information seeking behaviours in the digital age: historians in the united kingdom dr ian anderson...
Post on 28-Mar-2015
216 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Information Seeking Behaviours in the Digital Age: Historians in the United Kingdom
Dr Ian AndersonHumanities Advanced Technology
and Information InstituteUniversity of Glasgow
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 2
Overview
• Sample• Demographics• Retrieval Strategies• Search Methods• Archival Implications
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 3
Introduction
• How do historians locate primary source material?
• What do they teach their students about locating primary source material?
• What do archivists do to promote and educate their users about using electronic finding aids?
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 4
Introduction
• 3 year project• Year 1. Surveys and interviews
(historians) • Year 2. Surveys and interviews (archivists) • Year 3. Symposium (historians and
archivists) ?
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 5
Sample
• 166 UK HE Institutions• 118 teach history• Random stratified sample of 80
institutions• Split into two groups of 400
historians
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 6
Sample
Phase 1: 400 historians• 200 Postal Surveys • 200 Electronic Surveys (web form)
Phase 2: 400 historians• 200 Post Surveys • 200 Electronic Surveys (web form)• Telephone follow up of 200 non-
respondents
Response Rate• 105 (13.1%)
Phase 3• 24 face to face & telephone interviews
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 7
Demographics
Rank of Historians in Returns & by Percentage
Sample Population (%) Returns (%)
Female 205 (26) 33 (31)
Male 595 (74) 72 (69)
Total 800 (100) 105 (100)
Gender of Historians in Sample & Returns
Lecturer (Fixed Term)
Lecturer (Permanent)
Senior or Principal Lecturer
Dean or Head of
Dept
Professor Professor (Personal or
Chaired)
Other Total
4 (4) 24 (23) 36 (34) 7 (7) 19 (18) 9 (9) 6 (6) 105
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 8
Demographics
Gender of Historians
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Sample Population Returns
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Female
Male
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 9
Demographics
Rank of Historians4%
23%
33%
7%
18%
9%
6%Lecturer (fixed term)
Lecturer (permanent)
Lecturer (senior or principal)
Head of Dept or Dean
Professor
Professor (personal orchaired)
Other
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 10
Demographics
UK History Staff According to Institutional Research Ranking
RAE Institution
Rank
# Institutions Selected in this
Study
% Institutions Selected in this Study
# Staff in the Study Population
% Staff in the Study
Population
# Staff Survey Returns
% Staff Survey Returns
0 2 2 7 1 1 1
3b 4 5 36 5 3 3
3a 11 14 91 11 10 9
4 28 35 262 33 31 30
5 28 35 306 38 46 44
5* 7 9 98 12 14 13
Totals 80 100 800 100 105 100
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 11
Demographics
History Staff by RAE Ranking
05
101520253035404550
0 3b 3a 4 5 5*
RAE Rank
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Study Population
Survey Returns
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 12
Demographics
•Average number of years teaching: 19.7
•Range of years teaching 1 – 40 Years
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 13
Retrieval Strategies
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
Rank of Responden
t
# of Respondent
s in Category
Search Own OPAC
Search Other OPACs
Search Bibliographi
c Utilities
Visit Repository Websites
Use Web Search Engines
Search ARCHO
N
Lecturer 28 17 (61) 19 (68) 14 (50) 21 (75) 9 (32) 3 (11)
Senior or Principal Lecturer
36 21 (58) 25 (69) 23 (64) 23 (64) 8 (22) 13 (36)
Dean or Head of
Dept
7 6 (86) 7 (100) 6 (86) 7 (100) 7 (100) 2 (29)
Professor 28 13 (46) 16 (57) 14 (50) 16 (57) 7 (25) 8 (29)
Other 6 3 (50) 4 (66) 3 (50) 5 (83) 2 (33) 2 (33)
Totals 105 60 (57) 71 (68) 60 (57) 72 (69) 34 (32) 29 (28)
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 14
Retrieval Strategies
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Ow n OPAC Other OPACs Bibliographic Utilities Repository WebSites
Web Search Engines ARCHON
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Lecturer
Senior or Principal Lecturer
Dean or Head of Dept
Professor
Other
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 15
Retrieval Strategies
Traditional Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
Rank of Respondent
# in Categor
y
Leads in Printed Sources
Printed Bibliogs
Printed Documentary Editions
Printed Repository Guides
News Files
Govt Docs
NRA
Lecturer 28 27 (96) 20 (71) 9 (32) 17 (61) 14 (50)
11 (39) 11 (39)
Senior or Principal Lecturer
36 36 (100) 29 (81) 13 (36) 25 (69) 16 (44)
19 (53) 19 (53)
Dean or Head of
Dept
7 7 (100) 6 (86) 5 (71) 6 (86) 6 (86) 5 (71) 4 (57)
Professor 28 26 (92) 24 (86) 10 (36) 14 (50) 12 (43)
15 (54) 13 (46)
Other 6 6 (67) 6 (67) 5 (83) 3 (50) 2 (33) 2 (33) 3 (50)
Totals 105 102 (97) 85 (81) 42 (40) 65 (62) 50 (48)
52 (50) 50 (48)
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 16
Retrieval Strategies
Traditional Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
0
20
40
60
80
100
Leads in Print PrintedBibliogs
Doc Editions PrintedRepository
Guides
News Files GovernmentDocs
NRA
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Lecturer
Senior or Principal Lecturer
Dean or Head of Dept
Professor
Other
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 17
Retrieval Strategies
Other Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
Rank of Respondent
# of Respondent
s in Category
Visit Repositor
y
Telephone
Repository
Write to Repositor
y
E-mail Repository
Follow Informal
Leads
Research Assistan
ce
Lecturer 28 28 (100) 7 (29) 11 (46) 10 (42) 25 (89) 15 (54)
Senior or Principal Lecturer
36 36 (100) 11 (31) 14 (39) 8 (22) 24 (66) 16 (44)
Dean or Head of
Dept
7 7 (100) 2 (29) 2 (29) 2 (29) 7 (100) 3 (43)
Professor 28 28 (100) 5 (18) 9 (32) 9 (32) 25 (89) 10 (42)
Other 6 6 (100) 0 (0) 3 (50) 2 (33) 4 (66) 2 (33)
Totals 105 105 25 39 31 95 46
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 18
Retrieval Strategies
Other Retrieval Strategies by Academic Rank
0
20
40
60
80
100
Visit Repository TelephoneRepository
Write Repository Email Repository Informal Leads ResearchAssistance
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Lecturer
Senior or Principal Lecturer
Dean or Head of Dept
Professor
Other
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 19
Retrieval Strategies
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Institutional Rank
Institutional Rank of
Respondent
# of Respondent
s in Category
Search Own OPAC
Search Other OPACs
Search Bibliographi
c Utilities
Visit Repository Websites
Use Web Search Engines
Search ARCHO
N
0 1 1 (100) 1 (100) 1 (100) 1 (100) 0 (0) 1 (100)
3b 3 1 (33) 2 (66) 3 (100) 2 (66) 1 (33) 0 (0)
3a 10 4 (40) 5 (50) 5 (50) 6 (60) 5 (50) 3 (30)
4 31 19 (61) 20 (65) 19 (61) 21 (68) 12 (38) 6 (19)
5 46 28 (61) 35 (76) 27 (59) 35 (76) 12 (26) 16 (35)
5* 14 7 (50) 8 (57) 5 (36) 7 (50) 4 (57) 3 (23)
Totals 105 60 (57) 71 (68) 60 (57) 72 (69) 34 (32) 29 (28)
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 20
Retrieval Strategies
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Institutional Rank
0
20
40
60
80
100
Own OPAC Other OPACs BibliographicUtilities
Repository WebSites
Web SearchEngines
ARCHON
Pe
rce
nta
ge
3b
3a
4
5
5*
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 21
Retrieval Strategies
# of Years Teaching by
Band
# of Respondent
s in Category
Search Own OPAC
Search Other OPACs
Search Bibliographi
c Utilities
Visit Repository Websites
Use Web Search Engines
Search ARCHO
N
0-3 2 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (0) 0 (0) 1 (50)
4-9 20 14 (70) 17 (85) 11 (55) 16 (80) 6 (30) 4 (20)
10-19 28 20 (71) 20 (71) 20 (71) 20 (71) 13 (46) 7 (25)
20-29 29 14 (48) 18 (62) 19 (66) 18 (62) 11 (38) 8 (28)
20-39 25 12 (48) 16 (64) 10 (40) 16 (64) 4 (16) 9 (36)
40-45 1 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Totals 105 60 (57) 71 (68) 60 (57) 72 (69) 34 (32) 29 (28)
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Years of Teaching
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 22
Retrieval Strategies
Electronic Retrieval Strategies by Years of Teaching
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Ow n OPAC Other OPACs Bibliographic Utilities Repository WebSites
Web Search Engines ARCHON
Pe
rce
nta
ge
0-3
4-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 23
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategy
Unpublished
Published Government
Electronic or Digital
Sound Film or Video
Material
Print 64 (70) 80 (84) 62 (84) 12 (30) 11 (55) 7 (32)
Online 51 (59) 67 (71) 41 (55) 40 (98) 9 (45) 8 (36)
Visit 79 (86) 62 (65) 51 (69) 9 (22) 15 (75) 19 (86)
Phone 23 (25) 17 (18) 11 (15) 4 (10) 5 (25) 4 (18)
Write 37 (40) 20 (21) 10 (14) 3 (7) 5 (25) 5 (23)
Email 29 (32) 17 (18) 7 (9) 7 (17) 3 (15) 3 (14)
Informal 43 (47) 32 (34) 20 (27) 12 (29) 8 (40) 9 (41)
Research Assistance
18 (20) 12 (13) 9 (12) 5 (12) 3 (15) 2 (9)
Retrieval Strategies by Type of Source as Used
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 24
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategies by Type of Source Used
0
20
40
60
80
100
Unpublished Published Government Electronic or Digital Sound Film or Video Material
Pe
rce
nta
ge
PrintOnlineVisitPhoneWriteEmailInformalResearch Assistance
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 25
Retrieval Strategies
Number of Retrieval
Strategies Used
Unpublished
Published Government
Electronic or Digital
Sound Film or Video
Material
One 17 (18) 16 (17) 17 (23) 22 (54) 6 (30) 5 (23)
Two 12 (13) 23 (24) 21 (28) 5 (12) 3 (15) 9 (41)
Three 17 (18) 25 (26) 19 (26) 8 (20) 6 (30) 6 (27)
Four 15 (16) 14 (15) 6 (8) 3 (7) 1 (5) 0 (0)
Five 11 (12) 5 (5) 4 (5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Six 8 (9) 3 (3) 1 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Seven 7 (8) 3 (3) 2 (3) 0 (0) 1 (5) 0 (0)
Eight 5 (5) 6 (6) 4 (5) 3 (7) 2 (10) 2 (9)
Number of Retrieval Strategies Used by Type of Source
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 26
Retrieval Strategies
Number of Retrieval Strategies Used by Type of Resource
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Unpublished Published Government Electronic orDigital
Sound Film orVideo
Material
Pe
rce
nta
ge
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 27
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategies by Research Subject
Research Subject
# of Respondent
s in Category
Search Own OPAC
Search Other OPACs
Search Bibliographi
c Utilities
Visit Repository Websites
Use Web Search Engines
Search ARCHO
N
Biographical
12 (11) 7 (58) 7 (58) 5 (42) 9 (75) 5 (42) 3 (25)
Cultural 17 (16) 7 (41) 12 (71) 8 (47) 11 (65) 2 (12) 0 (0)
Economic 9 (9) 6 (66) 7 (77) 7 (77) 7 (77) 4 (44) 6 (66)
Political 25 (24) 15 (60) 17 (68) 16 (64) 17 (68) 8 (32) 7 (28)
Social 42 (40) 25 (60) 28 (66) 24 (57) 28 (66) 15 (36) 13 (31)
Totals 105 60 71 60 72 34 29
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 28
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategies by Research Subject
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Biographical Cultural Economic Political Social
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Own OPAC
Other OPACs
Bibliographic Utilities
Repository Web Sites
Web Search Engines
ARCHON
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 29
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategies by Geographic Area of Research
Research Subject
# of Respondent
s in Category
Search Own OPAC
Search Other OPACs
Search Bibliographi
c Utilities
Visit Repository Websites
Use Web Search Engines
Search ARCHO
N
Unknown 8 (8) 7 (88) 7 (88) 7 (88) 5 (63) 4 (50) 1 (13)
Local 9 (9) 6 (66) 5 (56) 4 (44) 4 (44) 1 (11) 2 (22)
UK & Ireland
51 (49) 31 (61) 37 (73) 27 (53) 34 (67) 18 (35) 20 (39)
Rest of Europe
28 (27) 10 (17) 16 (57) 14 (50) 15 (54) 5 (18) 2 (7)
North America
4 (4) 3 (75) 3 (75) 3 (75) 3 (75) 3 (75) 2 (50)
South America
1 (1) 1 (100) 1 (100) 1 (100) 1 (100) 1 (100) 0 (0)
Asia 3 (3) 2 (66) 2 (66) 3 (100) 3 (100) 2 (66) 2 (66)
World 1 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Totals 105 60 71 60 72 34 29
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 30
Retrieval Strategies
Retrieval Strategies by Geogrpahic Area of Research
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Unknown Local UK &Ireland
Rest ofEurope
NorthAmerica
SouthAmerica
Asia World
Pe
rce
nta
ge
Own OPAC
Other OPACs
Bibliographic Utilities
Repository Web Sites
Web Search Engines
ARCHON
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 31
Search Methods
• 41% used all three electronic library finding aids• 13% used all three electronic archival finding aids• 22% used two types or electronic library finding
aid• 30% used two types of electronic archival finding
aid • 78% used at least one form of electronic library
finding aid• 71% used at least one form of electronic archival
finding aid• 30% used 5 or 6 forms of electronic finding aid• 9% used only one form of electronic finding aid• 16% used no form of electronic finding aid
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 32
Search Methods
• Used EAD• 64 No• 32 Not Sure• 3 Yes• 6 Blank
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 33
Search Methods
Unpublished Published Government Electronic or Digital
Sound Film or Video
Material
90 96 77 33 21 53
Sources Used by Percentage
Unpublished Published Government Electronic or Digital
Sound Film or Video
Material
80 66 66 55 38 40
Percentage of Respondents who Ranked a Source 1
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 34
Search Methods
• Diverse strategies• Evidence of some adaptation to
source type, research area, finding aid provision
• Preference for print search methods• Mediation• Context
• How can electronic finding aids replicate this?
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 35
Archives• Additional information to be included on a repository website
would be a complete catalogue listing, the identity of individual files rather than classification, and the provision of consistent results from the system. The subject had used electronic finding aids through the web, with varied success and noted that they could be more interactive. In directing a grant in an archive the most important actions would be to catalogue uncatalogued material and to retroconvert finding aids/catalogues.
• The subject would find more folder-level descriptions useful on repository websites.
• The subject would like to see more detail on the content of named collections.
• In directing a grant in an archive, the subject would place most importance on adding more detailed item level descriptions.
• In directing a grant, the subject would catalogue uncatalogued material, especially in Scotland.
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 36
Archives
1. Greater detail, especially item level
2. Catalogues online (including retroconversion)
3. Indexing & cross referencing4. Digitised & electronic sources5. Sceptical about accuracy
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 37
Archives
• 2 approaches• Extensive EAD indexing
– Cross searching not at expense of item level description
– 4 types of index supported
• Re-think archival classification– New Zealand/Australian model– Classification along functional/jurisdictional lines not
hierarchy/agency– Description not just about retrieval but creation and
management– A continuum model– EAD just one possible output
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 38
Archives
Information Seeking Behaviour in the Digital Age 39
Further Issues
• Mechanisms for bringing archivists and historians together
• Perspectives on the significance of mediation in:• Accessions/deposit• Records continuum• Representation in finding aids• Role in historical methodology
top related