ABSTRACT
New information and communications technologies have transformed the archival enterprise in less than a quarter century. They have changed the way we work and, more importantly, our relationship with the wider society. Access to archives has increased immeasurably and spurred demand for use of archives. At the same time, in a painful irony, public support for archival work is under attack. The democracy studies movement suggests ways of thinking about archives and their role in civil society. Archivists must continue to assert the case for archives in our larger civic life.