The 20 essays in this volume resulted from an important international conference held in 2003 at the Liverpool University Centre for Archive Studies in the United Kingdom. The contributors come from a breadth of disciplines (history, archives, the law, social and anthropological sciences) and from a wide-ranging geographical area (Australasia, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America). Topics addressed include use of records as a tool of government; destruction of records as a political act; effects of corruption or ideology on the record; secrecy and accountability; and the nature and use of records resulting from repressive policies.