This document discusses implications for archival management and patron access from analyzing Joyner Library's finding aid interface. It notes that a high-quality interface that enables patrons to easily find information without staff assistance can increase use of archival materials while better utilizing staff time. However, this may also increase demand on staff. The document also discusses considerations for data management and tracking usage statistics. It provides an extensive list of references on finding aid usability and provides general guidelines for an effective collections guide interface.

1. An Analysis of Joyner Library’s Manuscripts and
Archives Collection Guides Interface:
Implications for Archival Management & Patron Access
Michelle Belden
April 30, 2012

2. Implications for Archival Management
 One of the primary aims of archival management:
Enable and promote the use of our materials
 High quality interface to high quality descriptions enables
patrons to find information without going through
staff, saving time-
 However, will also create more demand!
 However, reference staff time better spent!
 And, increased use is good for funding requests!

3. Archival Management Implications, Cont’d -
Data Management?
 Not sure of internal systems
 Not sure of reports from this FA platform
 But, possibly enables tracking of:
 Access Restrictions
 Copyright Restrictions
 Reference statistics (Aeon?)
 Online user statistics (Google Analytics?)

4. Selected Readings re: Finding Aid Usability
 Conway, Paul. "Understanding the Users of Traditional Archival Collections: Implications for Digital Library Design." 1996
Workshop. http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/research/dig_libraries/conway.html
 Hutchinson, Timothy. “Strategies for Searching Online Finding Aids: A Retrieval Experiment.” Archivaria 44 (Fall 1997):
72–101.
 Meissner, Dennis. “First Things First: Reengineering Finding Aids for Implementation of EAD.” American Archivist 60.4
(Fall/Winter 1997): 372-387.
 Craig, Barbara L. “Old Myths in New Clothes: Expectations of Archives Users.”Archivaria 45 (Spring 1998): 118-126.
 Duff, Wendy and P. Stoyanova. “Transforming the Crazy Quilt: Archival Displays from a User’s Point of View.” Archivaria
45 (Spring 1998): 44-79.
 Altman, Burt and John R. Nemmers. “The Usability of On-line Archival Resources: The Polaris Project Finding Aid.”
American Archivist 64 (Spring/Summer 2001): 121-131.
 Gilliland-Swetland, Anne J. “Popularizing the Finding Aid: Exploiting EAD to Enhance Online Discovery and Retrieval in
Archival Information Systems by Diverse User Groups.” Journal of Internet Cataloging 4 (2001): 199-225.
 Szary, R. V. “Encoded finding aids as a transforming technology in archival reference service.” In: Encoded Archival
Description on the Internet. Haworth Information Press, 2001.
 English, Jennifer and Marti Heast, Rashmi Sinha, Kristen Swearingen, Ka-Ping Yee. “Hierarchical Faceted Metadata in
Site Search Interfaces.” CHI 2002, April 20-25, 2002, Minneapolis. Published by ACM in 2004.
 Hill, Amanda. “Serving the invisible researcher: meeting the needs of online users.” Journal of the Society of Archivists
25.2 (October 2004): 139-148.
 Prom, Christopher J. "User Interactions with Electronic Finding Aids in a Controlled Setting." American Archivist 67. 2
(2004): 234-68.
 Yakel, Elizabeth. "Encoded Archival Description: Are Finding Aids Boundary Spanners or Barriers for Users?" Journal of
Archival Organization 2 (2004): 63-77.
 Cornish, Alan Kevin; Bond, Trevor James. “Developing and sustaining the Northwest Digital Archives.” Journal of Digital
Information 9. 2 (2008).
 Chapman, Joyce Celeste. “Observing Users: An Empirical Analysis of User Interaction with Online Finding Aids.” Journal
of Archival Organization 8. 1 (Jan 2010): 4-30.
 Daniels , Morgan G. and Elizabeth Yakel. “Seek and You May Find: Successful Search in Online Finding Aid Systems.”
American Archivist 73.2 (Fall/Winter 2010): 535-568.

5. General Guidelines for a
Collections Guide Interface:
 Keep it simple
 Remove barriers
 Provide help
 Serve novices as well as experts
 Get and stay connected
 Keep making it better

6. Keep it simple
 Uncluttered
 Google-like search
 Familiar layouts/mechanisms
 Example, top navigation bar

7. Remove barriers
 Finding aids can be hard to find
 Link SC from library homepage
 Put FA search on SC homepage
 Submit FA site to Google for indexing
 Link from sites like Wikipedia, ArchivesGrid
 Promote FA site through library PR, on listservs, at
conferences
 Finding aids can be hard to read
 Expand/contract sections
 Try to avoid jargon
 Use consistent and intuitive structure

8. Provide help
 Remember Kuhlthau: research is an emotional process
 Provide consistent context
 Identify repository (user probably dropped in from Google)
 Table of contents, with current location highlighted
 Move from general to specific
 Provide summaries/previews
 Think about glossaries/thesauri/suggested vocabularies
 Provide guidance on archival research
 Access does not usually end online!
 Options to print and email finding aids
 Always let them contact a human expert

9. Serve novice & advanced users
 Search *and* browse
 Search:
 Full-text keyword *and* faceted (separate advanced search)
 Search in page and highlight results (some users might not
know CTRL+F)
 Stem words
 Browse:
 Creators and subjects
 Clickable lists

10. Get and Stay Connected
 Link finding aids to each other
 Link finding aids, catalog records, digital
projects, website
[“Next-gen” catalog interface to search all the above]
 Link to collections at other libraries/archives

11. Keep Making It Better

12. Finding aid sites people like
 Harvard
http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/advancedsearch?_collection=oasis
 Yale
http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedoragsearch/rest
 Columbia
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/advanced.html
 Online Archive of California
http://oac.cdlib.org
 Northwest Digital Archives
http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/
 Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/polaread/
ECU compares well to all of these.

13. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/

14.  SC linked from library homepage
 Search linked from SC homepage
 Google has you indexed
 Cat records link to FAs which link to digital collections
 Uncluttered search page
 Google-like search
 Search tips right there
 Simple, consistent top nav bar
 Separate advanced (faceted) search
 Separate browse, including creators and subjects

16. The Guides Themselves
 Sections are consistent, well-labeled, expand/contract
 Tabs keep information organized, not overwhelming
 Links to repository on every finding aid
 Clickable Table of Contents
 Search in page with highlighted hits
 Consistent link to help page
 Print option

17. BONUS AWESOME
 Geographic browse!
 What is this page!
 Requesting materials!
 Translations!
 Intriguing:
 Adding notes
 Leaving feedback

18. Suggestions
 FIX LINK to SC from FA home & http://www.ecu.edu/ecu/libraries.php
 Homepage: Better idea of mission, more welcoming, HELP on TOP NAV
 Also, links to ECU/library/SC/Digital Collections on top could be more visible
 Possible to group more specific subjects under general headings so as to make
browsing by subject less daunting?
 (Ex. African-American 20, Agriculture ~40)
 Provide abstract as mouseover on titles? [See: Netflix, Audible]
 I would suggest being able to limit search by date range and format
 TOC highlight where you are in finding aid?
 Option to email finding aid
 Mobile app?
 Link FAs to each other & collections at other SCLs
 Look for new ways to promote/get the word out

19. Help

20. HELP
 Link to Get Help from guides goes to general help/contact page
 People are finding your guides via Google, help get them from the
guides to the reading room-
 Help them understand why SC is different, and make it less intimidating
 Consolidate resources in one pointer page?
 RBM has User’s Guide http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/spclcoll/upload/Users-Guide-
Final-2011-2012-2.pdf
 NCC has libguides & video tutorials
 http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/ncctutorials.cfm
 http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/ncc/guideslist.cfm
 Might want to consider general “Using Special Collections” resource
(see example next slide)
 What about a suggested terms, thesaurus

21. http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/speccolls/help/tutorial.html

22. Also, look to the patrons
 Web analytics
 Visitor characteristics
 When they come, from where, what browsers, mobile?
 Traffic
 Referers, keywords, paths
 Content effectiveness
 Page views, bounce rates
 More advanced-
 Goals/conversions

23. User Studies
 Who needs to be included in planning/conducting?
 Types: think aloud, persona, card sort, focus group, etc.
 User groups and tasks
 IRB/funding/recruitment
 Online Finding Aids Metrics Toolkit:
 http://archivalmetrics.cms.si.umich.edu/node/6

24. Any questions?
 dmb61@psu.edu