Broadly speaking, Samuels' professional work centered on the examination of documentation
of science, technology, and institutions of higher education, and her publications proposed
the use of institutional functional analysis and documentation strategy as methods to
improve the record of modern society. Samuels' papers consist largely of documents she
created and/or retained between 1973 and 2004, and they reflect Samuels' role as an
archivist, consultant to other repositories, educator, active member of several professional
organizations, researcher, and writer. Correspondence, handouts, notes, reports, drafts of
publications, reviews, research and background material, and subject files comprise this
collection. Her papers are divided into four series, three of which are further divided into
subseries. Many topics, projects, and people are referenced in more than one series, so
researchers are advised to consult all series for full documentation. Further notes for each
series (and subseries) are included in the respective contents list.
