How have college and university-based archives and special collections fared over the past few years in the midst of an historically grim economic downturn? The authors conducted in-depth interviews with directors of 13 archival repositories at state universities and private colleges in the Appalachian region of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky to reveal the operating health of these institutions. With inquiries into the impact of these times on matters of funding, processing, staffing, collaboration, and more, this study shows examples of creative coping, widespread optimism, and an uneven distribution of economic pain. (Contains 19 notes.)