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Historical Reports

1. Understanding Progress as Process

Documentation of the History of Post-War Science and Technology in the United States

This is the final report of the Joint Committee on Archives of Science and Technology (JCAST).

It explores issues concerning scientific and technological records.

Published by SAA (1983) 64 pp., paper

2. The Image of Archivists: Resource Allocators' Perceptions (PDF)

Sidney J. Levy and Albert G. Robles

How do resource allocators perceive and characterize archivists? This qualitative study answers that question by drawing upon interviews with 44 resource allocators from government, universities, colleges, historical societies, museums, private business, industry, and social organizations. Published by SAA (1984) 62 pp., paper

3. Planning for the Archival Profession

A Report of the SAA Task Force on Goals and Priorities

This report is intended to challenge and assist members of the archival profession in charting their own future course. It is a flexible instrument, designed to respond to the changing needs of the profession as it strives to preserve our documentary heritage.

Published by SAA (1986) 46 pp., paper

4. The National Information Systems Task Force (NISTF) Papers, 1981-1984

David Bearman

This collection has great relevance to archivists today, containing numerous unexplored political and technical opportunities for the profession. Includes an introductory essay, two working papers, and two talks on NISTF's work. Published by SAA (1987) 119 pp., paper

5. An Action Agenda for the Archival Profession: Institutionalizing the Planning Process

A Report of the SAA Committee on Goals and Priorities

This report lists the recommendations of planning groups in five areas: appraisal and documentation strategies; automated records and techniques; institutional evaluation and standards; management training; and the education potential of archives.

Published by SAA (1988) 74 pp., paper

6. CGAP Five-Year Assessment Project

Compiled by Victoria Irons Walch

This is a two-part report on archival activity in the United States since the SAA Task Force on Goals and Priorities issued Planning for the Archival Profession in 1986 (listed in next column). Part I is a 21-page narrative summary identifying what activities the archival profession had planned, undertaken, and/or completed, and assessing how well these activities met the goals and objectives suggested in the GAP report. Part II contains 225 pages of comprehensive data sorts and tabulations. Published by SAA (1990) 250 pp., paper

7. Report of the Working Group on Standards for Archival Description

The Fall 1989 American Archivist (52:4) focuses on archival descriptive standards. This issue contains a report, seventeen recommendations, and three background papers prepared for the first meeting of the Working Group on Standards for Archival Description. .The report provides a context for thinking about what the essence of archival description is and where and how standards might be more usefully applied. The recommendations offer a viable, albeit challenging, agenda for an issue of substantial importance to archivists during the coming decade.

Additional working papers, prepared for the second meeting of the Working Group, have been published in the Winter 1990 American Archivist (53:1).

 

Other Reports

Updated: 2016-03-26