Abstract: Adhesive compositions which comprise polyvinyl alcohol having about a 30 to about a 60 mol% residual acetate group content which are produced by dissolving polyvinyl acetate having a degree of polymerization (p) of about 60 to about 200 in methanol, the amount of the methanol ranging from about the stoichiometric amount necessary for obtaining polyvinyl alcohol having the desired degree of hydrolysis to about 2 times as much as the above-defined stoichiometric amount and carrying out alkaline hydrolysis and a process for preparing the same. If desired, a suitable amount of a plasticizer and/or an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer can be added thereto.Water soluble or water dispersible hot-melt adhesive compositions containing such polyvinyl alcohol as a main ingredient are suitable for paper making such as bookbinding or paper bag making, etc., in which products are obtained that can be reclaimed after use.