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Please direct questions or comments to Christopher
Barth at chris@arcticwind.com.
APPENDIX A - Survey for Genealogists Dear Genealogy Enthusiast: Thank you for your time and cooperation in completing this questionnaire. This survey seeks to gather information regarding the impact of automation on your genealogical research as well as its impact on your relationships with libraries and archival repositories. All information gathered through this survey will only be reported in aggregate to fulfill course work requirements in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. GENERAL INFORMATION: What is your age range: _____ Under 20 ______ 41-50 _____ 21-30 ______ 51-60 _____ 31-40 ______ 61 and Over Approximately how long have you pursued genealogical research?
_____ Less than a year ______ 7-10 years _____ 1-3 years ______ 10-15 years _____ 4-6 years ______ Over 15 years How did you become interested in genealogy? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ How much time per month do you spend on genealogical research? _____ Less than 6 hours ______ 24-48 hours _____ 6-12 hours ______ More than 48 hours _____ 12-24 hours In your genealogical research, have you traveled overnight to consult genealogical resources? _____ Yes ______ No Do you belong to a genealogical society or organization? _____ Yes ______ No
_____ Correspondence with other genealogists _____ Correspondence with archives or government records agencies _____ Visiting a local public library _____ Visiting archives or government records agencies _____ Searching the Internet _____ Searching CD-ROM or other electronic databases _____ Other: _______________________________________________ _____ Other: _______________________________________________ In general, how would you describe your own comfort level with emerging computer technologies? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not at All Comfortable Somewhat Comfortable Very Comfortable Do you own a personal computer? _____ Yes ______ No (If no, please go to #16) Please list your computer manufacturer, processor speed (386, 486, Pentium), and clock speed (60 MHZ, etc.) if known: _________________________________________________________________ Do you own any of the following peripheral devices: (Check all that apply): _____ Laser Printer _____ Inkjet Printer _____ Dot-Matrix Printer _____ Color Flatbed Scanner _____ B&W Flatbed Scanner _____ Portable Scanner (B&W or Color) _____ Tape Backup Drive _____ Portable Zip or Jaz Hard Drive _____ CD-ROM Drive _____ Recordable CD-ROM Drive (CD-Write) _____ Modem _____ Direct Internet Connection (No Modem Needed to Access the Internet) Do you use your computer for genealogical research? _____ Yes _____ No If so, for what purpose: _____ Correspondence _____ Running Genealogical Software _____ Other: _______________________________________________ If you do use genealogy software on your computer, what product and version number do you use? _________________________________________________________________ Why did you choose this particular software package? _____ Recommended to Me _____ Price _____ Features _____ Don't Know _____ Other: _______________________________________________ Do you subscribe to an online service? _____ Yes _____ No If so, which one: _____ America Online _____ Compuserve _____ Microsoft Network (MSN) _____ Prodigy _____ Other: _______________________________________________ Are you familiar with the genealogical resources available on that service? _____ Yes _____ No Do you use email to conduct genealogical research? _____ Yes _____ No If so, with whom do you communicate via email? (Check all that apply) _____ Libraries/Archival Repositories _____ Family Members _____ Other Genealogists Have you used the World Wide Web in your genealogical research? _____ Yes _____ No (If no, please skip to question #20) Have you used a website prepared by a library or archival repository? _____ Yes _____ No What types of information were you seeking? _____ Library/repository hours/location _____ General collections information _____ Information on a specific collection _____ Other: __________________ Did the website contain specific information for genealogists? _____ Yes _____ No Do you have a personal WWW website? _____ Yes _____ No If so, does it contain information on your genealogical research? _____ Yes _____ No Do you monitor any listservs relating to genealogical research? If so, please list all related listservs: _________________________________________________________________ Would you describe yourself as having an understanding of current trends in genealogical automation (i.e. genealogical software packages, implementations of the Internet in genealogical research, etc.)? _____ Yes _____ No Is maintaining an active awareness of current technological trends in genealogical research a priority for you? _____ Yes _____ No Have you ever visited a library or archive to consult primary source material for your genealogical research? _____ Yes _____ No (If no, please skip to question #30) What types of sources have you consulted? (Check all that apply) _____ Personal Papers (Correspondence, diaries, photograph collections) _____ Birth, Marriage, or Death Records _____ Corporate, Institutional, or Organizational Records (including church records) In general, what types of archival sources did you find most helpful? (Please rank 1-3; 1 being the best) _____ Personal Papers (Correspondence, diaries, photograph collections) _____ Birth, Marriage, or Death Records _____ Corporate, Institutional, or Organizational Records (including church records) During your visit, were you generally satisfied with the reference assistance provided by the library/archive staff? _____ Yes _____ No Did you feel the librarians/archivists demonstrated an understanding of the needs of genealogical researchers? _____ Yes _____ No If you could use any three adjectives to describe your overall experience as a genealogical patron of an archival repository, what would they be: _________________________________________________________________ Have you ever attended an informational meeting or seminar offered by a library or archival repository regarding genealogical research and/or their collections? _____ Yes _____ No Would you be interested in attending outreach sessions offered by a local library or archival repository regarding their collections? _____ Yes _____ No In your experience, are the automation efforts regarding genealogical resources made by libraries and archival repositories meeting the needs of genealogical researchers? _____ Yes _____ No If not, what how could libraries or archival repositories improve their automation efforts? _________________________________________________________________ What methods of automation are most helpful to you in your genealogical research? (Please rank in order of importance 1-5; 1 being most helpful) _____ Online records in a public catalog _____ Electronic finding aids _____ Gopher sites _____ World Wide Web sites _____ Ability to email with library/archive staff Overall, do you feel automation in genealogical research makes your searching: _____ More Productive ______ Less Productive _____ About the Same
Name of Archives: _____________________________________________________ Location: _____________________________________________________ Is your institution: _____ Publically Funded _____ Privately Funded Number of Staff (FTE): _____ Professional _____ Student _____ Paraprofessional _____ Volunteer _____ Support Total Size of Collections (cu.ft.): _____________________________________________ Average Total Number of Reference Requests Per Year: ________________________ _____ Percentage of Requests Administrative in nature _____ Percentage of Requests Genealogical in nature _____ Percentage of Requests Scholarly in nature _____ Requests Administrative in nature _____ Requests Genealogical in nature _____ Requests Scholarly in nature Does your institution have a policy prescribing or limiting staff time for reference requests? If possible, please attach a copy. _____ Yes _____ No On average, please rank (1 being the best) the following user groups for your perceptions of their overall knowledge of archival practices and preparedness when consulting archival sources in relation to other user groups: _____ Administrative Users _____ Genealogical Users _____ Scholarly Users If you could use any three adjectives to describe each user group as archival patrons, what would they be: Administrative Users: 1)_____________________________________________ 2)_____________________________________________ 3)_____________________________________________ Genealogical Users: 1)_____________________________________________ 2)_____________________________________________ 3)_____________________________________________ Scholarly Users: 1)_____________________________________________ 2)_____________________________________________ 3)_____________________________________________ Does your repository offer special training sessions or outreach programs to broaden awareness of your repository and archival sources in general? _____ Yes _____ No If so, please list the number of programs you undertook in the past year geared toward each specific group of archival users: _____ General Sessions (without a specific research focus) _____ Administrative Sessions _____ Genealogical Sessions _____ Scholarly Sessions Please list the names of different archival-related associations or organizations to which you or other staff members currently belong: Administrative/Professional Associations: ___________________________________________________________ Genealogical Associations: ___________________________________________________________ Scholarly Associations: (i.e. AHA) ___________________________________________________________ Does your repository actively pursue collections solely for their: _____ Administrative value (Y or N) _____ Genealogical value (Y or N) _____ Scholarly value (Y or N) Which values are most important in evaluating your archival collections? Please rank 1-3 (1 being the most important): _____ Administrative values _____ Genealogical values _____ Scholarly values In general, how where would you rate your repository's attitude toward implementing new automated systems? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not Pursing Automation Some Automation in Place Aggressively Pursues At This Time But Not Cutting Edge New Technology To what extent do the following factors figure in your automation decisions? Very Important Not at All Important 1 2 3 Applicability Concerns 1 2 3 Financial Concerns Regarding Equipment 1 2 3 Staff Time and Additional Workload 1 2 3 Staff Training to Implement New Systems 1 2 3 Other: ____________________________________________ How many computer workstations does your repository currently use? ___________ If known, please list processor speeds and clock speeds: Example: 486 66 MHZ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Does your repository own or have access to (Y or N): _____ Laser Printer _____ Inkjet Printer _____ Dot-Matrix Printer _____ Color Flatbed Scanner _____ B&W Flatbed Scanner _____ Portable Scanner (B&W or Color) _____ Tape Backup Drive _____ Portable Zip or Jaz Hard Drive _____ CD-ROM Drive _____ Recordable CD-ROM Drive (CD-Write) _____ Modem _____ Direct Internet Connection (No Modem Needed to Access the Internet) Are your workstations networked with a local area network: _____ Yes _____ No If so, is this network connected to or part of a larger institutional local area network: _____ Yes _____ No On average, how many hours per day does each staff members spend at a computer workstation? _____ 0-1 _____ 5-6 _____ 2-4 _____ 7 or more Do you service reference requests submitted by email? _____ Yes _____ No Do you solicit reference requests submitted by email? _____ Yes _____ No Do you manage your collections with an automated in-house cataloging system? _____ Yes _____ No If so, please list the computer software used: ___________________________________________________________ Does your repository include MARC records in your institution's OPAC? _____ Yes _____ No Are your finding aids available in electronic format? _____ Yes _____ No If not, do you plan to offer them in electronic format? _____ Yes _____ No Does your repository maintain a gopher site? _____ Yes ______ No If so, which of the following does it contain: _____ Basic Repository Information _____ Online Finding Aids _____ Online Exhibits _____ Links to Other Scholarly Resources _____ Links to Other Genealogical Resources _____ Other: ______________________ If not, have you previously had a gopher site, or do you plan to implement a gopher site in the near future: _____ Yes (Previously) _____ No (Never) _____ Yes (Will Implement) _____ No (Will Not Implement) Does your repository have a website? _____ Yes _____ No If so, which of the following does it contain: _____ Basic Repository Information _____ Online Finding Aids _____ Online Exhibits _____ Links to Other Scholarly Resources _____ Links to Other Genealogical Resources _____ Other: ______________________ If not, have you previously had a WWW website, or do you plan to implement a website in the near future: _____ Yes (Previously) _____ No (Never) _____ Yes (Will Implement) _____ No (Will Not Implement) Do you or your staff monitor any listservs relating to library science, archival science, or issues of scholarly and genealogical research? If so, please list related listservs: _________________________________________________________________ Do you or your staff monitor any Usenet newsgroups relating to library science, archival science, or issues of scholarly or genealogical research? If so, please let related newsgroups: _________________________________________________________________ In your experience, what types of researchers are most familiar with emerging technologies and their applications for research? (Please rank 1-3, 1 being the best) _____ Administrative Users _____ Genealogical Users _____ Scholarly Users In your opinion, which types of researchers stand to benefit the most from increased automation in archival repositories and tools such as the Internet? (Please rank 1-3, 1 being the best) _____ Administrative Users _____ Genealogical Users _____ Scholarly Users To what extent would you estimate your staff's knowledge and understanding of current trends in genealogical automation (i.e. genealogical software packages, implementations of the Internet in genealogical research, etc.)? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 No Knowledge or Interest Some Knowledge and Very Knowledgeable At This Time Interest 30. Is it a priority for your institution to maintain an awareness of current trends in genealogical automation? ______ Yes ______ No In your experience, are the automation efforts of your repository serving the needs of each group of patrons? _____ Administrative Users (Y or N) _____ Genealogical Users (Y or N) _____ Scholarly Users (Y or N) Upon what do your base your perceptions? _____ Formal User Studies _____ Informal Interaction with Patrons _____ Other: _______________________________________________ Do you perceive a need for greater levels of automation at this time to serve each group of users? _____ Administrative Users (Y or N) _____ Genealogical Users (Y or N) _____ Scholarly Users (Y or N) In your experience, what forms of automated information dissemination do you find most helpful for researchers in general? _____ Online records in a public catalog _____ Electronic finding aids _____ Gopher sites _____ World Wide Web sites _____ Ability to email with library/archive staff Overall, what do you feel are the most positive benefits to automation in the archival environment? (Please rank in order of benefit, 1 being the most positive) _____ Allows free text searching of electronic documents and finding aids _____ Permits the archivist to take a less active role in the reference process _____ Promotes use of archives _____ Decreases retrieval time for archival materials _____ Increases retrieval accuracy for archival materials _____ Makes it easier for patrons to access archival materials _____ Saves money (postage/long distance) _____ Other: _____________________________________________________ _____ Other: _____________________________________________________ In your experience, do you feel automation has made your job as an archivist easier, or more difficult? _____ Easier _____ About the Same _____ More Difficult
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