n.an individual who seeks information from and/or consults archival resourcesPugh 1982, 33Both libraries and archives seek to aid users in locating information.Conway 1986, 395Users, in the most elementary sense, are people who seek information in archival materials. They may be researchers who visit repositories or who use items obtained from archives.Dowler 1988, 84Another research project could examine an unconfirmed impression that users care very little about the form of the information they need to use or where they find it. What they want primarily is to find the information that will satisfy their questions, regardless of its form or source.Pugh 1992, 14Thus the needs of individual users can be analyzed in terms of their research purpose, intended uses of information, types of questions asked, and degree of experience.Craig 1998, 122Whether we decide to see archives as information commodities or as more durable social resources, whether we regard them as information valued in the markets of popularity, or whether, by contrast, we continue to see them as more fundamental instruments of law and action in broad human activity and institutional administration, we must in all cases consider carefully how we can best deliver our archival goods to all users.Cook 1999, 14For that reason, as well as for general convenience, the term ‘user’ has been employed, in most contexts, throughout the book, in a very general sense. It includes all types of user, even those who are internal users: archivists who are seeking access to materials in their care, members of staff of the employing organization who wish to access information for the support of current activities, professional researchers in pursuit of information to support a report on a clearly defined area of enquiry, and unskilled members of the public seeking relatively undefined or vague information for their own use. Williams 2006, 133In the past we might have defined users as readers, researchers or searchers who consult records in a search room or reading room. Clearly this definition is no longer sufficient: it appears exclusive, and assumes on-site access to original records by people who know what they are looking for. The PSQG Standard for Access suggests that users are actual or potential customers of any of our services, part of a wider body of stakeholders. Users may be internal or external, and access services on site or on line, and potential users—and those not yet born—need to be considered too.Bastian, Sniffin-Marinoff, and Webber 2015, 33Archives[:] User/patron/researcher ¶ Library[:] Patron/user/customer ¶ Meaning[:] An individual who uses the collections and services of a repository[.]Horton and Kaplan 2019, 24Despite all the work of selecting, describing, and curating, our patrons and users generally assume they are the ones discovering content, providing context, and assigning meaning, a sense reinforced by their awareness of content beyond the immediate four walls of the place where they are currently doing research.
Notes
The most common terms are patron, researcher, and user, often used interchangeably. Other terms used earlier in the archival literature are reader and searcher.
