Interacting with archival finding aids

Abstract

This research aimed to gain a detailed understanding of how genealogists and historians interact with, and make use of, finding aids in print and digital form. The study uses the lens of human information interaction to investigate finding aid use. Data were collected through a lab-based study of 32 experienced archives' users who completed two tasks with each of two finding aids. Participants were able to carry out the tasks, but they were somewhat challenged by the structure of the finding aid and employed various techniques to cope. Their patterns of interaction differed by task type and they reported higher rates of satisfaction, ease of use, and clarity for the assessment task than the known-item task. Four common patterns of interaction were identified: top-down, bottom-up, interrogative, and opportunistic. Results show how users interact with findings aids and identify features that support and hinder use. This research examines process and performance in addition to outcomes. Results contribute to the archival science literature and also suggest ways to extend models of human information interaction. IntroductionDecades of research in information science and related fields have focused on interaction with widely used and familiar information access tools such as online public access catalogs, bibliographic databases, and Internet search engines. In this study we examine human information interaction (HII) in the context of archival description, focusing on the use of print and digital finding aids (FA). These serve as core tools for accessing archival collections, yet they have rarely been examined in the context of interactivity and use (Coats, 2004;Cox, 2008;Duff & Haworth, 1997;Trace & Dillon, 2012). Reaching a deeper understanding of FA use is important as this genre moves from existing primarily as a printed document used in situ within an archive, to a virtual object often used in isolation from the records it describes. Unlike other types of information collections, historical archival collections remain primarily nondigital, despite the intense efforts globally to digitize centuries of manuscripts, images, and textual records. As a consequence, the FA, in both print and digital form, is and will continue to be an essential tool of access to archival collections (Anderson, 2004).What is a FA? In the broadest sense, "any type of descriptive tool that provides intellectual access to the materials held in an archival or manuscript repository" (Chung, 2010, p. 147) can be considered a FA. However, considerable standardization in the creation of FAs has been achieved through reliance on standards informed by archival theory, which places great importance on the contextualization of records. This is expressed in the principle of respect des fonds, which specifies that records be grouped organically, according to their provenance and in their original order (Bureau of Canadian Archivists, 2008) and through the practice of including information about the creation, handling, and use of records when descr...

Other Ways of Knowing: The Intersection of Education when Researching Family Roots

“…This information was essential to the participants in this study because the need to find ancestral information that was accurate about their link to a specific ethnic group or groups was noted by all participants. Freund and Toms (2016) added that historians and genealogists have different ways of finding information but that, working together, they gain more references. Several participants related the fact that they worked with historians or were attracted to becoming historians for the sake of providing information to others.…”

Archives, Quo Vadis et Cum Quibus?: Archivists’ self-perceptions and perceptions of users of contemporary archives

“…Experience shows that this is not the case, at least not for all users, as archivists find that many users lack the necessary expertise (Freund & Toms, 2015;Daniels & Yakel, 2010;Chapman, 2010;Duff & Stoyanova, 1998;Prom, 2004). The increasing online presence of archives is likely to further increase the numbers of inexperienced and inexpert users.…”

Defending the digital: Awareness of digital selectivity in historical research practice

“…A growing body of new studies grapples with the functional practices of historical research. Freund and Toms' (2016) work in archival finding aids and Korkeamäki and Kumpulainen's (2019) revealing study of information interaction 'in digital environments' are examples. Freund and Toms' (2016) snapshot examines a limited aspect of historians' archival work, which is not scalable to primary-source interaction.…”