The evolution of the finding aid in the United States: from physical to digital document genre

Trace, Ciaran B.; Dillon, Andrew

doi:10.1007/s10502-012-9190-5

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Freund and Toms carried out a lab-based study of ways in which historians and genealogists used printed and digital archive finding aids [22]. The participants used a variety of strategies for interacting with the finding aids; although they were generally successful in completing the tasks, there was some evidence that they were confused by an "archival world view" instantiated in the finding aids; see also [23] on findings aids as a distinct genre of document.…”

Section: Literature Review and Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Information Competencies of Historians as Archive Users: A Slovenia/UK Comparison

Vilar

Šauperl

Rajh³

et al. 2016

Information Literacy: Key to an Inclusive Society

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Abstract. This paper reports a study of the characteristics, skills and competencies of historians, both amateur and professional, as users of archives. It makes two main comparisons: between professional historians and amateurs, typically genealogists and family historians; and between participants in Slovenia and in the United Kingdom. The study is in two parts. First, a detailed and comprehensive literature analysis, including information competencies of archivists where relevant, as well as those of users, to identify the main issues to be examined. Second, a Delphi study with a small panel of archivists from both countries, to establish consensus or divergence of opinion, and to explore the differences, if any, between amateur and professional historians, and will also investigate any national differences. The results show a high degree of consensus, and point to common issues in the skills and competencies needed by both groups, which should be explored in a larger study.

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Section: Literature Review and Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Information Competencies of Historians as Archive Users: A Slovenia/UK Comparison

Vilar

Šauperl

Rajh³

et al. 2016

Information Literacy: Key to an Inclusive Society

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“…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.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Genealogists, another key archives' user group, seem to be less reliant on FAs in their research, in part because archival FAs are not well designed to support searching for people and place names, which are at the core of genealogical research (Duff & Johnson, 2003). However, when they are available, indexes and full-text search tools in FAs are particularly useful for genealogists (Duff & Johnson, 2003), whereas historians appreciate detailed descriptions at the item level and make use of links and references that identify related records and collections (Anderson, 2004).Despite its wide use, the FA is an historically conflicted genre, which originally developed as a mechanism of control for archival records and collections, designed to document their provenance and provide context, and only later began to be used as an access mechanism for archivists and researchers (Cox, 2008;Trace & Dillon, 2012). This "dual-inheritance" has been identified as the "greatest problem with the traditional finding-aid" (Daines & Nimer, 2011, p. 6).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This "dual-inheritance" has been identified as the "greatest problem with the traditional finding-aid" (Daines & Nimer, 2011, p. 6). Unlike other genres of communication, such as diaries and journal articles, which have evolved over time in response to the interplay of intentions and needs of creators and users and changes in the sociotechnical context, FAs have been constrained by increasing standardization to serve the needs of archivists, first and foremost (Cox, 2008;Trace & Dillon, 2012). Meissner's (1997) user-centered analysis of FAs serves as a powerful illustration of the opacity of these information objects for nonarchivists.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This shift in use practices resulted in recognition within the archival research community that little is known about the actual use of FAs. Many calls for research in this area have been made during the past 15 years (Coats, 2004;Cox, 2008;Duff & Haworth, 1997;Trace & Dillon, 2012). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Interacting with archival finding aids

Freund

Toms

2015

Asso for Info Science & Tech

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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...

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Encoded Archival Description: Data Quality and Analysis

Francisco-Revilla

Trace

et al. 2014

Proc of Assoc for Info

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In order to authenticate the meaning of collections and to preserve their evidentiary value, archivists create documents (finding aids) that describe the provenance and original order of the records (MacNeil, 1995). Metadata standards such as Encoded Archival Description (EAD) enable finding aids to be encoded, searched, and displayed online. However, recent research has begun to draw attention to problems with the quality of EAD finding aid data and metadata, and the encoding practices by which finding aids are created. Since the next frontier in archival description involves reusing finding aid data for advanced information visualization techniques that support additional ways of engaging with collections, there is a pressing need for further study of data quality and how it might impact information visualization. This work analyzes a set of 8729 finding aids aggregated by the Texas Archival Repository Online (TARO) using VADA, a visual analytic tool for finding aids. The results show previously unidentified problems that have significant impact on the ability to visualize this data. The paper explains how these problems relate to both EAD's design and the actual encoding practices of EAD, and provides recommendations for improving the quality of finding aid data.

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The evolution of the finding aid in the United States: from physical to digital document genre

Cited by 16 publications

References 35 publications

Information Competencies of Historians as Archive Users: A Slovenia/UK Comparison

Information Competencies of Historians as Archive Users: A Slovenia/UK Comparison

Interacting with archival finding aids

Encoded Archival Description: Data Quality and Analysis

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