, there is no systematic approach to the management of local records. Problems with access exist because of decentralization, and because the Works Progress Administration conducted the last extensive survey of local records about fifty years ago. In order to help remedy this situation, the Oklahoma Historical Records Survey of 1989 produced, for the first time in one source, a listing of most early-day county and municipal records, using questionnaires with follow-up telephone contacts distributed to 722 governmental offices throughout Oklahoma. The project produced a Guide to the Historical Records of Oklahoma. The author discusses all aspects of the project including the development of a survey instrument, conduct of the survey, findings, response patterns, publication of the results, and implications for future historical records surveys.

The new openness in Soviet society in recent years has led to dramatic changes in Soviet archives. There has been tremendous progress in normalization of access and working conditions, along with an increase in foreign projects and collaborative ventures, although some archives still retain the characteristics of a closed society. Captured Nazi records and other foreign archival materials brought back to Moscow at the end of World War II remain sealed in the "Special Archive," but their existence has finally been admitted. Significant problems continue to affect archival research, and other serious archival problems remain in the areas of appraisal and acquisition of records, and a lack of adequate archival security, storage, and reproduction facilities, many of them related to the country's economic and political crisis. Reduced budgets have forced archives to assume more financial responsibility by moving toward a fee-for-service basis, even as they have been given more autonomy from centralized control. The author discusses efforts through the end of 1990 to provide a legal structure for archival reform through attempts to draft a new law governing archives and resulting conflicts within the archival community. She concludes that archival perestroika must ultimately await resolution of political and economic structural issues and of the nature and extent of the federal union.

The authors visited the Soviet Union in October 1989 in accordance with an agreement between the Main Archival Administration of the USSR Council of Ministers and the Commission on Soviet-American Archival Cooperation of the American Council of Learned Societies. They discuss the appraisal and accessioning practices of Soviet archives, focusing on the roles of various institutions, including the Main Archival Administration, All-Union Scientific Research Institute, expert appraisal commissions, state archives, and agency archives. The authors also describe new directions in the appraisal area resulting in part from glasnost and perestroika, including changes in the definition of historical value, greater variety in the sources for archives, concerns about new types of audiovisual and electronic records, and efforts to reduce the bulk of records.