While archivists in western and eastern Germany may have different traditions,

they face the same challenges presented by the use of information technology in

government offices in recent years. Documentation strategies and goals in advising

agencies must be developed in consideration of current professional debate and limited

resources. The following article presents tendencies in governmental records management,

advising strategies of archives, and schemes for broad-scale appraisal based on

observations at the level of the governments of the German La¨nder and includes case

studies from Saxony.