The challenge for the archival profession is to develop a more balanced approach to map archival theory, one which understands cartographic records not only as statements of technologies, but also as value-laden products of human activity with rich contextual information. This thesis outlines general trends in the historical development of cartographic archives in Europe and North America which have influenced the content-based approach to Canadian map archives. It then suggests how postmodernism can reinterpret traditional assumptions about map archiving, particularly in regard to notions of the archival map as socio-cultural text, the relationship between author, audience and text and the role of the cartographic archivist as co-creator of the mapping record. Using the map programme at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba as a case study, the thesis concludes by examining how a postmodern perspective might influence the development of policy in the archival functions of appraisal, acquisition, arrangement/description and public service of a contemporary map archives. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)