Ch'ing archives are that body of historical documents which originated in the central and local governments of the Ch'ing dynasty; as a whole, they provide a wealth of information on the state of China from the 17th to the 20th century in virtually every aspect, thus constituting a treasure trove for scholars of Ch'ing history. The most well-known Ch'ing archives in Taiwan are those of the Academia Sinica (the Grand Secretariat Archives) and those of the National Palace Museum (the original palace memorials from the Palace Archives as well as copies of which from the Grand Council). Over the years, not only have these archves been very well preserved, they have been frequently consulted by researchers from all over the world. Yet, effective physical organization of these materials does not necessarily guarantee their effective and speedy retrieval. To be sure, the emergence and use of information technology is this century's most important development affecting archival practice. Although archivists in the two institutions have recognized since the 1980s that the computer offers a wide spectrum of opportunities to assist with traditional archival responsibilities and functions, as well as having the potential to expand their activities in new directions, their achievements in the application of information technology have not been as significant as one would have imagined. Archivists traditionally use provenance-based means for intellectual control of their collections of historical documents, while students of Ch'ing history have been expecting more flexible and extensive means of access, such as subject retrieval. The former approach follows the principle of records management, and the latter constitutes what is known as information management. When properly implemented, information technology can make both approaches to archival management possible and compatible, and can enable archivists to achieve better access to their unique collections than ever before; yet, reasons why this has not yet occurred may be attributed to the lack of standards in biblographic control of archival materials. Bibliographic control means providing content accessibility as well as physical accessibility. Content and physical accesses, be they manual or electronic, are provided by means of indexing and abstracting services and by individual lists and formal finding aids. The irony, however, is that the demand for standardization is what information technology is all about. It appears then that the major roadblock to the application of computer and information technologies in archival practice is in effect the key to the solution of the problems confronting archivists in charge of Taiwan's collection of Ch'ing historical documents.