Re-discovering the archival mission: The recordkeeping functional requirements project at the University of Pittsburgh, a progress report

The journal is edited by David Bearman, whose authorship may be presumed for all items not otherwise attributed. Submissions of press releases, publications, and software for review, articles, and letters to the editor are welcomed. Copy is preferred double-spaced. Longer articles will be requested in machine-readable form if accepted for publication. Deadlines for contributed articles and press releases are the 15th of March, June, September, and December. Subscriptions are available on a calendar year basis at $90 for institutions, $50 for individuals (paid in advance, by personal check, and delivered to their home address), $25 for individuals employed with subscribing institutions (mailed to business address), with a surcharge of $10 outside the Western Hemisphere. All payments must be in U.S. currency. Archives & Museum Informatics also publishes occasional technical reports available for purchase as individual volumes or on a standing order basis. Standing orders are entitled to a 10% pre-publication discount and are mailed free of handling fees. Prepaid orders include handling. Billed orders are subject to a $5 billing/handling fee plus postage surcharge. Current titles can be obtained from the above address. ARTICLE This issue of Archives and Museum Informatics: Cultural Heritage Infor-matics Quarterly is unique among those we have published to date in not containing the usual news and reviews. It is, therefore, a "special issue" in every respect. Ever since I began publishing the journal (then Newsletter) I have hoped to find a way to "catch up" on the publication schedule under which the first issue of each volume appeared in May. Publishing this special issue at the end of 1994 finally provides me with a way of moving the publication schedule so that the first issue of 1995 will appear by the end of February. Volume 9, #1 will resume the usual mixture of articles, news and reVIews. Nineteen ninety-four was a banner year for electronic records mana&e-ment. Three of the major journals in the field of archives published a speCial issue on the subject during 1994 and several major conferences wer~ devoted entirely to the subject. A smaller, but particularly valuable meetmg sponsored by Archives & Museum Informatics is covered in depth in this issue. It was designed to identify areas of agreement and of continued dispute, and it made considerable progress towards greater consensus. One reason that the year has been so productive is that the research project on electronic recordkeeping at the University …