Archives measuring users, users measuring archives : a study of the Hocken Collections' archive users and their levels of satisfaction with the archive service quality

Abstract

Archive users - who are they and are they satisfied with the quality of the Hocken Collections archive service? The literature implies that the archival community is fundamentally uncertain about who our users are. It tends to generalise also about user expectations and few studies seek users' opinions. Yet this knowledge is not only vital to archivists to inform our services and systems, but also is necessary to the marketers and managers, who base decisions on weight of numbers. In the first phase of the study, a quantitative analysis of Hocken user registrations divides users into various categories based on research purpose, affiliation and geographical location. Genealogists emerge as the largest user category, followed by academic/educational users. Based on the gaps model, the second phase consists of a survey of users' expectations and perceptions of archive service quality, as well as measuring their overall level of satisfaction with the service. The SERVQUAL and LibQUAL+ survey instruments form the foundation of a proposed ArcQUAL tool, specifically designed to measure archive services. Gap analysis indicates that generally users perceive the service positively, particularly the affect of service dimension. Overall levels of satisfaction are also high. The pilot ArcQUAL survey instrument proves adequate, although some questions require further modification.