In the nearly one hundred years since the first state archives was established, all states have designated a repository for their archival records and most have instituted records management. Organizational structures, resources, and programs vary greatly, but state archivists and records administrators have developed common principles and share innovations through organizations that enhance their ability to cooperate and communicate, particularly the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Priorities and challenges facing these programs include asserting archival concerns as information-related policies and regulations evolve, developing programs for managing and preserving electronic records, and using information technologies to improve access to records.

The late 1990s is a period of transition for the Delaware Public Archives. Current trends in public administration and government records management, coupled with vestiges of its first ninety years of operations, have coalesced to drive activities today. Four specific circumstances propel these activities: construction of a new Public Archives facility; the impact of information technology on government recordkeeping; enhanced demands for open and accountable government and public access to government information; and rising expectations of government records users. The Delaware Public Archives has found strategic planning to be an essential tool in mapping responses to these challenges.

This article traces the development of the archival program at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) since the mid-1980s. Like most other state archives, the SCDAH has had to deal with some major organizational and resource changes in the past decade. Among the topics and issues addressed are: the impact of increasing state fiscal constraints, strategic planning and Total Quality Management, information technology and electronic records, federal grants, and the opportunities for statewide archival involvement through the State Historical Records Advisory Board. The article concludes with consideration of the prospects for further and potentially far-reaching changes in the program relating to the construction of the South Carolina History Center which is scheduled to open in the spring of 1998.

This article discusses the impact of information technology on state archival programs. It argues that the context in which these programs function is critical to understanding and directing them, maintains that the World Wide Web confers enormous benefit on state archives with little expense, finds the direction of current electronic records theory unsatisfactory, and proposes using information technology to succeed and even prosper in an era of anti-government sentiment.

This article traces the development, implementation, and effects of a series of advanced institutes held at the University of Pittsburgh from 1989 to 1996. It provides an in-depth assessment of each year's program and commentary about its usefulness. These grant-funded institutes offered a unique opportunity for government archivists to receive a continuing education on advanced technology, and their impact on state archival programs has been significant.

In the Information Age, traditional organizational and geographical barriers are falling. While overlapping jurisdictions and historical accidents occasionally led to the scattering and fragmentation of documentation in the past, modern federalism has accelerated and systematized problems with decentralization and fragmentation of government records in the United States. During the past decade, federal, state, and local government archivists and records managers have worked together on pilot projects to address problems with historic and modern records fragmentation. These projects offer new approaches and experiences in the documentation of intergovernmental records and the development of a national perspective on the management of government records in the twenty-first century.

Several trends affecting government will influence government archives and records programs in the near term. Government is flattening, becoming smaller and more intergovernmental in nature. The increasing use of information technology and telecommunications in government makes its records more vulnerable, more valuable commercially, and more accessible. Government archives will take on new roles as regulator, negotiator, and advocate for the management of records. To be successful in this volatile future, government archives must build expertise in management issues, such as privacy, security, access and retrieval, and long-term retention, and closer ties with constituents within and outside the government.