A field as complex and rapidly changing as the archival profession requires effective continuing education and training. In 1997, SAA adopted “Guidelines for the Development of Post-Appointment and Continuing Education and Training Programs” (PACE) which had as its basis the Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies (GPAS) guidelines. The ACE Guidelines resulted from a scheduled review and revision of PACE in 2005 – 2006. The ACE Guidelines adopted by the SAA Council in 2006 incorporate information from SAA’s 2002 GPAS guidelines and the Academy of Certified Archivists’ 2003 Role Delineation Statement Revision.
In 2017, the Committee on Education revised the ACE Guidelines to be in better accordance with a 2016 revision of the Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies. During the 2017 ACE revision, an appendix referencing the 2004-2005 A*CENSUS was removed due to concerns about the census being outdated.
See the previous version of the ACE Guidelines (2006, 2010).