For nearly three decades now, AAUP documents that appear to merit continuing reference have been collected for convenience in a single compilation entitled AAUP Policy Documents and Reports familiarly known as the "Redbook". These policy documents may be used one of three ways. First, they offer guidance to all components of the academic community either for the development of institutional policy or the resolution of concrete issues as they arise. Second, some documents are fashioned in a form that is explicitly adaptable as official institutional policy, and they formalize particular advice the AAUP staff gives in recurring situations. A third form, although relatively new and limited in use, has been utilized by both administrators and faculty alike to buttress their cases in legal proceedings. The strength of these policy documents lie in the method of adoption. The Association generates policy through deliberation rather than pronouncement, relying on a slow crystallization of opinion throughout the academic community to craft well-considered, widely-applicable statements.