This article broadens the definitions used in Richard Berner's Archival Theory and Practice in the United States: A Historical Analysis to distinguish between two competing perspectives within the archival professional community: one that views archivists as members of a larger community of historian-scholars with a responsibility to interpret the documents in their care; and one that defines archivists as information-management professionals with a responsibility to act as "gatekeepers" for the materials under their control. These differing views influenced the establishment and development of archival institutions early in the twentieth century and continue to shape more recent debates concerning the status of archivists as professionals.

The archives at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution has developed and utilized a program for performing collection maintenance activities on archival collections using large groups of volunteers for short periods of time. The author describes the first three successful offerings of the Smithsonian National Associates Program Research Expedition in the NASM Archives and recommends considerations for other repositories that may decide to establish similar programs.

From 1913 to 1975, the American Medical Association's Department of Investigation assembled more than 300 cubic feet of files on health fraud, quackery, "patent" medicines, and alternative medicine. In 1988, the AMA obtained a grant from the National Library of Medicine to process and catalog these materials, now known as the Historical Health Fraud and Alternative Medicine Collection. Using Minaret software (a stand-alone USMARC AMC cataloging system) in combination with WordPerfect word-processing software, the project staff developed procedures that allowed it to generate textual and index entries for the printed guide to the collection as well as upload USMARC AMC records directly to the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) union catalog.

Well, yes, this is a bit abstract. But this whimsical presentation analyzes the origins, relationships, and evolution of archival terms and expressions.

The author discusses five main differences between archives in the United States and China: differences in national history and the formation of archives; differences in the archival administration system; differences in archival management; differences in the research use of archives; and differences in archival education. He remarks on some strengths and weaknesses, as he sees them, in the American archival system.

The author summarizes and comments on the Archives Law of the People's Republic of China, which went into effect on 1 January 1988. He also notes the implementing regulations of 19 November 1990.

The National Archives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan presents a fascinating paradox for archivists interested in the work of their colleagues abroad. Faced with the separate problems of poverty, illiteracy, and martial law, the National Archives of Pakistan has established and maintained a model archival program for South Asia. The collections housed at the National Archives of Pakistan—a mix of manuscripts from the Moghul rulers to the administrative papers of the first years of government—reflect the multitude of paradoxes which Pakistan has come to represent.

The author reviews four curriculum units developed by the Illinois State Archives, the National Archives, the Cleveland Bureau of Jewish Education (in cooperation with the Western Reserve Historical Society), and the Minnesota Historical Society to bring primary sources into the secondary schools.