information seeking behaviours in the digital age: historians in the united kingdom

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


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?


Introduction

• 3 year project• Year 1. Surveys and interviews

(historians) • Year 2. Surveys and interviews (archivists) • Year 3. Symposium (historians and

archivists) ?


Sample

• 166 UK HE Institutions• 118 teach history• Random stratified sample of 80

institutions• Split into two groups of 400

historians


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


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


Demographics

Gender of Historians

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Sample Population Returns

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Female

Male


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


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


Demographics

History Staff by RAE Ranking

05

101520253035404550

0 3b 3a 4 5 5*

RAE Rank

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Study Population

Survey Returns


Demographics

•Average number of years teaching: 19.7

•Range of years teaching 1 – 40 Years


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)


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)



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


Dean or Head of Dept

Professor

Other



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)


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)



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



Professor

Other



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)


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



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



Professor

Other



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



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)



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*



# of Years Teaching by

Band

# of Respondent

s in Category

Search Own OPAC

Search Other OPACs

Search Bibliographi

c Utilities



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



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



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



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



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



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



Retrieval Strategies by Research Subject

Research Subject

# of Respondent

s in Category

Search Own OPAC

Search Other OPACs

Search Bibliographi

c Utilities



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



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



Retrieval Strategies by Geographic Area of Research

Research Subject

# of Respondent

s in Category

Search Own OPAC

Search Other OPACs

Search Bibliographi

c Utilities



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



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


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


Search Methods

• Used EAD• 64 No• 32 Not Sure• 3 Yes• 6 Blank


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


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?


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.


Archives

1. Greater detail, especially item level

2. Catalogues online (including retroconversion)

3. Indexing & cross referencing4. Digitised & electronic sources5. Sceptical about accuracy


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 behaviours in the digital age: historians in the united kingdom

Documents

digital ageintroductionhow

digital agesamplephase

digital agesample166

interviews historians

symposium historians

historians200 post surveys

historians200 postal

interviews archivists