A presentation on the future of archival reference and the future of the reading room.

1. Archival Reference in the
Future
Sarah Coates
Link to this presentation: http://bit.ly/1OZHShl

2. • What is your vision of archives in the future with the focus
on providing reference services?
• What role does the traditional reading room play in this
new environment?
• If you were planning the reading room of the future, what
would it look like? How would it be different than now?
• How will archives engage the researcher of the future?

3. Archives’ Overarching Goal
• Save, Secure, and Share
• It is our job to preserve the memory and heritage of the
institution
• We must save records in accordance to collection
development policies
• We must secure and preserve the records for future use
• We must share these records with all who are interested
in them—and that sharing occurs in many ways
• Exhibits
• Presentations/lectures
• Digital content
• Reference work

4. Archives Now and in the Future
Now
• Gatekeepers: we decide who gets
access to what materials (but this
attitude is disappearing)
• Most materials still only accessible
through print/microfilm
• Finding aids and indexes are being
put online, but are not always found
through search engines
• Still reliant on the archivist to make
connections to sources both in-
house and outside the institution
• Need in-person expert help to
navigate sources of information
(finding aids, digital content
platforms, etc.)
Future
• Facilitators: help provide access
to materials to everyone
• Most materials accessible online
• Finding aids and indexes are
placed online and are indexed so
search engines can find
materials
• More materials being shared in
mega-repositories, like DPLA to
increase chances of finding
related materials “on your own”
• Receive expert help online from
an archivist or archivist-created
tutorials to find information

5. Reference Service: The Future
• Reference service is, as we move to a more digital
environment, going to change how we help people find
information
• More teaching archival literacy/competencies to
undergraduate students
• Providing more virtual reference
• Better metadata
• Help patrons find materials more easily
• Better interoperability with search engines and with other large
digital repositories (like DPLA) makes it easier to share your
collections with the world

6. Better Metadata
• Clear metadata that gives more access points will allow items
to be found easily
• Finding aids and Dublin Core metadata associated with digital
objects can be confusing for a patron
• Jennifer Schaffner points out that patrons want to know what a
collection is about rather than what is made up of
• Offer subjects and keywords to search—very important as patrons are
doing their searches through the Web and not relying solely on the
library catalog to find resources
• Make sure metadata describes what a collection or object is about and
that patrons can access that information through several access points
Schaffner, Jennifer. “The Metadata is the Interface: Better Description for Better Discovery of Archives and Special Collections,
Synthesized from User Studies.” Making Archival and Special Collections More Accessible. 2015. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research.
http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/2015/oclcresearch-making-special-collections-accessible-2015.pdf

7. Teaching Archival Literacy
• Morris, et. al. raise important points about archival literacy
being excluded from the ACRL’s information literacy standards
and propose some archival literacy standards that should be
met
• They argue that archivists should step in and teach these
standards through instructional sessions or more informal
outreach.
• Morris, et. al. state: “We refer to archival literacy as the
knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to effectively and
efficiently find, interpret, and use archives, manuscripts, and
other types of unique, unpublished primary sources” (397). This
is a perfect place for a reference archivist to step in as their
definition of archival literacy is exactly what a reference
archivist employs to provide reference services
Morris, Sammie, Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, and Sharon A. Weiner. “Archival Literacy for History Students:
Identifying Faculty Expectations of Archival Research Skills.” The American Archivist 77.2 (2014): 394-424.

8. The Traditional Reading Room
• Traditional reading room still plays an important role in the
future of archives
• Not everything will be digitized and put online
• Researchers will still come to seek in-person help
• Place for archival literacy teaching sessions for all—
undergraduates, graduates, faculty, general public
• Still need to provide a secure place to view materials
• But, there will need to be some changes to how a reading
room is used

9. Reading Rooms of the Future
• Traditional reading rooms now are usually smaller rooms
with lots of tables and little technology
• Future reading rooms will change much of what a reading
room looks like now
• Will be both online and physical
• Contain more computers for viewing digitized items, and more
technology in general
• Contain multiple areas or sections for different purposes
• Contain space for physical and digital exhibits

10. Online Reading Rooms
• Create a space on the library website where patrons can view
digitized items from archival collections
• Create a “virtual bookshelf” where items are sorted by subject, e.g.
aviation history. Patrons can click on one link and view all digitized
items related to that topic
• Virtual reference: in addition to email, real-time chat with an
archivist for assistance, or book appointments for Skype
sessions for more in-depth help
• Provide virtual tutorials that help teach patrons archival literacy
skills and how to search within the library’s specific catalog of
digital items and finding aids
• Link to digital items within a finding aid—ease of access and more
visibility (see example from the University of Chicago:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SP
CL.IBWELLS)

11. Physical Reading Room
• Cater to all researchers: professional, novice
• Create spaces for novice researchers with computers and other
resources to assist them in learning how to find archival sources
• Create space with individual tables for experienced researchers to
use with physical materials
• Provide a section of computers for viewing digital
materials and network them to printers so patrons can
print materials
• Provide a space for hosting events and lectures
• Provide space for exhibits to draw interest and display
materials
• Digital exhibits displayed on wall mounted screens or monitors

12. • Keep commonly used reference materials (such as
yearbooks, course catalogs, directories) on shelving for
easy access
• Have microfilm/fiche readers available
• Photocopier and book scanner for patron use
• Have a classroom attached to the reading room to bring in
groups to introduce them to the archive and use archival
materials in presentations without having them leave the
archives
• Have two desks—one for reception and pointing people to
the correct area and a second for in-depth help
• Be welcoming and provide lots of signage

13. Engaging the Researcher of the Future
• Must break down the barriers between user and the archive
• Engage with faculty to bring undergraduates into the archives
and collaborate with them on digital humanities projects and
other assignments
• Create metadata that will allow researchers to find what they’re
looking for how they want to look for it. Break down the jargon
barrier
• Make more materials accessible online, but remember the
digital divide
• Engage in community events to bring in those who do not have access
to technology
• Provide researchers with the tools they need to help
themselves—and then be present virtually to assist

14. Works Cited
• Morris, Sammie, Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, and Sharon A.
Weiner. “Archival Literacy for History Students: Identifying
Faculty Expectations of Archival Research Skills.” The
American Archivist 77.2 (2014): 394-424.
• Schaffner, Jennifer. “The Metadata is the Interface: Better
Description for Better Discovery of Archives and Special
Collections, Synthesized from User Studies.” Making
Archival and Special Collections More Accessible. 2015.
Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research.
http://www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/publications/20
15/oclcresearch-making-special-collections-accessible-
2015.pdf