The source-seeking cognitive processes and behavior of the in-person archival researcher

Users' comprehension of source-seeking in archives warrants attention, since archives have a unique search protocol. In investigating the phenomenon, this study targeted in-person researchers, who do the seeking for themselves, either with the assistance of archives staff or without. Fourteen researchers in an academic, a governmental and a private archives in the southwestern United States were interviewed, observed, and their interactions and think-aloud protocols taped, during a non-participant engagement by the investigator. A purposive selection was made to ensure that subjects covered the range of profiles developed by many surveys of the archival user population conducted by previous researchers. Each person was studied during a single, chronologically contiguous episode. The engagement continued until replication of results occurred.; To analyze the results of the observations, the framework of educational psychologist J. Bransford as adopted, with modifications. This dissertation focused in particular on four aspects affecting the source-seeking experience: the physical and sociocultural environment; the characteristics of the researcher (including source-seeking strategies and tests of relevance); the nature of the archival materials and the finding aids; and the role of the archivist. The analysis attempted to answer the question, “what do in-person archival researchers experience when seeking archival sources?”; A number of observations might be drawn from this study. As might be expected, experience, training and support from other knowledgeable individuals allowed subjects to work effectively in the archival environment, although their visits were or would have been enhanced by effective intervention from archivists. In contrast, novices without experience were unsure of what to expect when they entered the archives or what was expected of them. They were particularly dependent upon archives staff to intervene in the search process. The more complex the enquiry, the more dependent subjects were on staff to be able to fully plumb the resources of the institution. Almost every user was affected negatively by the environment; conversely subjects would have been assisted by a more supportive physical environment. Business hours caused the most difficulty. Introducing concepts such as provenance into the educational system was offered as a way of providing researchers with an appropriate schema.