The Advisory Committee for the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology advises IHTIA to seek projects and programs that are regional or national in scope or applicability and relate to documenting, preserving, and interpreting technological processes, engineering works, and related cultural resources. Specific selection criteria govern the nature and scope of IHTIA's program of work, with preference given to:

1. undertaking historical studies of selected industries and transportation systems that contribute not only to the history of technology, but provide essential contextual information for cultural resource management at the national, regional and state levels.

2. documenting, preserving and interpreting sites, structures and artifacts that retain a high degree of integrity, are on or considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and/or in imminent danger of being lost.

3. projects and programs that promote a dialogue and information exchange for the large-scale evaluation of resources that support and enhance the preservation plans of State Historic Preservation Offices,

4. projects and programs that involve material testing, apply new and innovative techniques of industrial archaeology, and/or encourage technology transfer in the defined areas of expertise,

5. projects and programs that utilize IHTIA capabilities and allow it to develop and share unique expertise and/or resources, 

6. projects and programs which enable IHTIA to disseminate important information to professionals, academicians, and the general public through a variety of media including, but not limited to, books and articles, computer databases, HABS/HAER level documentation, monographs, newsletters, papers and presentations, professional and academic education programs, seminars, short courses, technical reports, and videotape documentaries.