Developed under a contract with the International Council on Archives, these guidelines are designed to emphasize the role of automation techniques in archives and records services, provide an indication of existing computer systems used in different archives services and of specific computer applications at various stages of archives administration, and discuss the current status of information retrieval technology. General principles including infrastructure and training are presented; the functions of input, processing, output, and evaluation are discussed; and systems specification and the systems analysis stages of data capture, data entry, and data structure are considered. In addition, examples of specific applications are given, including records management, accessions registration, the construction of finding aids, user services, and automation in support of management. Problems centering on hardware, software, staffing, costs, systems planning, and small archives are also considered along with their solutions. A 55-item bibliography is provided. (KM)