Granny hunting : the information seeking behaviour of genealogists in open access libraries

Abstract

The numbers of genealogists is growing, and libraries are an important source for many of their research needs. This project studies their information seeking behaviour in libraries so that resources and programmes can be developed to assist them, promoting research independence and minimising the amount of assistance required from reference librarians. A quantitative survey was administered to 230 genealogists recruited through two genealogical society branches and two libraries in the North Island of New Zealand. A response rate of 54% was achieved with 104 (45%) useable questionnaires. While an attempt was made to reach participants with a range of family history research experience, the respondents were mainly experienced researchers. Genealogists have research experience in a variety of research institutions in their local city as well as in other centres in New Zealand and overseas. They are largely self-taught, spend considerable amounts of time in libraries carrying out their research, and use a wide range of sources. They prefer genealogy collections to be shelved by geographic location, thus facilitating shelf browsing. Although they are high users of computers, they are not, on the whole, diligent users of the library catalogue. They obtain their most useful information through shelf-browsing. Recommendations are made for the provisions of value-added services that meet genealogists' information seeking needs.