The purpose of this article is to report the results of a research project designed to examine how social media is used by archives to develop connections with family historians. The research showed that the interviewees used social media in different combinations for different purposes. In most cases, these tools were used to achieve maximum access to the wider online community.
There were limited examples of using social media to connect with family historians during the study. However, this paper provides three detailed examples of its use to illustrate how archives can make these connections.
Introduction – current concerns
Literature Review
6 - step into a physical facility and still "find and use digital documents, images, audio files and videos from anywhere in the world." (Smith, p. 4) Archives should learn to "promote the learning of others through our expertise and experience with records, by standardizing electronic access to our doors, and by recognizing the allies we have in family historians." (Tucker, p. 155) Family historians who rely on online resources need archives to be willing and able to use social media to share information about their collections. Theimer (2010) and Nogueira (2010) describe the benefits and challenges of social media for archives and explore how organizations can use these low-cost resources to experiment and develop new services. Archivists who use social media to share expertise encourage others to use these tools through websites such as "The Interactive Archivist," which provide case studies that highlight different ways to use these tools.
Archives in general have been slow to experiment and adopt features of social media, as there is a wariness to move away from the traditional relationship between archivist and researcher and a desire to maintain authoritative metadata about digital collections (Yakel , 2007). Finally, archives use social media to share archival records and information online, but with limited use of user-generated content due to a wariness to move away from traditional roles and a desire to retain control over metadata. The literature has examples of archives successfully collaborating with users, yet there is a lack of knowledge of how archives use social media to develop meaningful connections and conversations with users, specifically family historians.
This paper will investigate how New Zealand archives use social media to develop connections with family historians.
Definition of Terms
7 - A study conducted by Krause and Yakel (2007) provides the only evaluation of user-generated content in an archive. The Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections remained intact while engaging users using social navigation through commenting, collaborative filtering, and bookmarking, transforming the user experience in online archives. The researchers found that user-generated content can increase the accessibility of archive material and enrich traditional search tools.
8 - Family historian - "one who traces the descent of persons, or who is interested in the study of genealogies" (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). Family historians research information about individuals in their family tree and develop personal histories within a historical context.
Research Questions
Methodology
Ethical Approval
Organisational Settings
Participants
10 - An initial introductory email was sent to each contact in the archive asking them to be involved in the research. An email with an attached information sheet, consent form, and interview questions was then sent to each contact, with anonymity and assurance of confidentiality for the duration of the study. An interview time convenient for each participant was arranged, with the consent form signed and returned before each interview.
All interviewees were thanked for their contributions and were sent a copy of the research project upon completion.
Data Collection
Interview Questions
Data Analysis
Results and Analysis
13 - Social media tools were seen as relatively cheap and accessible to everyone. One participant noted that not everyone comes to his website and thus saw the potential of social media to promote his material. Archives used social media to generate interest in and share a deeper knowledge of their collections.
Two participants discussed how they used social media to build community history websites and create interaction through kete software. One participant noted that social media was part of a broader marketing strategy and needed to be kept in perspective. Social media tools are relatively low cost and accessible, so archives are experimenting with their use.
Social media is used to connect and connect with other professionals, nationally and internationally. Archives involved in this investigation had been using social media for six months to three years. Three participants went through transitions in their organizations and looked at the development of social media policies in the future.
Participants commented that social media tools were inexpensive, relatively easy to use, and could be managed without much difficulty. One participant shared how personal success with social media encouraged their use for professional reasons. Social media tools are seen as offering archives new ways to engage and connect with online users.
Half of the participants commented that older users' lack of technology skills could hinder social media engagement. Examples of the use of social media tools to specifically interact with family historians were limited within this study. She keeps her personal and professional profiles separate and wants to explore further uses of social media.
She noted that older people are now on Facebook and social media is now used by many family history societies.
Conclusion
In most cases, social media tools were used to achieve maximum access to the wider community, allowing archives to meet users within the chosen medium. In 2008, Huliva commented that social media could be used to make archives more transparent, direct them to users, and contextualize documents. Family historians were chosen as the user group for this study because they actively use archival records to research their “personal history”.
Most participants shared anecdotes to demonstrate how they were using social media tools to interact with users. Three participants shared detailed stories of social media tools being used by archives, illustrating how they are interacting with family historians at this time. Half of the participants saw family historians as old people who don't use social media and don't have technology skills.
This view was disputed by only one participant, so the conclusion remains that family historians do not use social media (there is a very active family history social media site hosted by TradeMe. It is likely that family historians in the TradeMe genealogy group oppose this perception). Huliva described social media tools as limiting "participating in a conversation about a recording rather than using a recording and describing it as a conversation and an arena for it. In this study, social media is used primarily as an information tool for share collection information, events, photos, etc. with the community.
If so, social media may need to be used in different ways to bring about greater family historian participation. The common ground between these two groups could be the impetus for archives to push the boundaries in the use of social media tools in the future. The six interviewees in this study were happy to share their insights about their use of social media.
Social media provides archives with new ways to interact and communicate with their online communities. They are finding that these tools allow their services to achieve higher levels of interactive engagement with users, and while they are confident that the use of social media tools will increase over time, they want to gain wider recognition in their workplaces that these tools help promote participation, collaboration and conversation with the wider community.
Further Research
I would like to thank my supervisor Gillian Oliver for her help, guidance and support in carrying out this research. I would also like to thank my family and friends who encouraged me to complete this research during a difficult time in Christchurch. Approval for this research project was granted by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee.
The study will examine how archives use social media to develop connections with family historians. Participants will be asked to complete a Skype interview, using instant messaging or audio, at a convenient time. The scheduled interview will last approximately 40 minutes with a transcript or tape of the interview recorded during this time.
Questions will be emailed one week before the interview to allow time to consider answers before the interview takes place. In the event of withdrawal, any information provided by a participant will be deleted and not used in this study. The collected answers will form the basis of my research project and will be put into a written report on an anonymous basis.
The thesis will be submitted for evaluation to the Faculty of Information Studies and deposited in the University Library. VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON CONSENT FOR RESEARCH PARTICIPATION Archives use social media to develop connections with family historians. I have received relevant information regarding the nature and objectives of this research project.
I understand that any information I provide will be kept confidential to the researcher and. supervisor, the published results will not use my name and that no opinions will be attributed to me in any way that can identify me. I understand that transcripts of the interviews will be deleted electronically after two years. The following questions are indicative of the type of questions that will be asked during the interview.
Tagging searchable articles in full text: a survey of social tagging activity in historical Australian newspapers August 2008 - August 2009.
