Produced as part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Records and Archives Management Programme (RAMP), this publication provides information about the essential character and value of archives and about the procedures and programs that should govern the management of both archives and current records, particularly as part of coordinated national government information systems. Sections cover: (1) the uniqueness and value of archives, including their essential character, preservation, and research value, and access to and dissemination of information in archives; (2) the economic and social utility of records management systems and services, covering the component elements of records management, including records creation, use, maintenance, and disposition; the use of automation and reprography in records management; economies and administrative efficiencies attributable to records management; and levels of records management implementation; (3) other characteristics of modern archives and records management programs, including alternative arrangements for conducting elements of the programs, the organizational location of the national archives within the government bureaucracy, and arrangements for the management of non-governmental archives and records; and (4) the relationship of archives and records management to other systems and services in the field of information. A 47-item annotated bibliography is provided. (ESR)