ARCHIVES AT THE CROSSROADS

The headlong development of global information and communication techn ologies has not only brought archives access to new storage media, it has also had a major impact on discussion about the future role of arc hives for historical research and the redefinition of the professional image of archivists. The author contends a) that electronically store d information greatly complicates the historian's critical approach to sources, and b) that the new media involve an approach to the accumul ation and organization of written records and documents calling for a professional orientation that has very little in common with that of t he traditional archivist.