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National Institute of Standards and

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NilIST Special Publication 500-221

A User Study: Informational

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NIST Special Publication 500-221

A User Study: Informational

Needs of Remote National

Archives and Records

Administration Customers

Judi Moline

Steve Otto

Systems and Software Technology Division

Computer Systems Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001

November 1994

U.S. Department of Commerce

Ronald H. Brown, Secretary

Technology Administration

Mary L. Good, Under Secretary for Technology

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Arati Prabhakar, Director
Reports on Computer Systems Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a unique responsibility for computer

systems technology within the Federal government. NIST's Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) develops standards and guidelines, provides technical assistance, and conducts research for computers and

related telecommunications systems to achieve more effective utilization of Federal information technology resources. CSL's responsibilities include development of technical, management, physical, and administrative standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive unclassified

information processed in Federal computers. CSL assists agencies in developing security plans and in improving computer security awareness training. This Special Publication 500 series reports CSL re- search and guidelines to Federal agencies as well as to organizations in industry, government, and

academia.

National institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 500-221

Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 500-221, 120 pages (Nov. 1994)

CODEN: NSPUE2

.S= GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 1994

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Electronic Access Project of the National Archives and Records Administration had three

main tasks. They were to design a methodology for exploring the informational needs of remote

customers, to survey the targeted population, and to develop a blueprint for NARA's long-term

information delivery systems that would enable NARA to meet their customers' needs. This

report covers the first two tasks. It summarizes the survey methodology developed to investigate

the informational and records needs of citizens who lack direct access to NARA's facilities, reports

the findings of the study conducted using the developed methodology, and presents

recommendations for future actions.

Findings

The methodology developed for this study provided for the inclusion of a wide spectrum of users and potential users of NARA records and information. Data for the study were collected from 6

individual interviews, meetings with 10 groups that focused on professional areas or avocations

(141 attendees), meetings with 18 small groups based on geographical ai^eas (122 attendees),

electronic input (8 people), and a formal questionnaire (244 respondents). Categories of customers

and potential customers surveyed for the study included veterans, genealogists and others

concerned with local history, post- secondary educators, K-12 educators, government officials, law,

business, and other professionals, information service providers, agriculturalists,

environmentalists, and others in the general population.

While different categories of customers had different needs and expectations (documented in the

Appendices with the primary ones identified in the report), certain generalizations about the

findings can be made. People are eager for electronic access to infoiTnation and records. People

want to access government information. Specifically, people want to know what information the

National Archives has and they want to access that information. They want to access that

information by searching by subjects and events, personal names and titles, and place names and

geographical areas. Once they find the information tliat they want, the users want to download that

infoiTnation electronically, or at least be able to order it electronically. If they cannot receive it electronically, they want to receive it by first class mail. The general expectation is that turn ai^ound

for receiving an order would be a few days to 10 days (allowing a week for first class mail to reach

remote regions). However, in spite of the willingness to wait, the idea expressed was, "if the

material is in electronic form, then we expect it immediately."

The pubhc libraiy was the place most frequently cited as convenient for electronic access although

substantial numbers also cited the office, home, and school. With on-hne access, the place is not

cmcial from the point of view of the National Archives except for making sui'e that the public has

equitable access.

iii
Recommendations

Based on the sui^vey findings, NARA must provide electronic resources in order to maximize the

opportunity for citizens and organizations to locate and receive needed information. The

paiticipants in the study expressed a strong interest in knowing what is available and requested that

NARA produce an inventoiy of their holdings nationwide. To meet the users' and potential users' requirements, an inventoiy of all the holdings of NARA would have to be available electronically.

Further, a good portion of the materials would need to be on-line to support the users' requests.

Toward that goal we recommend a phased approach that first meets the informational needs of

users that ai^e not currently being met. Information providers, local and family historians,

government employees, business and law professionals, and veterans are working with the present

system and, at least to some degree, are getting their needs met. K-12, agriculturalists,

environmentahsts, and perhaps post secondary educators, are potential new users. Materials that

meet the needs of these groups should be identified and made available electronically first.

One of the major concerns expressed in public meetings was the need for a simple user interface.

Users with specific informational needs want to get on the computer, key in or select their search

terms, get what they ai^e looking for, capture that information, and get off the system. This is in

the interest of economy of time and money. There will also be users who do not have a clear idea

of then- informational need for whom browsing must be available. Again the requirement is for a simple user interface.

iv
Preface

This report brings together the data collected using a vaiiety of methods. The basic questions

answered are what remote users of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

want in the way of information and materials and how they want to receive it. The project started

the first of April 1994, the participants were identified in May, and the first public meetings for

data collection were held in June. A second group of public meetings was held in July and then in

August, we ti-avelled extensively in Nebraska meeting with people in remote regions of the State. Also, by late August the formal questionnaire was mailed to 414 participants in the study.

We have nothing but admiration for the people of Nebraska. They have treated this project with

respect and enthusiasm and have given freely of their time. The Nebraska Advisory Committee

members fit us into their busy schedules on short notice. The participants also did their best to attend the public meeting that best fit their interest group even when the time and site were not

convenient. Further, the participants in the remote areas were extremely flexible. Once we had an

itinerary worked out, the individuals along the route were very accommodating and fit us into their

schedules whether eai'ly in the morning, at lunch time, late in the afternoon, at dinner time, or on

Saturday.

The Nebraska Advisory Committee was cmcial to the success of this study. The members of this

committee helped us identify potential paiticipants and also provided suggestions for the

methodology. Our sincere thanks go to JeiTy Deichert, Jane Hood, George R. Garrison,

Christopher Hoy, Michael Jon Jensen, Howard Lowe, Andi'ea Paul, Lee Rockwell, and Rod

Wagner. 1

Besides Steve Otto, I would also like to acknowledge the help of the other members of the

National Institute of Standai^ds and Technology (NIST) team. Gerry Finnegan was our contact in

Nebraska. He was there when we could not be. Gerry interfaced with participants for us in order

to set up meetings, answered questions, and dealt with the multitude of details which ai'e more

efficiently resolved in person. Barbai"a Howden, along with Geiry, Steve, and 1, foiTned the NIST

team for the June meetings in Nebraska. Barbai'a helped with meeting and greeting the paiticipants

and with documenting the sessions. She also extracted data from video tapes of July sessions and

1 The affiliations of the Nebraska Advisory Committee are as follows: Jerry Deichert

(Senior Research Associate, Center for Public Affairs Reseai^ch, University of Nebraska at Omaha), Jane Hood (Executive Director, Nebraska Humanities Council), George R. Ganison

(Chaii-person, Black Studies Office, University of Nebraska at Omaha), Christopher Hoy (Director

of Special Projects, Nebraska Depaitment of Economic Development), Michael Jon Jensen (The

University of Nebraska Press), Howai'd Lowe (General Manager, University Radio and

Television, University of Nebraska at Omaha), Andi'ea Paul (State Archivist), Lee Rockwell

(Assistant General Manager, Educational Telecommunications), and Rod Wagner (Director,

Nebraska Library Commission). v
rough notes taken during August meetings. Aneeta Brown made the transcriptions found in the

appendices, extracted data from notes, and wrote up the data reports for the appendices. Sharon

Wenthng handled our travel arrangements, helped with our mailings, and provided other help

when asked. Lastly, BUI Welsch designed the NARA locator (Appendix C) that we distributed to participants.

Without the NARA staff, this project would not have been possible. All sections of the NARA

stiaicture contributed briefings on holdings and procedures. Their presentations and willingness to answer questions and provide examples of materials gready facilitated our understanding of the

National Archives' role and holdings. To all of them we wish to express our appreciation. Also,

we want to acknowledge and specifically thank those who assisted with the Nebraska discussion

groups. The participants were Peter Hirtle, Suzanna Long, David Petree, Milt Gustafson, John

Butler, Michael White, Rick Blondo, Richard Hunt, and Lynn Bellai-do. To Lynn Bellardo,

Director of the Electronic Access Study, we want to offer our sincere appreciadon for the capable

way she has directed this project. Lynn has offered help and encouragement; she has anticipated

needs; and she has managed the details of getting the appropriate people together for the various

aspects of the project.

Finally, we want to acknowledge the help and support of Senator Robert Kerrey and his staff. Letters of invitation were sent to participants in the Senator's name and his staff identified

Advisory Committee members. Additionally, his staff was always willing to help us resolve the

issues that arise when doing a project of this magnitude in a short time.

Judi Moline, Ph.D.

November 1994

vi
Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii

Preface . v

Introduction 1 Background 1 NARA Information and Holdings 2

Challenge 3

Scope of Smvey 4

The User Study: InfoiTnational Needs of Remote NARA Customers 5

Survey Methodology 5

The Questions 5

The Procedures 6

Data Types 6

Coding 6

Data Sources 7

Identifying the Paiticipants 7

Collecting the Data 7

Facilitated Meetings 7

Individuals in Remote Regions of the State 8

Questionnake 10

Data Analysis 11

Methodological Assumptions 11

Validity of the Study 12

Limitations 12

The Findings 13

The Respondents to the Questionnake 13

The Paiticipants in the Meetings Held in Nebraska 14

For What Puiposes Users Want Information 15

Kinds of Information Needed 16

Where and When the Infomiation is Needed 18

Search Capabilities Needed 19

Format Needed 20

Delivery Method 23

Recommendations 25

Summary of the Work Done 25

Conclusions 25

Recommendations 25

vii
Appendices 27

Appendix A: Package of Materials Inviting Attendance at Public Meetings A1

Appendix B: Agenda for Meetings Held in Nebraska B-1

Appendix C: NARA Locator, Handout for Participants C1

Appendix D: Package of Materials Inviting Questionnaire Participation . D-1

Appendix E: Electronic Feedback Received from Participants E1

Appendix F: Data from Preliminary Meetings in May F1

Appendix G: Data from June and July Meetings G-1

Appendix H: Sample Discussion - Video Tapescript H-1

Appendix I: Data from August Meetings , I-l Appendix J: Sample Discussion - Audio Tapescript J-1

Appendix K: Data from Questionnaires K-1

viii
List of Tables

Table 1. Summary of Data Gathering Techniques 6

Table 2. List of Facilitated Meetings in Nebraska 8

Table 3. Attendees at Scheduled Meetings Held Around the State of Nebraska 9

Table 4. Other Visits to Remote Sites in Nebraska 10

Table 5. Distribution of Respondents to Questionnaires by Categories of Users 13

Table 6. Questionnaire Respondents' Previous Contact with NARA 14

Table 7. Distiibution of Attendees at Meetings by User Categories 15

Tables. Puiposes for Which Users Want Information 16

Table 9. User Requirements by Group for Information Services 17

Table 10. Clusters of Records Specified as Most Useful 18

Table 11. Places Convenient for Electronic Access 19

Table 12. How the Participants Search for Information 20

Table 13. Formats of Materials Preferred by Each Group 21

Table 14. Types of Records or Documents that Users Would Like On-line 21

Table 15. Technologies Currently Used by Each Group 22

Table 16. On-line Services Currently Used by Each Group 23

Table 17. Prefeired Delivery Method for Information or Copies of Records 24

ix

Introduction

[The following intioduction has been excerpted from the NARA statement of work dated Spring

1994.]

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) possesses a vast wealth of

information and records holdings from the Federal Government that documents the history of the

American people. One of its primary roles is to make this information available to the public;

however, at present, most of these holdings are not easily accessible to citizens and organizations

unless they have direct access to NARA's facilities. NARA is cun-ently conducting a number of customer surveys. The purpose of this particular

study is to conduct a sui"vey to investigate the informational and records needs of citizens who lack

dii'ect access to NARA's facilities and to determine how to best meet those needs. For this study,

the information needs of remote users and potential users in Nebraska will be surveyed. The kinds

of information that are of concern to this study are:

A. The kinds of records or information that citizens and organizations requiring remote access need from NARA. This should include the need for information about NARA's holdings,

information from the records and other documentary' materials in NARA, and infoiTnation

held by NARA about other Federal records.

B. Where and when citizens and organizations need this information. For example, do

citizens need infoiTnation dehvered to their homes, schools, businesses, and/or citizen

centers? Do citizens' needs for information or records decrease if delivery is not made

within a specified time period?

C. How citizens and organizations search for and locate desired information. What access

points (such as geographic or date) and information retrieval and navigation techniques

would NARA customers likely use in a search of the records and information holdings of

the component units of NARA? Such information would be valuable for determining

ways to organize NARA infoiTnation in order to maximize the likelihood that citizens can

locate needed information and records.

D. In what foiTnats customers need this information, and how they would like it delivered to them. For example, would the infoiTnational needs of the greatest number of customers be

met by a system that provided an overview or index of NARA holdings, direct on-line access to a specific set of records, or a combination of both approaches?

Background

The United States Government has an obligation to provide information about its activities to the

American public. It is the widespread availability and use of such infoiTnation that preserves

democracy and helps to shape the national cultui^e. As the protector of the records for the

1
Congress, the courts, the presidency, and the executive branch, NARA has a crucial and unique

place in this democratic society to guarantee the accountability of the Government to the American

people and to protect individual rights and hbeities.

NARA sei-ves both as a public sei-vice gateway between citizens and the records and ai'chives of

then- Govemment, and as a central management agency that helps formulate national infonmation

policy and assists Govemment organizations in the creation and maintenance of their records. As

an archival and cultural institution, NARA accessions and makes available to the public Federal

and Presidential records and related documentary materials of permanent value that document the

origins and evolution of the United States Govemment and the history of the American people.

As a central management agency, NARA establishes regulatory policies and procedures for

records and information management, provides assistance to Federal agencies in managing their

records, schedules agency records for eventual destruction or transfer to the National Archives, and

stores non-current Federal records in Federal Records Centers. NARA also publishes the laws,

Pi-esidential documents, regulations, and other official notices of the Federal Government. As a

result of these vaiied roles, NARA possesses a wealth of information and record holdings about

and from the Govemment and its activities beyond that contained in the records already

accessioned into the National Archives.

NARA's constituents include the Federal Govemment; a history-minded public; the media; the

records and ai'chival communities; a broad range of professional associations and individuals

interested in history, political science, the law, genealogy, and library, records, and information

services; and, in many cases, citizens seeking to estabhsh and/or protect theii* legal rights and

interests.

NARA has an obligation to give citizens the Federal information they want in the most accessible

manner possible so that citizens can protect their individual legal rights, monitor their Govemment,

and make infomied decisions about national priorities. NARA also gives citizens the opportunity

to learn about themselves, their heritage, and their Govemment. Whether a Vietnam veteran wants

confirmation of exposure to defoliants in order to apply for veteran's benefits, a genealogist wants

a copy of his great-great-great grandfather's bounty land waiTant, or a dry cleaner wants to know if the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new mle on clean air standards, NARA

maintains the infomiation and records they need. NARA is at the heart of the Federal

government's information infrastmcture.

NARA Information and Holdings

NARA is singular among the world's ai'chives as a unified Federal institution that accessions and

preserves materials from all three branches of Govemment. NARA stores and makes available

permanent Federal records. Presidential records, and related documentary materials through a

national network of 15 ai'chival repositories and ten presidential libraries located in 15 states and

the District of Columbia. NARA also administers special groups of records, including the John F. Kennedy Assassination collection, the Captured German Records collection, and the Richai'd M.

Nixon Presidential Papers. Additionally, NARA maintains descriptions of records held in six

affiliated ai'chives, which hold collections of records for which NARA has legal custody (e.g., the

Militaiy Academy archives at West Point). NARA also operates a nationwide system of fourteen

2
Federal Records Centers located in twelve states. The records centers house and provide access to noncurrent Federal records for agencies, including both military and civilian

personnel records. NARA also maintains inventories of records created or held by Federal

agencies.

The size and breadth of NARA's holdings are staggering. More than two million cubic feet of

permanent Federal records were held by NARA at the start of FY 1992. The presidential libraries

held over 167 million pages of additional permanent records, and over 17 million cubic feet of

noncurrent Federal records were housed in the Federal Record Centers. Together, NARA's

facilities hold close to 20 million cubic feet of original textual material documenting the activities of

the Federal Government. In addition, NARA has extensive multimedia collections, including:

9 million aerial photographs,

7 million still pictures,

more than 4 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering plans,

more than 310,000 motion picture, sound and video recordings,

almost 300,000 microforms, and

nearly 6,000 computer data sets.

More than 300,000 research visits were made to NARA archival facilities in FY 1992 and staff responded to an additional 700,000 oral and written requests for records and information. Federal

records center staff respond annually to more than three million requests for records and

information. It is likely that NARA's holdings would be used by even more people if physical

location were not an obstacle and if people were more aware of the wealth of records and

information available through NARA.

The physical location of records might not be of great importance if the indices, finding aids, and

other available information about the records made it possible for the public, even from a distance,

to locate specific records of interest and order copies. Unfortunately, customers find it difficult to locate the wealth of records and information available throughout NARA because of the variety of

indices and finding aids created by NARA's organizational units. There are few automated

information systems in use in NARA, and those that exist are fragmented and uncoordinated.

Often customers who wish to use NARA records or information must visit a NARA repository or

rely upon NARA staff to locate needed information.

Challenge

Citizens and Federal agencies are placing ever-greater demands on NARA for information from

Federal records and related holdings. NARA's organizational units manage vast information and

records holdings that would be of use to many citizens and organizations if they were awai^e of

their existence. It is at present unclear, however, what record and information holdings are most

needed by the public and Federal agencies; how users could locate the desired infoiTnation; how,

where, and when that infoiTnation should be delivered; and how much it would cost to make the

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3
needed infoiination available in the desired form.

Scope of Survey

For this study, NARA linMted the survey geographically and selected the state of Nebraska as the

focus. Nebraska has both urban and rural populations, a strong university system, and a citizenry

with a relatively high literacy rate. The state also has a long-standing commitment to an expanding

information infrastructure, and it has active organizations that can help to identify the users and

potential users that should be included. Nebraska is currently not served by a NARA facility, and

its size makes a state-wide survey feasible.

The sm"vey will be limited to identified populations rather than to a broad random survey of

citizens. This will enable NARA to focus in-depth on the information needs of various groups of

citizens in selected communities. The survey population will include representatives of

educational, academic, and research institutions; primary and secondary schools; genealogy, local

and general history, and humanities-oriented groups (including the state's Humanities Council);

information service providers (including libraries, other nonprofit and for profit providers); state and local government officials; archivists and records managers; the state Bar Association; other

occupational groups; and the general public A committee of advisors composed of

representatives from interested gi^oups in Nebraska will be established by NARA to assist in the

identification of the survey population.

NARA Staff

Spring 1994

4
The User Study: Informational Needs of Remote NARA Customers

The following report on the user study is divided into three main sections: Survey Methodology,

Survey Findings, and Recommendations. These sections are followed by extensive Appendices.

In order to determine what the potential remote users of the National Archives might need in the

way of records and information, a survey methodology needed to be developed. The following

guidance was provided by NARA:

1- The population of the survey would be a wide cross section of individuals living in Nebraska.

The specific groups would be veterans, genealogists and others concemed with local history, postsecondary educators, K-12 educators, govemment officials, law, business, and other professionals,

information service providers, agriculturalists, environmentalists, and others in the general

population. Nebraska was chosen because of its diverse rural/remote regions, its highly educated

population, and its electronic infrastructuie.

2- Delivery of the reports on schedule was imperative. Therefore, the planning and prepai*ation

time was extremely limited. Although a procedure was developed, there needed to be flexibility in

its execution to take advantage of opportunities as they arose.

3- There was to be extensive interaction with the contracting agency, NARA, as the project

proceeded. Ultimately this is an advantage for any project but it does add to the time necessary for

each decision.

Survey Methodology

This section presents the reseai'ch questions, the procedures (data types, coding, and sources), the

methodological assumptions, the validity of the study, and its limitations.

The Questions

(a) What kind of records or information about or from NARA holdings do citizens and

organizations requiring remote access need? How do these needs differ among the

identified gi oups of users and potential users?

(b) How are the records and informational needs of different customer groups classified as to relative impoilance, speed, or frequency of request?

(c) Where and when do citizens and organizations need required infoiTnation delivered to them?

5
(d) How would citizens not physically visiting a NARA facility approach a search for

information about or from NARA holdings? What access points (geographic, date,

personal names, subject, etc.) would be used by citizens in searching for information from

NARA? How would they navigate NARA's information and records holdings in an online system?

The Procedures

In order to collect data on what the targeted groups of users and potential users of the National

Archives need, a variety of approaches and settings was used to obtain the needed breadth. The

approaches included intei'view, group sessions, infomial feedback, and a questionnaire. The

settings included libraiies, historical societies, schools, businesses, administrative offices, and

other places with which the participants were famihai".

Table 1. Summaiy of Data Gathering Techniques

DATA SOURCE Number of Contacts Data Collection Methods

Individual Interviews, remote users 6 Sessions, 6 People notes handouts

Small Groups

By profession/avocation

By geographical area, remote

10 Sessions, 141 People

18 Sessions, 122 People

flip charts notes video tapes

audio tapes

Individuals 8 respondents E-mail

Individuals 244 respondents questionnaire

Data Types

The situations in which data were gathered provided a variety of collection methodologies.

Because we were seeking information on specific questions, we were able to focus the discussions on those specific questions. Although the questions provided a framework for the sessions, data were noted as they came up rather than forcing a strict adherence to the agenda. As noted in the

table, data types included notes, handouts (from those interviewed), flip charts, video tapes, audio

tapes, E-mail, and questionnaires. Samples of the raw data collected are found in the Appendices

E, F, G, H, I, J.

Coding

As data were collected at meetings, they were listed on flip charts. The data were organized as responses to the survey questions. In addition, there was a flip chart for other issues and

questions. In the case of notes, transcripts, and E-mail, the data were coded with the question

6
number and then reduced to lists of items under each question. As for the questionnaire, data entry

was done by keying responses into a statistical package (SPSS/PC+). The contractor (The

University of Maryland's Survey Research Center) did the data entry and provided the frequencies.

The data were collated into tables as frequencies for the total population and as frequencies for each

of the ten subgroups by us. The ten subgroups were veterans, local and family historians, post

secondary education, K-12, government employees, businessAaw/other professionals, information

providers, agiiculturahsts, envu-onmentalists, and other.

Data Sources

In order to cover the needs of the diverse population of the state of Nebraska, it was necessary to have a vaiiety of situations at which to collect data. People were interviewed in thek normal work

environment, groups of individuals with similar interests were gathered at meeting facilities

familiar to them, groups of individuals of diverse interests were gathered at a place near where they

live (remote areas of the State), individuals were invited to provide input via E-mail, and

individuals were invited to participate via questionnaire.

Identifying the Participants: Obtaining a list of diverse individuals to represent the vaiious

categories of potential users in Nebraska was achieved in the following manner. Nine leaders were

invited to serve on our Nebraska Advisory Board by Senator Robert Kerrey. These individuals were notified of their selection by his staff and then we (NIST researchers) phoned and set up a meeting with each individual a short time later. At these meetings, the two principal investigators

from NIST solicited names of potential paiticipants from the spheres of contacts of each of the

Committee members. These names became the basis of the major mailing list. The Nebraska

Advisory Committee met as a gi^oup to review the hst and to offer other suggestions to faciUtate

the data collection for the Electronic Access Project.

Additional names were culled from the list of participants at the Challenge Nebraska Conference of

May 1994. This list was an appropriate source of people interested in electronic networking. Once

the list of names was compiled, addresses were added, and the individuals were labeled as belonging to one of the ten groups listed in the section on "Coding" above. Later as group

meetings took place in Lincoln and Omaha, additional names were added at the recommendation

of other participants.

Collecting the Data: Data were collected in a vaiiety of ways. Data were collected from

facilitated meetings after presentations by NARA ai'chivists; data were collected from individuals

at small group sessions around the State; data were collected from E-mail responses to oui" questions; and data were collected from a formal questionnaire.

Facilitated Meetings: Over the course of 2 months, there were 12 facilitated meetings. (See

Appendix G for the report on these meetings.) Participation was solicited for these meetings

through a mailing to oui* entire list. The mailing contained letters of invitation and a schedule of the

meeting topics, times, and places. (See Appendix A: Package of Materials Inviting Attendance at PubHc Meetings.) A voice mailbox was established in Lincoln, Nebraska, and individuals were

given that as a local contact for questions or sign-ups. The calls were responded to by our contact

in Lincoln.

7
Table 2. List of Facilitated Meetings in Nebraska

GROUP PLACE ATTENDEES

Veterans Lincoln 25

Family and Local History Lincoln 1 o Omaha 13

Post Secondary Education Lincoln 16

Omaha 4

K- 12 Lincoln 21

Omaha 1

A

lo

Government Officials Lincoln 12

Business/Economics/Law Omaha 7

Information Service Providers Lincoln 9

General Remote Public but Kearney 31

mainly Family & Local History Scottsbluff 16

The structure of these faciUtated meetings was as follows. The participants were welcomed and

thanked for their interest as evidenced by their attendance. The purpose of the meeting was

explained and the outline of the session was given in terms of time blocks. (See Appendix B for

the agenda distiibuted at these sessions.) The staffs of NARA and NIST were then introduced.

The NARA archivists then presented a short introduction in the form of a slide show. This was

followed by presentations on the NARA holdings. These presentations were tailored to the

various interest groups. After a break, the participants reassembled for an informal brain-storming

session. (Whenever the venue allowed, the chairs were reairanged into a circle for this portion of

the session.) The discussions were structured in the sense that the facihtator moved from

discussion area to discussion area as indicated on the agenda. However, there was no rigid

adherence to this.The goal of this portion of the session was for the attendees to provide input on

their needs and requirements to the NIST staff. Comments were noted on flip charts. The last part

of the session was then devoted to responding to questions about the Archives that the previous

discussion had brought up. The attendees were again thanked for participating and invited to leave

their names and addresses if they were willing to participate further in the project.

A professional facilitator was used for the six public meetings held the first week. Using a ti^ained

facilitator provided the following benefits: it kept the management of the meeting to a neutral paity

(controlling group, imposing time Hmits, etc.) and it allowed the NARA and NIST personnel to concentrate on theii* specific tasks: providing information about NARA and collecting data from

the attendees. At the suggestion of the facilitator at the wrap-up session in June, the NARA and

NIST staff decided that there would be no need for an outside facilitator in July with the exception

of the veterans' meeting in Lincoln. For the other July meetings, the NIST staff facilitated the

discussion component of the meetings.

Individuals in Remote Regions of the State: In August the two principal investigators spent ten days traveling 1955 miles ai-ound the State to meet with individuals with diverse interests. The

8
individuals for these meetings were chosen from oui^ mailing list based on their geographic

proximity to our sites for visit and based on their interests. We were particularly interested in

reaching groups that had not been represented in the meetings in Lincoln and Omaha. Specifically

we targeted agriculture, environment, nonprofit organizations, and Native Americans. In several

cases, those specifically targeted were on vacation at the time of our visit.

Table 3. Attendees at Scheduled Meetings Held Around the State of Nebraska

City Attendees Groups Represented

Alliance 6 Museum Curator, County Development Representative, Teachers,

Librarians

Bancroft 1 Museum Curator

Broken Bow 2 School Official, School Board Member

Chadron 2 Professor, Technologist

Chadron, Fur Museum

2 Museum Director, Researcher

Grand Island 10 School Officials, Teacher, Professor, Curator, Genealogists

Hastings 4 Disabled American Veterans Representative, Economic

Development Committee Member, Librarians

Kearney 3 Non-profit Organization Director of Grants, University Library

Director, Genealogist

Lincoln 3 Non-Profit Organization Director, CD-ROM Project Director,

Teacher

Norfolk 5 Business Owner, Media Specialist, Teachers, Genealogist

North Platte 4 Hydrogeologist, Newspaper Personnel, Teleconferencing Staff

Ogallala 1 Agricultural Association Representative

O'Neill 2 Historical Society Representative, Contract Genealogist

Santee 4 Tribal Representative, Community Service Organization

Representatives, Network Engineer

Scottsbluff 5 Middle School Student, Teacher, Public Librarians

Sidney 3 Technology Staffer, Teachers

Valentine 3 Historical Society Representative, Librarian, Teacher

Wayne 10 Network Specialist, Librarians, Professors

Winnebago 4 Tribal Representative, Community College Administrators,

Professor

York 3 Librarian, Media Specialist, Teacher

9
In addition there were other individuals contacted at remote sites. The contact of each visit is given

in Table 4. In general these visits were done early as practice sessions although Red Cloud was

done later and provided a unique set of user requirements. These visits are separate because they were not scheduled in advance.

Table 4. Other Visits to Remote Sites in Nebraska

City Groups Represented

Auburn Auburn Historical Society

Beatrice Public Library (contains State Genealogy Society collection)

Nebraska City Morton James Public Library

Red Cloud Willa Cather Foundation

Questionnaire: The questionnaire was developed based on input from the NARA Staff and

experiences with the contacts in Nebraska, as well as the goals of the research project as understood by the NIST investigators. The questionnaire and associated methodology also had to meet with expectations of a committee at the Office of Management and Budget (0MB). Finally,

the questionnau-e was reviewed by the Committee at the Survey Research Center for validity and

for clarity.

The questionnaire contains 15 questions. (See Appendix D.) Each questionnaire was coded to identify the user as a member of one of the target groups. The first question asks where users want materials, the second how, the third what kinds of information, the fourth what records, the

fifth the media of the records wanted, the sixth determines information providers, the seventh the

purposes for needing information, the eighth the format desired, the ninth the delivery method, and

the balance give us infonnation about the user (familiarity with technology in general and

electronic access to information specifically, and whether the respondent has been in touch with

NARA).

Development of the questionnaire was an iterative process. Some of the changes or concessions

due to the short time frame included the following:

1- In order to give participants an understanding of the materials available from the National

Archives, the concept of nested checklists was entertained. Extensive work was done towards

generating such a set of hsts but the time it would have taken to be sure that it was all-inclusive

prohibited the development of this reseai'ch tool.

2- Categorization of respondents could have been made based on answers to a specific group of

questions. However, due to the time constraints, this cumbersome but nonintrusive way of

assigning categories was not used. Instead, the questionnaires were hand coded with a number

between 1 and 10 to indicate a category. A note was included with the questionnaire explaining

the number and requesting that the respondent change it if another category seemed more

appropriate.

10
Because of concerns about privacy, the principal investigators planned to have the questionnaires

submitted anonymously. However, 0MB required that we identify those returning the

questionnaires. The purpose of this identification was so that we could contact nonrespondents

conceming the status of their questionnaires. Therefore, question 15 asks for the name and

affiliation of the respondent. When the questionnaires were returned, the respondent's name was

checked off the list and then the identifying pait of the questionnaire removed. These completed

questionnaii'es were then sent to the Suivey Reseai'ch Center for data entry.

A limited number of follow-up calls were made to individuals in categories where we had a small

pool of paiticipants from which to di^aw. The response to these call-backs indicated that, for the

most part, those willing to respond had done so and that we were putting inappropriate pressure on

nonrespondents by calling them back. Some had passed their questionnaire along to the most

appropriate person in their organization, some had thrown it away, and some had responded

anonymously. Based on this experience, we decided to accept questionnaires as they came in

rather than try to follow-up with two call backs.

Data Analysis

The data were coded by interest (user) group (veterans, family and local historians, post secondary

educators, K-12 teachers and administi'ators, government employees, business/economics/law,

information service providers, agriculture, environment, and others) and question (kinds of

information, where and when, seai'ch methods, etc.). They were then analyzed in order to determine guidelines for each user group regarding each question. Tables were generated to show

the range of the findings.

Methodological Assumptions

One of the goals of this project was to develop a methodology that could be used to ehcit user needs for NARA materials in other settings. It is assumed that by talking with users and potential

users, a greater understanding of the potential needs of users will be had. Further, it is assumed

that the broader this gi"oup of informants is, the better the understanding will be. Also, it is assumed that this understanding will include their terminology and needs uninfluenced by previous

interactions that the Archives staff have had with individual infoiTnational requests.

A variety of settings and interaction techniques were used in order to understand not only what the users say they need but also how they plan to use the materials or information.

The methodological assumptions are:

That the sample is varied enough to give data about the informational needs of a wide

variety of potential users of the National Archives.

That the individuals who paiticipated are representative of the groups of users.

That the data collection was done in an objective manner.

11
That the multiple sources of information can be trusted to provide a comprehensive

perspective on what information and materials the users and potential users want.

Validity of the Study

Several procedures were used to ensure the validity of this study: triangulating methods and data

sources, comparing and contrasting evidence, looking for negative evidence, replicating findings,

and asking contractors who worked with us to review and comment on data.

Triangulation, or using several methods, helps avoid error linked to a particular method, e.g., loaded questions, untrue responses, etc. The present study combined discussions with large and

small groups of participants, interviews, unsolicited written commentaries, and a formal

questionnaire. The data were compared and cross-checked for consistency, i.e., ti'iangulation of

data soui'ces. Data were gathered at different times and by different means.

Opportunities for comparison of data abound. For example.

Data from parallel sessions were compared.

Data from the questionnau'e were compared to that of the discussion sessions by interest

group.

Data within an interest group was examined for consistency.

All of the data collected were compai'ed by looking for negative evidence as well as positive

evidence. As data were fit into the framework provided by the questions, instances and cases not

fitting were analyzed. For the major user groups (genealogy, K-12, and post secondaiy), there were two facihtated group sessions that provided for analysis of replicated user groups. Finally,

the NIST conti^actors who helped with this project were asked to review the data.

Limitations

The limitations of the study are discussed below.

First, the results of the study might not be generalizable to all current customers or to potential

customers in the future. They are based on the needs of the users today, on their understanding of

what materials and infonnation is available from NARA, and on their expectations of what is possible. The respondents are influenced by their knowledge of information systems cuiTently

available and those futuristic ones widely discussed. Regai^ding elecn^onic access, the paiticipants are also dependent on their understanding of what is possible or feasible.

Second, the results of the study may be too nan^ow. Not all potential user groups were reached in

adequate numbers to be representative. Fuither, although the findings are accurate for the

paiticipants in Nebraska, there will be unique user groups in other states with unique requirements.

12
The Findings

This section of the paper discusses the findings from all sources. The data are discussed for the

entire sample and then in teiTns of the ten groups. In the discussions of the findings, data from the

questionnaire are most easily shown in tabulai* form since they are numerical. Data from other

soui'ces are discussed and ai^e equally significant.

The Respondents to the Questionnaire

Of 409 questionnaires, 244 were completed and returned. (414 questionnaires were mailed but

five participants were eliminated: one due to death, one due to incorrect address, two due to duplication, and one due to hospitalization.) They represented all of the categories of users as shown in Table 5. Some of the groups are very small; the findings for those groups should be

considered preliminary but important. Four groups have enough participants to provide valid data:

family and local historians, post secondary educators, K-12 educators, and information service

providers.

Table 5. DisCribution of Respondents to Questionnaii-es by Categories of Users

Category Number

Mailed

Number

Returned

Percent

Returned

Percent of

Total

Returned

Veterans 22 16 72.7 6.6

Family and Local History 82 44 53.7 24.6

Post Secondary Educators 54 31 57.4 12.7 K-12 (teachers and administrators) 69 46 66.6 18.9 Government Employees 20 13 65 5.3

Economics/Law/Business 26 12 46 4.9

Information Service Providers 66 45 68 18.4

Agriculture 18 13 72 5.3

Environment 9 6 66.6 2.5

Other 43 18 41.9 7.4 TOTAL 409 244 59.7 100

Questions 12 - 14 on the questionnaire sought information about the respondent's previous contact

with the National Archives. The data collected from these questions are presented in Appendix K.

Further analysis of this data allowed the creation of Table 6.

13
Table 6. Questionnaire Respondents' Previous Contact with NARA

Contact with National Archives G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 GIO all

Previously called or wrote and

attended NARA presentation

Zo lU o

y

QO

A411 U (J no

No previous contact but attended

NARA presentation

4 4 0

1 oty U J i Z I Z 43

Previously called or wrote but did

not attend NARA presentation

2 11 12 8 1 0 10 5 0 8 57

No previous contact and did not attend NARA presentation

1 1 3 10 4 3 5 5 4 8 44

Totals 16 44 31 46 13 12 45 13 6 18 244

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service

providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

Table 6 shows that the respondents are generally knowledgeable about the National Archives.

Most of them have some familiarity with the holdings through attendance at a NARA briefing in

June or July 1994 or because of previous contact with the National Archives. Of the 44 or 17.6%

of the respondents who said that they had had no previous contact with NARA and did not attend a NARA briefing, 13 had paiticipated in a discussion with the NIST investigators in August and 5

others had phone conversations regarding the August 1994 meetings. Therefore, 26 or 10.7% of

the respondents filled in the questionnaires without having had direct contact with NARA or having talked with the NARA electronic access project staff.

The Participants in the Meetings Held in Nebraska

As Table 7 shows, the study was successful in soliciting input from people near the major urban

centers of Omaha and Lincoln and from other parts of the state. As discussed in the methodology

above, facihtated meetings were held in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, and Scottsbluff. In addition a

seiies of informal meetings were held around the State. The information gathered at these

meetings is found in the appendices and is integrated into the discussion below. Also, the material

received by E-mail is included. In many cases the E-mail was from a participant in one of the

meetings.

The veterans, the local and family historians, the government employees, and the information

providers were very familiar with at least some aspect of NARA. The post secondary educators,

K-12 educators, agriculturalists, environmentalists, and the sub-groups of Native Ameiicans and

students seemed less familiar with NARA's resources.

14
Table 7. Distribution of Attendees at Meetings by User Categories

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION People Attending

Meetings in

1 Im 1 ri Q r\r T i n/^/^ i ti ^lllalla UI J_«iIlCUIll

People Attending

Meetings NOT in

V UlC'i ulld 11

1 ciiiiJLJ.y uiivB i^KJK^ai 1 iciiid 2Q 4Q

1 o K - 12 Educators 41 18 Government Officials 4 0

Business/Economics/Law Professionals 8 5

Information Service Providers 14 21

Agriculturalists 0 1

Environmentalists 0 1

Others: Native Americans

Students

Non-profit grant coordinators

0

0

0

8

4

2

Totals 141 128

For What Purposes Users Want Information

In the meetings the participants were excited by the possibility of finding out what information and

holdings are in the National Archives and being able to access the information and holdings

electronically. The participants said they would use NARA holdings for personal research and

publication, for studying how decisions were made, for supplementing textbook materials, and, in

general, to find information as issues came up.

The major purposes for which the respondents to the questionnaire want information for

themselves or theii* customers are to supplement teaching materials (63.9%), to prepare

publications (60.7%), for local and community history (54.5%), to search for grants and funding

sources (53.3%), to do school assignments (50.8%), and for genealogical research (48.85). In addition there were small, special needs groups such as veterans. Native Americans, government

employees, agriculturalists, and environmentalists who are dependent on NARA information. See

Table 8 for how the different groups of respondents see theii" expected use of information. (Also,

Appendix K, Question 7, provides additional details conceming grade levels for the educational

uses, types of claims, and media use.)

15
Table 8. Purposes for Which Users Want Information (Percentages)

Fpisrposes for Info ip 1 \s I f 1 \S J Km 'I Is 3 Vj o \j 1 C ft Vjr iU

For teaching Jl.J 7Q ^ 87 1 o/.l Q7 8 8 JJ.O jU.U 77 fi / 1 .a 18 ^ JO.

J

11

1

jj.j 61 1

1 0 GO assignmenis ZJ.U 99zz.7/ 71/ l.Un 78 ^ /O.J 9^ 1 Zj. 1 J J. J

7'\

/ j.O6 10 8 jU.o 11

1

JJ.J 97 8

ror puDiicaiions J /.J 77 A tj.j /o.y 66DO.7/ 68 Q ^1 8 JJ.O 81 1 OJ. J JJ.O6

for legal rcacdTUIl Jl.J HQ 1 OO.J 117/ .H4 9^Zj. 11 41HI,/7 1

1 J.O ^ 6 11 J.H ^ 4 11JJ.J1 99zz.z9

ror grdiua / luiiuiiig lo.o 18 8 97 ^ 61Ol .J^ ov.o Ol.J 66oo.7/ 66DD.7/ 18 ^ JO.

J

16ID.7/ 66DO.7/

ror regulatory wous. IZ.J U^. J lO. \« 11

11 J.Z9 46HO.Z9 66 7 DO. / XlJ / .o8 00 0 11 1 JJ.J 97z/.o8

DUalllcsa/ 111 veal no n uu.o UO.J l'^ 1 J.Z9 07 7 41HI.7/ ^7J / .o8 1

1 J.H ^ 4 00uu.u0 0'^ Uj.D6

ociiciii or cidiiii 87o / . JS lo.z 18 9 Uj.Z UH-. J (YJ 1 08Uo. ^J 1^1 J. 1J 00uu.u0 00 0 0^Uj.D6

Genealogical work 31.3 95.5 41.9 41.3 07.7 16.7 66.7 30.8 16.7 11.

1

Local history 25.0 86.4 35.5 58.7 15.4 50.0 64.4 30.8 33.3 55.6

I Media use 18.8 11.4 22.6 19.6 23.1 41.7 26.7 07.7 16.7 44.4

Enrichment/Interest 12.5 27.3 16.1 39.1 23.1 08.3 33.3 23.1 16.7 22.2

Other 00.0 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 00.0 02.2 15.4 16.7 00.0

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals. G 7 = information service

providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

Kinds of Information Needed

The overwhelming response of the participants in the study to the kinds of information needed was

that they want to receive copies of actual documents held by NARA. However, they stressed the

need for indices and inventories of the complete holdings of NARA because they do not know

what is available. Participants acknowledged the immense task of making such vast quantities of

materials available and even of the effort it would take to create inventories of NARA's holdings

that could then be made available. Although the participants had prioiities that would faciUtate their

particular work, the general consensus was to make available high impact and frequently requested

materials first.

Those completing the questionnaire ranked the following four as high priority items (see Appendix

K, Question 3):

82.8% — Getting started / How to locate information or records and services available

through NARA

76.3% ~ Infonnation about records and related materials held by NARA

69.2% ~ On-line ordering of records or publication

66.1% ~ Copies of actual documents held by NARA

16
In addition, they ranked the following as having medium priority:

54.5% — NARA sponsored workshops or training

52.0% -- Information about other Federal Agencies

48.9% ~ Information about records created or held by other Federal Agencies

48.7% -- Information about NARA facilities (overview of holdings, hours, location, etc.)

For all the groups except the local and family historians and the government employees, "Getting

staited / How to locate information or records and services available through NARA" was of

highest priority. "Information about records and related materials held by NARA" or finding aids

was the highest priority item for local and family historians and tied as the highest priority for the

major group of information service providers and also for the small groups of government

employees, agriculturalists, and others. "Copies of actual documents held by NARA" was the

highest priority item for the group of veterans who responded to the questionnaire. (See Table 9

for percentage of respondents desiring each sei"vice.)

Table 9. User Requirements by Group for Information Services (Percentages)

Kinds of Information

Services of High

Priority

G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

getting started 86.7 78.0 73.3 87.0 84.6 91.7 84.4 69.2 100 88.2

calendar of events 00.0 05.4 13.8 08.9 00.0 08.3 00.0 08.3 00.0 31.3 NARA facilities 53.3 40.5 24.1 23.9 30.8 167 18.2 50.0 00.0 37.5

finding aids 68.8 837 667 717 84.6 75.0 84.4 69.2 66.7 75.0

copies of holdings 75.0 837 61.3 717 46.2 25.0 75.0 66.7 50.0 31.3

workshops/training 20.0 357 13.3 23.9 07.7 08.3 13.6 00.0 00.0 28.6

on-line ordering 73.3 69.0 73.3 75.6 61.5 83.3 61.4 58.3 60.0 68.8

info re Fed Agencies 28.6 16.2 23.3 23.9 61.5 33.3 39.5 41.7 33.3 25.0

info re records of other

Fed Agencies

53.3 36.6 40.0 37.0 61.5 58.3 43.2 41.7 66.7 37.5

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

Participants attending the meetings expressed interest in a wide range of archival holdings.

Among those items frequently mentioned as desirable were copies of documents of historical

significance (e.g., ti'eaties, proclamations, land transfers), human interest materials (e.g., pictiu'es,

ships' logs, passenger lists, diaries, descriptive materials, ethnically related materials), and cuiTent

17
information (e.g., regarding science and technology, the Federal Register, Congressional

information). The respondents to the questionnaire selected certain clusters of records as being

more useful than others. (See Table 10 and Appendix K, Question 4, for details.)

Table 10. Clusters of Records Specified as Most Useful

Usefu! Records and Materials Historical Current

Information related to:

Congress 103 (42.2%) 115 (47.1%)

Federal regulations and laws,

including the Federal Register

147 (60.2%) 167 (68.4%)

Agency Records:

Education / Culture 146 (59.8%) 149 (61.1%)

Public Lands, Parks, &

Environment

104 (42.6%) 108 (44.3%)

Science & Technology 96 (39.3%) 118 (48.4%)

Records of Individuals

Genealogy 148 (60.7%) 130 (53.3%)

Military Service Records 115 (47,1%) 97 (39.8%)

The National Archives clusters of records are divided conceptually into historical and current. As

can be seen in Table 10, there is some coiTelation between the need for both historical and current

records. However, the relative importance of historic versus cuiTent information is not the same. The respondents want the following current information: Federal regulations and laws, including

the Federal Register (68.9%), Education and Culture (62.7%), Genealogy (55.3%), Science and

Technology (48.2%), and Congressional Records (46.5%) as their first five choices. Regarding

historical records the respondents want Genealogy (63.2%), Education and Culture (62.7%),

Federal regulations and laws, including the Federal Register (60.5%), Military Seivice Records

(47.4%), and Public Lands, Parks, and Environment (42.5%). (See Appendix K, Question 4, for

the complete findings regarding the usefulness of particular clusters of records.)

Where and When the Information is Needed

The places to search for or receive NARA information most convenient to the majority of the users and potential users who responded to the questionnau-e are the pubHc libraiy (64.0%), the

home (55.3%), and the office (53.9%). The school was next with 41.2%. Equality of access was

a discussion point in several of the pubhc meetings. This concern would be mitigated if access were provided by the public library systems. (See Appendix K, Question 1, for the complete

data.)

18
Table 1 1 . Places Convenient for Electronic Access (Percentages)

Place G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

public library 37.5 86.4 38.7 54.3 46.2 83.3 75.6 76.9 33.3 66.7

school 00.0 22.7 51.6 89.1 30.8 41.7 28.9 07.7 33.3 44.4 community center 00.0 13.6 03.2 06.5 07.7 25.0 04.4 07.7 00.0 11.1

office 81.3 20.5 83.9 34.8 92.3 91.7 48.9 53.8 100 72.2 home 18.8 68.2 45.2 67.4 69.2 58.3 44.4 61.5 16.7 44.4

other 06.3 09.1 06.5 00.0 00.0 08.3 22.2 30.8 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

Table 1 1 shows comparisons by user group. The majority of the paiticipants chose the public

library as the most convenient place for searching and receiving information electronically.

Analysis of the results by group clearly indicates that people want to receive their data where they

do their work. (See Table 11.) The libraiy is the place of work for many information service

providers and also for many local and family historians. Therefore it is logical that these two

groups chose the public library as the most convenient place. Groups 10 (composed of individuals

who do not clearly fit into one of the other groups) and 8 (agriculturalists) also chose the public

library. The K-12 group chose the school as the most convenient. The other five groups chose the

office as the most convenient place to search for infonnation and receive it electronically.

"When the information is needed" was not dealt with direcdy in the questionnaire. However, it was discussed in all meetings. There was a feeling among local and family historians that

although they would like the information immediately, they could wait. Students, on the other

hand, need the information and materials immediately. Teachers writing curricula might wait but

only if they know that there is something that they really need. In general, the idea expressed was,

"if the material is available electronically, then we expect it immediately." However, in spite of the

desire to have everything available electronically, the overall sentiment in the discussion groups

was that the time frame for receiving material depended on the purpose for which the information

would be used.

Search Capabilities Needed

The respondents to the questionnaire want to be able to search by subjects and events (78.3%),

personal names or titles (70.5%), and place names and geogi-aphical ai'eas (56.6%). The

participants in the meetings expressed the same preferences._Within the user groups there is a more diverse set of needs. (See Table 12.) For all groups except veterans, local and family

historians, and environmentalists, searching by subjects and events was the clear choice (80.6%,

95.7%, 92.3%, 83.3%, 86.7%, 84.6%, and 88.9%). Envii-onmentalists want to search by place

names and geographic areas, veterans and local and family historians by personal names or tides.

19
Table 12. How the Participants Search for Information (Percentages)

Access Points G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

persons, titles 81.3 88.6 77.4 73.9 30.8 41.7 71.1 61.5 66.7 50.0

places, areas 06.3 75.0 51.6 54.3 23.1 50.0 71.1 38.5 100 61.1

Federal Agencies 06.3 20.5 32.3 23.9 61.5 41.7 48.9 38.5 66.7 33.3

time frame 37.5 59.1 48.4 30.4 30.8 25.0 55.6 30.8 33.3 44.4

subject/events 37.5 54.5 80.6 95.7 92.3 83.3 86.7 84.6 66.7 88.9

organizations 43.8 31.8 35.5 28.3 38.5 58.3 57.8 46.2 66.7 44.4

Note: 0 1= veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

The participants in the discussion groups stressed the need for user interfaces that are easy to search and navigate. The interface must be friendly and clear. Further, links among information

are important. For example, teachers felt that students should be able to search current information

and, if desired, be able to jump to related historical information.

Format Needed

Overall, the format preference for the participants who filled in the questionnaire was for on-line

information (74.6%). The second choice of formats was photocopies (58.6%), the third choice

was printed publications (52.5%), and the fourth choice was CD-ROM (51.2%). (See Appendix

K, Question 8, for additional statistics on formats that users would want NARA to use.) Table 13

shows the format preferences of the various groups. On-hne was the preference of six groups and

was the second choice of the other four groups. On-line access was also the choice of those

attending the public meetings. Fuither, CD-ROM was stressed at these meetings as an

appropriate medium for distributing indices and other information.

The types of records or documents that users would like to have available for on-line computer

access are as follows:

written (textual) documents (91.0%)

photographs (61.1%)

maps (47.5%)

data sets (32.0%)

20
Table 13. Formats of Materials Preferred by Each Group (Percentages)

Formats needed: G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

printed publications 37.5 61.4 38.7 43.5 53.8 25.0 62.2 61.5 100 61.1

photocopies 75.0 84.1 41.9 43.5 15.4 58.3 71.1 61.5 66.7 44.4

photographs 37.5 50.0 12.9 34.8 07.7 25.0 48.9 30.8 50.0 27.8 CD-ROM 18.8 61.4 29.0 65.2 69.2 75.0 55.6 30.8 16.7 44.4

microforms 06.3 40.9 16.1 04.3 07.7 08.3 28.9 00.0 00.0 05.6

on-line 62.5 65.9 93.5 80.4 100 83.3 71.1 61.5 66.7 55.6

other 00.0 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 16.7 02.2 00.0 00.0 00.0

Note: 0 1= veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

It is likely that the respondents chose textual documents because they ai*e the most common type

of material available today. Nine of the ten groups of users indicated that textual documents are

their first priority for on-line access. Maps are the top priority for environmentalists (100%), the

second priority for local and family historians, and the third priority for information service

providers. (See Table 14.)

Table 14. Types of Records or Documents that Users Would Like On-line (Percentages)

Document Type G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

written / textual 100 95.5 87.1 87.0 92.3 83.3 100 100 66.7 72.2

photographs 62.5 72.7 41.9 87.0 38.5 33.3 62.2 53.8 50.0 38.9

motion pictures 25.0 09.1 16.1 45.7 15.4 25.0 11.1 30.8 00.0 38.9 maps 37.5 77.3 29.0 37.0 30.8 33.3 51.1 30.8 100 50.0

architectural drawings 06.3 02.3 03.2 00.0 07.7 00.0 02.2 00.0 00.0 11.1

audio recordings 18.8 06.8 29.0 02.2 15.4 33.3 17.8 23.1 16.7 22.2

data sets 18.8 25.0 38.7 21.7 46.2 50.0 31.1 46.2 33.3 44.4

images of museum

objects

00.0 06.8 12.9 28.3 15.4 08.3 08.9 00.0 16.7 16.7

other 00.0 02.3 00.0 00.0 00.0 08.3 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0

Note: 0 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, 04 = K-12, 05 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

21
Perhaps more significant are the groups which desire to have photographs on-line. For the K-12

gi'oup, photographs were as important as the textual documents. (Textual documents and

photographs each received 87.0%.) Photographs were the second priority for veterans, post

secondary educators, information providers, and agriculturalists. Data sets were the second

priority for government employees, and business, economics, law, and other professionals. (See

Appendix K, Question 5, for additional information on the questionnaire responses.) Photographs were also of great interest to those attending the public meetings.

Table 15. Technologies Cun*ently Used by Each Group (Percentages)

Technology in use G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

CD-ROM 18.8 477 67.7 78.3 76.9 66.7 68.9 15.4 50.0 33.3 FAX 62.5 47.7 90.3 78.3 100 100 95.6 92.3 100 94.4

Computer- word

processor

75.0 75.0 96.8 97.8 92.3 100 91.1 69.2 100 83.3

Computer with a modem56.3 47.7 83.9 80.4 92.3 83.3 84.4 61.5 100 61.1

Macintosh 12.5 06.8 35.5 73.9 15.4 167 22.2 38.5 16.7 11.1 PC no windows 18.8 18.2 19.4 23.9 61.5 33.3 46.7 30.8 33.3 27.8 PC with windows 37.5 47.7 48.4 34.8 61.5 58.3 60.0 53.8 83.3 55.6 PC with windows and

sound card

12.5 22.7 22.6 17.4 07.7 25.0 31.1 00.0 00.0 11.1

Scanner 06.3 13.6 45.2 54.3 30.8 58.3 28.9 00.0 33.3 11.1 None 063 04.5 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0

Other 06.3 02.3 09.7 15.2 00.0 08.3 08.9 00.0 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians. 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

As can be seen in Table 15, although as groups veterans and local and family historians are computer literate, they have fewer computers with modems. Further, they use the Internet much

less than the other groups (see Table 16). Therefore, it is unclear whether they have chosen

photocopies because they really feel this medium best suits their needs or because they do not have

adequate electronic access. In fact, with on-line as a second choice in both cases, it is likely that as soon as members of these groups have more access to on-line facilities their preference will

change to on-line. The environmentahsts, on the other hand, all have access to a computer with a modem. However, since their fii'st choice of materials is maps, it is likely that they do prefer

"printed pubUcations." Group 10 is such a diverse group that it is difficult to draw conclusions as

to why printed documents would be their first choice.

22
The meeting discussions did not focus as much on on-line or electronic access as did the

questionnaire. Therefore, the discussion participants were able to express their discontent with

available microfilms. This was paiticularly evident in the discussions with the local and family

historians. They find the quality of the films and the microfilm readers currendy available to be

unsatisfactory. Suggestions were made to put the materials currently on microfilm on to CDROM. Other groups, such as govemment employees, post secondary educators, and K-12

educators, also encouraged the use of CD-ROM for static, historic material.

The participants in this study are computer literate: 88.6% use a computer as a word processor and

74.1% use a computer with a modem. Table 15 shows the types of computer configuradons being

used by members of the various groups and also the other technologies that the respondents to the

questionnaire are using. (See Appendix K, Question 10, for additional information.)

Further, the participants in this study use computers with CD-ROM drives, scanners, and

modems. Those with modems or other network connections frequentiy use on-line services. Of

the total respondents, 61.1% are doing on-line searching, 59.8% use E-mail, and 54.5% use the

Intemet. Table 16 shows the on-hne services cuiTently being used by members of the various

groups. (See Appendix K, Question 1 1, for additional information.)

Table 16. On-line Services Currentiy Used by Each Group (Percentages)

Use G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

E-mail 43.8 15.9 87.1 78.3 84.6 75.0 71.1 38.5 66.7 44.4

on-line searching 43.8 38.6 80.6 76.1 61.5 75.0 71.1 38.5 33.3 50.0

electronic bulletin boards25.0 31.8 71.0 60.9 69.2 66.7 53.3 30.8 50.0 27.8

Internet 18.8 29.5 77.4 71.7 76.9 66.7 57.8 46.2 50.0 38.9

commercial on-line

services

12.5 13.6 25.8 28.3 53.8 25.0 31.1 07.7 00.0 16.7

other 06.3 02.3 03.2 02.2 15.4 00.0 04.4 07.7 00.0 00.0

Note: 0 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, 04 = K-12, 05 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

Delivery Method

Most respondents felt that if electi-onic access were the goal, then they want electronic dehveiy of

the materials and the infoiTnation (79.5%). The second choice for deliveiy was by fu'st class mail

(61.9%) and the third choice was by FAX (50.0%). The gi"oups that did not select on-line delivery

as their first choice were veterans, local and family historians, agiiculturahsts, environmentalists,

and group 10 (others). Veterans, local and family historians, agriculturalists, and

environmentalists want thek information and records delivered by fii'st class mail (75.0%, 86.4%,

23
84.6%, and 83.3%) and Group 10 would like them by FAX {11.%%). (See Table 17 and

Appendix K, Question 9, for additional information.)

Table 17. Preferred Delivery Method for Information or Copies of Records (Percentages)

Delivery method G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

FAX 37.5 43.2 387 43.5 46.2 58.3 62.2 53.8 50.0 77.8 Computer (on-line) 68.8 70.5 93.5 87.0 92.3 917 80.0 69.2 66.7 61.1

Ovemiglit/2nd day 00.0 13.6 12.9 19.6 15.4 16.7 26.7 15.4 167 167

COD 00.0 09.1 00.0 00.0 06.7 00.0 067 00.0 00.0 05.6

First class 75.0 86.4 45.2 47.8 46.2 50.0 64.4 84.6 83.3 44.4

Other 06.3 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 00.0 04.4 077 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

24
Recommendations

Summary of the Work Done

A methodology for studying the informational needs of a diverse population was devised. Based

on that methodology, data were gathered, reduced, analyzed, and displayed. From that data,

recommendations were made.

The need to meet the National Archives and Records Administration's time constraint was a major

factor in the execution of this study. In spite of this constraint, a variety of data sources was used.

These included individual interviews (6 people), meetings with 10 groups that focused on

professional areas or avocations (141 attendees), meetings with 18 small groups based on

geographical areas (122 attendees), electronic input (8 people), and a formal questionnaire (244

respondents). The methodology allowed the inclusion of a wide-spectrum of users and potential users of National Archives records and information. However, some of the groups of users and

potential users were small. The data are valid for the groups of participants but may not be

representative of the population as a whole. Although this is an important consideration, the goal

of this study was to talk to people and understand their needs. This was done. A statistically vahd

sampling would enhance the present study but would not substitute for the understandings that were collected from the informal components of the study. It is expected that statistical sampling

would reinforce the findings.

Conclusions

People are eager for electi^onic access to information and records. People want to access government information. Specifically, people want to know what information the National

Archives has and they want to access that information. They want to access that information by

searching by subjects and events, personal names and titles, and place names and geographical

areas. Once they find the information that they want, the users want to download that information

electronically, or at least be able to place an order for it electronically. If they cannot receive it electronically, they want to receive it by first class mail. The general expectation is that tum around

for receiving an order would be a few days to 10 days (allowing a week for first class mail to reach

remote regions).

The public library was the place most frequently cited as convenient for electronic access although

substantial numbers also cited the office, home, and school. With on-line access, the place is not

crucial from the point of view of the National Ai-chives except for making sure that the public has

equitable access.

Recommendations

Based on the survey findings, NARA must provide electi^onic resources to citizens and

organizations. One of the major concerns expressed in public meetings was the need for a simple

user interface. Users with specific infoiTnational needs want to get on the computer, key in or

select their search terms, get what they ai'e looking for, capture that information, and get off the

system. This is in the interest of economy of time and money. There will also be users who do

25
not have a clear idea of their informational need for whom browsing must be available. Again the

requirement is for a simple user interface.

The participants expressed a strong interest in knowing what is available and requested that NARA

produce an inventory of all their holdings nationwide. However, the users and potential users expect that this inventory would be searchable by their criteria, i.e., subjects and events, personal

names and titles, and place names and geographical areas. Because of the vast amount of material

and information available at NARA, attention must be focused on specific areas. The clusters of

records of greatest interest are Federal regulations and laws, including the Federal Register,

Congressional Records, Education and Culture, Public Lands, Parks, and Environment, Science

and Technology, Genealogy, and Military Service Records. NARA should use these record

clusters and others that received a high degree of interest as expressed on the questionnaire

(Appendix K, Question 4) and create inventories and indices for them. These indices and the

associated records should then be made available. Further analysis of the findings could be made

to identify what parts of these record clusters would be most appropriate for the widest audience.

K-12 was a significant group in interest and attendance at public meetings and in responding to the

questionnaire. It was also the group that had had the least contact with NARA before this project.

Working with these educators and students would empower them to access the records that

document their rights and responsibiUties as citizens; further, students would grow up knowing

where to find original source material. Toward meeting the needs of providing materials for

grades K-12, photographs should be one of the formats emphasized. Topics that were stressed in

discussion groups included the need for materials relevant to Native Americans and the 19th

century Westward Expansion. Also, traditional or conventional topics such as the Continental

Congress, J.F. Kennedy, and the Nixon tapes were mentioned.

In general, our preliminary recommendations would be to make available indices and records online for a limited historical period. The set of materials should start with photographs as one of the

major components. For example, one might start with 1870 and then work backward and forward

from that time, i.e., do 1870, then do 1869, then 1871, etc. Initial capabihties should include

searching on an inventory list and the abihty to tag a group of images and then browse through

thumbnail images. The materials should be made available on-line. Additionally, CD-ROMs

could be made commercially and users could be encouraged to make their own CD-ROMs of

materials that they use and reuse. These user made CD-ROMs could become shareware products

among schools. Finally, the materials should be made available as soon as possible. As a policy,

for things not already scanned and available, anything requested should be scanned and from then on be available.

In summary, to meet the users' and potential users' requirements, an inventory of all the holdings

of NARA would have to be available electronically. Further, a good portion of the materials

would then need to be on-line to support the users' requests. Toward that goal we recommend a phased approach that first meets the informational needs of users that are not currently being met.

Information providers, local and family historians, government employees, business and law

professionals, and veterans are working with the present system and, at least to some degree, are

getting their needs met. K-12, agriculturalists, environmentalists, and perhaps post secondary

educators, are potential new users. Materials that meet the needs of these groups should be the

first to be identified and made available electronically.

26
Appendices

Appendix A: Package of Materials Inviting Attendance at Public Meetings

Appendix B: Agenda for Meetings Held in Nebraska

Appendix C: NARA Locator, Handout for Participants

Appendix D: Package of Materials Inviting Questionnaire Participation

Appendix E: Electronic Feedback Received from Participants

Appendix F: Data from Preliminaiy Meetings in May

Appendix G: Data from June and July Meetings

Appendix H: Sample Discussion - Video Tapescript

Appendix I: Data from August Meetings

Appendix J: Sample Discussion - Audio Tapescript

Appendix K: Data from Quesdonnaires

27

Appendix A: Package of Materials Inviting Attendance at Public Meetings

at College Park

8601 Adelpbi Road College Park, Maryland 2O740-600]

Dear Nebraskan:

I'd like to introduce you to the National Archives, the Nation's memory. We are the Federal agency that identifies and preserves tiie records and information of our National life. . . everything from the records of the Continental Congress, to Operation Desert Storm, to the photographs of man's first steps on the Moon. And

we're coming to Nebra<^

The National Archives is conducting a study to determine how to provide broad, computer access to its services and information. You ss a Nebraskan will have the imique opportunity to assist us in determining what portions

of our vast collection of documents, photographs, motion pictures, and electronic data will be available to the public using telecommunications and other new technologies.

We will be in Nebraska in June and July to hold public meetings to present an exciting array of information that may be of benefit to yon as a citizen or as a professional in your chosen line of work. We will present

information about the Presidential Library System, the Center for Legislative Archives, the Federal Register, our Regional Archives System, the National Archives in Washington, DC, and our system of current govenmient records bdd by the Federal Records Center System. Each meeting will include a slide illustrated presentation on our vaA treasure of information as well as a specific focus, such as veteran's information,

family and local histor}\ and busiaess/economic information. The schedule of meetings is attached.

The National Archives is being assisted in this study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a

federal agency playing < lead role in the developmmt of the National Information Infrastructure. We are also being assisted by an advisory committee of Nebraskans. Members of the advisory committee include: Jerry

Deichert, University of Nebraska at Omaha Census project; Howard Lowe, University of Nebraska at Omaha,

KVNO-FM, 90.7/UNO Television; Chris Hoy, the N^raska Department of Economic Development; Rod

Wagner, Nebraska Libnry Commission; Michael Jensen, University Press; Jane Hood, Nebraska Humanities

Council; Lee RockwdU Nebraska ETV Network; George Garrison, Black Studies Department, University of

Nebraska at Omaha; aod Andrea Paul, Nebradea State Archivist. They have identified you as someone who

might want to leam about the National Archives and who would be willing to discuss briefly your own need for government informatioo.

Please phone (402)-441-97S5 and leave your name, phone number, and which session you plan to attend. And

please share this invita&on with interested friends, colleagues, co-workers, employees, or others who might

benefit from this opportunity.

National. , . /^chives

Sincerely yours,

Lynn Bellardo

Project Director

Electronic Access Study
J. Robert Kerrey

Nebraska

UNITED STATES SENATE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

June 9, 1994

Dear Fellow Nebraskan:

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) ~

the protector of our Nation's memory -- plays a critical role in providing

information that citizens need to make good decisions in a democracy.

The government information stored at the National Archives is important

to protect the individual rights of citizens and assure accountability in

government in a free society.

With advances in telecommunications and telecomputing and the

emergence of the National Information Infrastructure (Nil) - the

"information supertiighway" -- citizens can be connected to the

information they need from their government. It is my vision that materials from the National Archives should be available on the Nil, so

that the treasury maintained by the National Archives is accessible to aU

Americans. I feel strongly that the information held by government at all levels should be easily obtainable and useable by every American citizen.

To address this need the National Archives agreed to allocate funds to conduct a feasibility study of how to integrate its collection into

the Internet and follow-on computer on-line systems.

The NARA Electronic Access Study Project - which is being

conducted in Nebraska - has two components: a customer survey, to identify the needs of users who lack direct access to the facilities of the

National Archives; and, a needs assessment, to determine what changes

A-2
must be made to provide citizens the information they want from the

Archives in a usable format, delivered to the desired destination within a

specified time period.

I am pleased to report that the National Archives and the National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) currently are working with

a group of Nebraska state officials, historians, scholars, archivists and

librarians to see what government information from the National Archives

will be useful and meaningful in Nebraskans' everyday lives.

I am excited about the potential of this study to help make the vast

collection of the National Archives available on-line to Nebraskans and all Americans. This study is vital for the National Archives to learn what

citizens want and need to know from their government. I am pleased that

it is being conducted in Nebraska, which continues to play a leading role

in the emerging information superhighway.

I sincerely hope that you respond to the attached invitation ami

participate in one or more of the NARA Electronic Access Study P^ject

focus groups that will take place in Nebraska in June and July. /
The National Archives Electronic Access Project Siimmary

Who: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

has contracted with the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST) to assess the informational needs

of the citizens in the State of Nebraska and to

determine ways to improve access to information and

record resources for citizens and organizations

regardless of their geographic location.

Whys NARA has an obligation to give citizens the Federal

information they want in the most accessible manner

possible so that citizens can protect their individual

legal rights, monitor their Government, and make

informed decisions about national priorities. NARA

also gives citizens the opportunity to learn about

themselves, their heritage, and their Government.

The emergence of digital networks may enable NARA to

bring the National Archives directly to the public in

ways never before possible. These networks hold the

promise of improving access to NARA's holdings for

citizens, state and local governments, and Federal

agencies across the nation.

What I We are interested in knowing each of the following:

• What kinds of records or information you need from NARA

• Where and when you need this information

• How you search for and locate this information

• In what formats you need this information

• How you would like this information delivered to you

Howi Through facilitated discussions after public meetings,

interviews with individuals willing to talk about their

informational needs, questionnaires, and Internet Email, NIST is collecting this data in Nebraska this

summer o (See the attached list of public meetings

scheduled for June 20-23, 1994 and July 11-14, 1994.)

Please feel free to contact NIST project coordinators

Judi Moline and Steve Otto with any questions,

comments, and suggestions you have.

qONTACTSs Judi Moline and Steve Otto

NIST

Bldg. 225 Room B266

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

E-mail: feedback@sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Voice mail: (402) 441-9785

FAX: (301) 926-3696

A-4
Schedule of Meetings for the National Archives electronic Access Project

Nebraska, Summer 1994

Monday, June 20, 1994, 7 - 9:30 PM CDT -- LINCOLN NEBRASKA CENTER (Nebraska Room)

Focused discussion on Family and Local History Informational Needs

Tuesday, June 21, 1994, 1:00 - 3:30 PM CDT -- LINCOLN NEBRASKA CENTER (Beatrice Room)

Focused discussion on Post Secondary Informational Needs

Tuesday, June 21, 1994, 7 - 9:30 PM CDT -- OMAHA P-K CENTER (102A)

Focused discussion on Veterans' Informational Needs (cancelled)

Wednesday, June 22, 1994, 9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON CDT -- OMAHA P-K CENTER (102B)

Focused discussion on Business, Economics, Law Informational Needs

Wednesday, June 22, 1994, 1 :30 - 4:00 PM CDT -- OMAHA TAC BLDG (201-202)

Focused discussion on K-12 Informational Needs

Thursday, June 23, 1994, 2 - 4:30 PM CDT - LINCOLN NEBRASKA CENTER (Beatrice Room)

Focused discussion on Government Officials' Informational Needs

Thursday, June 23, 1994, 7 - 9:30 PM CDT - LINCOLN NEBRASKA CENTER (Beatrice Room)

Focused discussion on Information Service Providers' Informational Needs

Monday, July 11, 1994, 7 - 9:30 PM CDT - LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Focused discussion on K-12 Informational Needs

Tuesday, July 12, 1994, 2 - 4:30 PM CDT - OMAHA P-K CENTER (102A)

Focused discussion on Post Secondary Informational Needs

Tuesday, July 12, 1994, 7 - 9:30 PM CDT - OMAHA P-K CENTER (102A)

Focused discussion on Family and Local History Informational Needs

Wednesday, July 13, 1994, 6 - 8:30 PM CDT ~ KEARNEY PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING FACILITY

Focused discussion on Family and Local History Informational Needs

Thursday, July 14, 1994, 5 - 7:30 PM MDT - SCOTTSBLUFF PUBLIC LIBRARY

Focused discussion on Family and Local History Informational Needs

Tuesday, July 19, 1994, 2 - 4:30 PM CDT - VA Regional Office in Lincoln

Focused discussion on Veterans' Informational Needs

A-5

Appendix B: Agenda for Meetings Held in Nebraska

CITIZENS' INPUT TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Nebraska, Sxunmer 1994

I. REVIEW OF SESSION'S PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES (5 minutes)

II. OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS

ADMINISTRATION'S HOLDINGS (60 - 75 minutes)

Break

III. WHAT you WANT / HOW YOU WANT IT (60 - 75 minutes)

A facilitated group discussion to determine:

- the kinds of records /information you need from NARA;

- where and when this information is needed;

- how you search for and locate information;

- in what format you need your information; and

- how you would like to have the information delivered.

IV. SUMMARY / WRAP-UP / NEXT STEPS (5 minutes)

B - 1

Appendix C: NARA Locator, Handout for Participants

LOCATOR

NATIONAL

ARCHIVES

ELECTRONIC

ACCESS

PROJECT

Nebraska, Summer 1994

For further information on input opportunities

to the National Archives Electronic Access

Project, please contact the NIST project coordinators: Moline niul Steve OlU\

voice mail; (402)441 9785

(301)975 3351

e-mail: feedback®sst. ncsl.nisf.gov.

Nisr

U.S. DF.rARTMCNT OF COMMHRCF

Technology Administration

Nalion.-il Institute of Standards and Technology

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THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

MISSOUKI

Nalion.ll Personnel Records Center

9700 I\igc Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63132

(314)538-4201

Civilian Prestinnel Records

(314)425-5722

Military Personnel Records

(3M)53H-42ir< Kansas City Pederal Records Center

2312 East Bannister Road

Kansas City, MO 64131

(816) 926-7271 National Archives-Central Plains Region

2312 East Bannister Road

Kansas City, MO 64131

(816) 926-6272 Harry S. Truman Library

U.S. 24 and Delaware Street Independence, MO 64050

(816) 833-1400 NEW YORK

Nev^ York Federal Records Center

Military Ocean Terminal, Building 22 Bayonne, NJ 070O2

(201) 823-7161

Niilioiidl Arililvcs NorllintNl Reffion 201 Viirick Street New York, NY 1(K)I4 (212) 337-13(K) Franklin D. R(X)sevell Library

511 Albany Post Road Hyde Park, NY 125,18 (914) 229-8114 OHIO

Hayton Feileral I<t'ci>rds Center

1l'5l)S|irinn.lM.r.. Ri.nd

Ddyliiii, I III 4-11 I'i

(51.3) 225-2852 PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia Federal Records Center

50I)<1 Wissahickon Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19144

(215) 951-5588

National Archives~Mid-Atlantic Region

9th and Market Streets, Room 1350

Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215)597-9752

TCXAS

Fort Worth Federal Records Center

501 West Felix Street Fort Worth, TX 76115

(817)334-5515

National Archives-Southwest Region

501 West Felix Street Fort Worth, I X 76115

(817)334-5525 Lyndon B. )ohnson Library 2313 Red River Street Austin, TX 78705

(512) 482-5137 George Bush Presidential Materials Project 701 University Drive, East, Suite 300

College Station, TX 77840

(409) 260-9552 WASHINGTON

Seattle Federal Records Center

6125 Sand Point Way, NE

Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 526-6501 National Archives— Pacific Northwest Region

6125 Sand Point Way, NE

Seattle, WA 981 15

(206) 526-6347 ELECTRONIC ACCESS

General e-mail: inquire®nara.gov Gopher: gopher.nara.gov WWW: htlp://www.nara.gov

National Archives FAX-on-Demand: (301) 713-6905 Multimedia and Publication Fulfillment Center:

(301) 763-4454 or(80()) 2.34-6001 Federal Register Fleclrimic News Delivery (FRFND):

(202) 275 (N20 (or lelnrl to (pilwiirli) bi>v, rhi^.sp

' HKluwny," Ihuii "i imiiui I, ' IImhi I tll HI I)

C-3

Appendix D: Package of Materials Inviting Participation in Filling-in Questionnaire

August 23, 1994

Dear Project Participant:

Thanks to the help of Nebraskans over the past few months, we have learned a great

deal about how people work with information. Specifically we have heard individuals

explain what information from and about the National Archives would be useful to

them. Also, we have heard from individuals on how they search for material and how

they would like to receive information from the Archives.

We now need you to complete the enclosed questionnaire and return it to us within

two weeks. There is a stamped, addressed envelop enclosed for your convenience.

The responses to the questionnaire will be tabulated by user groups. There is a number

between 1 and 10 after your name. That code identifies you as a member of one of

the categories that follow. If we have incorrectly categorized you, please change the

code at the top of your questionnaire and also on the return envelop. The categories

are (1) veterans' groups, military history, (2) family and local history, (3) post

secondary education, (4) K - 12, (5) government officials, (6) business, law,

economics, misc. professions, (7) information service providers, (8) agriculture, (9)

environment, parks, water resources, (10) other.

We sincerely appreciate your time and attention.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National lnat:i«u«e of Standarda and Technoiogy

GaithereburQ. Maryland 20399-0001

Judi Moline and Steve Otto

Principal Investigators

Enclosures

D- 1
J^ational

Washington, DC20408

AUG 23 1994

Dear Nebraskan,

The National Archives needs your views to help us improve

our services to Nebraska and the rest of the country.

The Nation's expanding information infrastructure is making

it possible to bring the National Archives in new ways to

citizens who are unable to visit us. We are conducting a study on providing electronic access to the Government

records and related materials we hold and to information

about those materials. Your responses to the enclosed

questionnaire will assist the National Archives in

determining what kinds of electronic information services

are most useful and in setting priorities for making the

services available.

This questionnaire is a part of the Electronic Access

Project that the National Archives, with the assistance of

the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

,

has been conducting this summer. The enclosed National

Archives Electronic Access Project leaflet gives the contact

points for the project and lists the location and telephone

number of all National Archives facilities. We appreciate

your input to this important project. Please return your

response in the enclosed envelope.

Sincerely,

TRUm HUSKAMP PETERSON

Acting Archivist

of the United States

Enclosures

D-2
0MB Control No. 3095-0019

Expires: February 28, 1995

ELECTRONIC ACCESS STUDY QUESTIONNAIRE

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has

information, records, and related materials from and about the

Federal Government. NARA's mission is to give citizens the

Federal information they want in the most accessible manner

possible so that citizens can protect their individual legal

rights, monitor their government, and make informed decisions

about national priorities.

Answers to the following questions will help the National

Archives prioritize its work as it strives to respond to the

informational needs of the people of the U.S. Please circle the

items that are important to you (or to your clients if you are an

information provider) . You may circle more than one item for

each question.

1. What place (s) would be convenient for you to electronically

search for or receive National Archives information?

a. public library

b. school

c. community center

2. How do you search for information?

a. personal names or titles

b. place names/geographic areas

c. names of Federal Agencies

d. office

e . home

f. other

d. time frame

e. subjects /events

f. names of organizations

3. What kind(s) of information services from the National

Archives would be most useful to you if available

electronically? Indicate priority by rating each item as

High, Medium, or Low.

High Medium Low

a. Getting started / How to locate 12 3

information or records and

services available through NARA

b. Public calendar of events 12 3 c. Information about NARA facilities 12 3

(overview of holdings, hours,

location, etc.)

d. Information about records and 12 3

related materials held by NARA

e. Copies of actual docximents 12 3

held by NARA

f . NARA sponsored workshops 12 3

or training

g. On-line ordering of records 12 3

or publications

h- Information about other 12 3

Federal Agencies

i. Information about records created 12 3

or held by other Federal Agencies

D-3
The National Archives has records and related materials

documenting the legislative, judicial, and executive

branches of the Federal government- Which of the following

would be most useful to you? (Circle as many as apply.)

Historic Information Current Information

Information related to:

a. The Presidency

b. Congress

c. Federal regulations

and laws, including the

Federal Register.

d. Federal Courts

Infomation related to:

a. The Presidency

b. Congress

c. Federal regulations

and laws, including the

Federal Register.

d. Federal Courts

Agency Records:

e. Agriculture

f. Commerce

g. Defense

h. Education / Culture

i . Energy

j . Health & Human Services

k. Housing & Urban Services

1. Justice / Law Enforcement

m. Labor

n. Maritime

o. Postal Service

p. Public Lands, Parks,

& Environment

q. Science & Technology

r. State/Foreign Relations

s. Transportation

t. Treasury/Revenue/Finance

Records of Individuals:

u. Genealogy

V. Military Service Records

Ethnic Heritage:

w. Native American

X. Other:

Agency Records:

e. Agriculture

f . Commerce

g. Defense

h. Education / Culture

i. Energy

j . Health & Human Services

k. Housing & Urban Services

1. Justice / Law Enforcement

m. Labor

n. Maritime

o. Postal Service

p. Public Lands, Parks,

& Environment

q. Science & Technology

r. State Foreign Relations

s. Transportation

t. Treasury/Revenue/Finance

Records of Individuals:

u. Genealogy

V. Military Service Records

Ethnic Heritage:

w. Native American

X. Other:

Please circle up to 3 types of records or documents you

would like to have available for on-line computer access.

a. written (textual) documents f. audio/sound recordings

b. photographs g. data sets

c. motion pictures / video h. images of museum objects

d. maps i. other:

e. architectural drawings

For whom do you usually search for information?

a. Yourself b. Others

D-4
7. For what purpose (s) might you or your customers need

information from the National Archives? (Check and circle

as many as apply.)

To supplement teaching materials (teacher's perspective):

a. elementary c. secondary e. graduate

b. middle school d. undergraduate f. adult education

For school assignments (student's perspective):

a. elementary c. secondary e. graduate

b. middle school d. undergraduate f, adult education

To prepare publications (books, papers, or articles)

For legal research

To search for current grants and funding sources

For regulatory research

For investment or business opportunities

To support an application for personal benefits or claims

veteran

other:

For genealogical research

For local and community history research

For media use, such as

radio newspaper magazine TV other:

Personal interest or enrichment, for example:

Other

8. In what format (s) would you want information or copies of

records from the National Archives?

a. printed publications d. CD-ROM

b. photocopies e. microforms

c. photographs f. on-line

g. other:

9. How would you like this information or copies of records

delivered to you?

a. FAX d. COD

b. Computer (on-line) e. First class mail

c. Overnight or second day f. Other:

express delivery

10. What technologies are you currently using? Please circle

all that you use.

a. CD-ROM g- PC with Windows

b. FAX h. PC with Windows

c. Computer as a word processor with a sound card

d. Computer with a modem i

.

Scanner

e. Macintosh j

• None

f

.

PC without Windows k. Other: ' D-5
11. Do you use the following? Please circle all that you use.

a. E-mail

b. on-line searching

c. electronic bulletin board (s)

d. Internet

e. commercial on-line services

f. other:

12. Have you ever visited a National Archives facility?

a. yes b. no

13. Have you ever called or written to a National Archives

facility for information?

a . yes b. no

14. Have you attended any of the Electronic Access Study

discussion group sessions that were held in Nebraska in June

and July (1994) with National Archives staff?

a. yes b. no

15. Please give your name and affiliation below so tha~ we know

who has returned the questionnaire.

Please return the questionnaire within two weeks to Judi Moline,

NIST, Building 225 Room B266, Gaithersburg , MD 20899, or by FAX

to 301-926-3696. There is a stamped, self -addressed envelop

enclosed for your convenience.

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT

Public burden reporting for this collection of information is

estimated to be 20 minutes per response. Send comments regarding

the burden estimate or any other aspect of the collection of

information, including suggestions for reducing this bxirden to

the National Archives and Records Administration (NAAD) , 8601

Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, and to the Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3 095-0019) , Washington, DC 20503. DO NOT SEND COMPLETED FORXS TO THESE

ADDRESSES. Send forms to Judi Moline at the address given in the

previous paragraph.

D-6
Appendix E: Sample Electronic Feedback Received from Participants

Subject: Lincoln Nebraska NAEAP

To: feedback(a) sst.ncsl.nist.gov Date: Fri, 17 Jun 1994 13:19:23 -0500 (CDT)

Judi Moline, Steve Otto:

Greetings from a HOT, HUMID, and WINDY Nebraska.

I will be in attendance Monday, June 20, 1994, 7-9:30p.m. Lincoln Nebraska Center, for focused discussion on

Family and Local History Information Needs. Your material has been received by the Nebraska

State Genealogical Society, and we hope to have several in attendance at this meeting!

Those of us who are akeady on the Internet as well as other Computer Online services have longed for electronic access to the National Archives to facilitate our research of family history!

We are glad to have the opportunity to share our needs and take the opportunity to bring this technology into Nebraska!

Subject: Nebraska NARA meetings data To: feedback@sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Date: Sun, 19 Jun 94 23:38:32 CDT

Greetings Judi Moline and Steve Otto,

My name is x. I teach mathematics in a small town in northeast Nebraska. I was invited to attend public meetings regarding Nebraska needs and information service from the NARA. I am planning to attend the June 23 meeting in Lincoln at the Lincoln Nebraska Center. Though the topic is on Government

Official's Informational Needs, here are some of my thoughts concerning internet. At the moment the biggest draw back is the long distance charges that I will have to incur to use

internet. Getting an account on internet is not a problem and if I were living in a town that has a "node" the phone call would be local. This would be great. Browsing on internet takes phone time and ties up lines that others might want to use. It's not encouraging when you call up internet to get busy signals all the time. A while back we had two 800 lines in Nebraska for educators and 1800 accounts registered. It was rather tough to get on line.

I would like to log on, find a block of information of interest to me and download it into my pc hard

drive as quickly as possible. I have a 2400 baud modem, and would be willing to invest in a higher baud if there were some standard guidelines to follow. Then I could leisurely go through the information from my hard

drive. For example, if I would efficiently down load 1 meg of information to my hard drive, I'm sure it would

take a while to browse through that info, but it would be off line time. The PSInet setup is an interesting way of retrieving and sending your email. Though I do not have an

account with them yet, it seems their computer on line time is very minimum, which means inexpensive for long distance charges.

As a math high school teacher, I would like to have my students write email to other students in Nebraska ( or even across the world) and have they discuss their current math studies and/or projects.

I would like to have my seniors be able to look at current college requirements on internet.

I would like to find a bulletin board that would cater to math puzzles and problems for high school

level students. As an educator, I already have benefited from posted workshops and stipended sessions. Several have

been on internet, and I have applied, been accepted and have grown professionally from the result. I think

those things are even worth the long distance phone charges.

As an Nebraskan, I would love to be able to know where to download some historical information

about the Indian tribes of Nebraska. I am sure this information exists, but retrieval isn't that easy for me at this time.

E - 1
As ail iiilcnicl user, il would be great to download some simple inslrucUons for flp, binary, and other

Stiili llial is (liHii'iilt (o uiulcisland and expensive to dial and error wliile on long dislanee line.

! live in X wlni 11 is 200 iniii s Ironi i.iiuoln or Oinalia and 1 10 miles Iroin (iiand Island. It's kind

lemole out here, yet with internet I eonid gel eoinpnter expertise Iroin anywhere in the USA, il I just knew

where to look. It's like looking, into the sky and wondering where to point the leleseope to find new worlds.

I hoiigh I teach mallu-inalies. I would not hesitate to use science inlbrmalion on internet to stimulate

my classes. Math is always in use with the science disciplines.

To: IVcdback(«\ssl. ncsl.nisl.gov Date: Thu. 2} .Inn 2l:.'>7:O.S 1.1)1 Subject: NARA/NIST

.ludi and Steve,

THANK YOU! I received your letter a few days ago. and I am really excited about the NARA prospects you

incnlion. Unloi (unatcly, 1 am thoroughly enmeshed in a very intensive project (with unrealistic deadlines) at this time and was unable to make it to the meetings this week. I will also be out of stale in .Inly when you

have your next meetings scheduled. Is there any way I can stay on your mailing list and perhaps get follow-up

info Irony you? I AM really interested in this project. I AM also interested in attending such meetings in the

tutuie should they arise. Or might there be a tape ol the programs that I could rent when 1 get back?

1 am a wi itei/libiarian/histoi ian/educalor. I am very interested in making history into more accessible to all citizens. I am |)aiticularly interested in the American trontier and Native Americans. I am currently hooked

uji to e-mail on AOl, ami am looking Ibrward to using Internet lor my.self and for my students. My .school in

Nl'! is not yet connected to Interne and so I have been using my home AOI> account to access e-mail info for my tellow teachers and students. We are very anxious to get on-line at school! In tact, we used my AOL eiiiail tor two ililteieiit school pi(\jects this last school year -one was to correspond with another middle school

in NY concerning a b(H>k about the night our town was destroyed by tornadoes (Night of the Twisters by Ivy

Ruckman. .lune 3, U)S()). The other project was the Arctic I'Apedition by World Adventure, in which we

coriespoiuletl with scientists and students all (ner the world, concerning animal migrations, Arctic conditions,

luitiition. etc. It was great!! Hut we want to reach out even liirther!! Next year we hope to access some of the NASA tiles, tie up with a middle school in New Zealand, and make many other connections. We are very pro- technology and are constantly trying lo expand our horizons because we have seen the great way this can iMoaden students' hori/ons! We've seen many instances where noncommunicative or uninterested students

lia\e openeil up and become interested in school becau.se of dilfeieni lechiu>Iogical ties. IVi.sonally, I hope 1 will be able lo exteiul my investigations lurliier aiul hope to write some books and

articles from the inlormation 1 may be able to access through technology. In particular 1 am looking for lots of

into that is currently Uvateil in NARA tiles and .some libraries back east. Ihifortunately I do not know which

libraries at this time- the experts 1 have contacted in the past just keep telling me its out there and someplace

has -but 1 do not have the lime nor the money io travel back east lo search the libraries throughout the whole

eastern seaboard. 1 am also working on several other history projects thai involve many other places in the world. The postage is expensive, but the worst part is the waiting. Some of the people 1 am corresponding

with are in their 80s, and it is often 6 months between correspondences. At that rate, much history can be lost in the interim- if not permanently. 1 am really looking forward to the time when nearly everyone in the world

has immediate access lo some kind of e-mail or instant mes.sage. Yes, 1 know the telephone system is available and is another possible link, but there lue niany things that can not be shared via the verbal link. Sometimes 1 have lo send or ask for birth certificates or written info that must be physically

sent (and many of my correspondents do nol have fax machines yet. eilher -but then neither does my school).

There are so MAN>' things we (as leaciieis and as students) could do if we were all inlerlinked! We are very willing to do whatever we can to get things going and keep them going, .lust tell us what wc should do

now, please!! Let me know what questions 1 can answer tor >'ou or what 1 can do. 1 am sorry 1 was unavailable in pcr.son--if ihere was any way 1 could have been there I would have. 1 was in attendance at the Governor's conference one

Saturday in May and 1 have been trying lo take IN TERNET courses here but have been discouraged from doing

.so. Thank you for trying to help us gel online. We are ready, willing, and anxious to do so.
Subject: Pres Garfield To: feedback@sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 94 22:51:13 CDT

Greetings to Judi Moline and Steve Otto,

As I was driving home from today's NARA meeting in Lincoln, I thought of the following:

In our geometry curriculum, we come across the Pythagorean Theorem (also known as the Right Triangle

Theorem). There are hundreds of proofs of this theorem, but one is especially interesting, because it was

proven by our twentieth president of the United States (1831-1881). Does NARA have any documents or the actual paper of President James A. Garfield's proof? I think that would be interesting information in my

geometry class. Might you have other information about mathematics and it's impact on our country? There were many minorities that made significant contributions to American life in the area of science and math. Are

their achievements in the archives? And are they available to the public?

Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 14:55:05

Subject: National Archives Electronic Access Project (Nebraska)

To: feedback© sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Judi Moline and Steve Otto

I attended the meeting held at the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education last night. I enjoyed the opportunity to give you some input into the needs and wants of the Genealogical Community. Just a little information about my background before I make a few additional comments.

As an active genealogist I am very interested in the National Archives and the Electronic Access Project. I would like to volunteer to be of help to you in providing FEEDBACK to you on any specific questions that you

might have. Please let me know. Now for a few additional comments:

1. Electronic Access to National Archives should include more extensive

indexes and catalogs of holdings and finding aids. These should be

easily available on your GOPHER Internet resource.

2. Photographs should be digitalized into a popular format such as GIF and

made available on Internet.

3. Video, Sound Clips, Photographs, and Text can be combined into a MultiMedia CD-ROM diskette for historical events and localities, ie; Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, VietNam, Presidential Terms, The Great Depression,

The Industrial Revolution, etc.

4. Orders for Fax copies of documents available by order on internet.

5. Speakers Bureau of Representatives from the National Archives to become

available to Local Genealogical and Historical Groups who need constant program material.

6. Success stories about some of the unusual places people have found

information in the National Archives related to Genealogy.

I hope this will help and again, if I can be of any additional help - call.

E - 3
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 09:10:15 -0500

To: feedback@sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Subject: NAE Access Project

To J. Moline or S. Otto:

An observation from central Nebraska: Of the 12 meetings scheduled, 10 are in Omaha/Lincoln!..a two/three

hour drive from Kearney. In Kearney we get only the library, local and family meeting! The Univ. of Nebraska

at Kearney has 8,500 students and 300 faculty. Could use some higher ed session at least. ...Thanks.

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 01:35:30 -0600 (MDT)

Subject: Thanks for your message

To: moline@sst.ncsl.nist.gov

Dear Judi:

Thanks very much for the information about the NARA presentation in Scottsbluff this Friday. I can think of

a couple people out that way ~ especially one of the guides at Fort Laramie ~ who might be interested. I will pass the info along. Sorry I don't have time to plan to get there myself. It sounds interesting.

Maybe you can answer a question for me... I have several catalogs of Natl Archives microfilm holdings and

I belong to their census rental program. But I am also researching an old fur trader and am especially

interested in his relationship with the tribes of the Upper Missouri. I bought the Natl Archives catalog dealing

with their microfilm holdings on American Indians and several of them look as though they could be VERY

good for my research. Then again, since they are only part of a reel, it could be that there are only a few

letters on each pertaining to the topic of my interest (the Whoop-Up trail out of Fort Benton, MT in the late 1860's) and so I am somewhat reluctant to shell out $23 for them until I have a better idea. If I put in an

interlibrary loan request through the Univ. of WY and gave the reel number, etc., would these get loaned

out? Or, do you know if they would loan them out to me directly as a member of the census microfilm rental program?? If they have a lot of info, I would probably order them anyway ~ but I would hate to spend $23 to find only a few insignificant letters.

If you know the answer, please let me know! And thanks again for your info. If you ever have a similar

thing for WY residents, I would certainly love to hear about it.

E - 4
Appendix F: Data from Preliminary Meetings in May

Beatrice Public Library:

The Nebraska State Genealogy Society houses their collection in the Beatrice Pubhc Library.

Their catalogue is OCLC and is on-line; thirteen libraries are to be joined together electronically

within a year. Beatrice is the resource library for fifteen counties.

The local history collection is in the Heritage Room.

They do inter-library loan of census microfilm.

Their computer is linked to Nebraska On-Line and they have access to the current CD-ROM

census in that way.

Auburn Historical Society:

They have newspapers of the surrounding towns on microfilm.

They have cemetery records.

Genealogy is 99% of their business.

They use FAX, telnet, and Nebraska On-Line.

Nebraska City Morton James Public Library:

It is a city library and the largest in the county.

Emphasis is genealogy.

College students from Peru use it. Interest in multicultural, especially Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

Uses Nebraska On-Line for census statistics, laws regarding labor, periodicals for college students.

The State Historical Society put newspapers from 1857 on microfilm.

Willa Gather Research Foundation in Red Cloud:

Contains Gather's correspondence (220 local letters), 3 scrapbooks of newspaper clipping sent to a

friend. Gather's first editions, references, periodicals.

Young scholars need materials form the 1950s and 1960s.

Red Cloud newspapers are on microfilm from 1878-1960.

2100 photographs of Gather's life. Gather's will does not allow copying until things are published.

Photographs are on microfilm on loan from the State Historical Society and copies can be

obtained.

F- 1

Appendix G: Data from June and July Meetings

SESSION 1: Monday, June 20, 1994—Family and Local History

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. CDT, Lincoln Nebraska Center (Nebraska Room)

Attendance: 18 persons attended this session. Of the 14 who pre-registered, 9 attended. At the end of the session, 16 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 1 on Family and Local

History Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Civil War

Homestead records

Military records

War of 1812

Ship manifests

Land records

Presidential libraries Local history

Embassy

Census

Passport records

Passenger lists Bureau of Indian Affairs

Naturalization records

Multi-media

Where and When Needed:

Home use (at least finding aids)

Research libraries 3-6 months time frame

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Access to finding aids Extended menus

Guidance on how to access records/information

List of helpful hints Information on positive results and finding aids Court records written for non-lawyers

What Format Is Needed:

Faxes

Photocopies

Microfilm/fiche

CD-ROM

Any format you can download and print

How Information Delivered:

Mail

Electronically

Fax

G - 1
One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Continue to improve responsiveness

Begin putting most used records on computer

Microfilm what isn't

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Local and Family History Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Sex:ond is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

WorklResearch:

Nine attendees are researching family history, and three attendees are researching Nebraska and midwest

history. The latter group is looking for many resources: court records, maps and land records, passenger lists, dairies, journals, folk music, forts, homesteading files, silent films, etc.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Genealogist (6)

Nebraska State Historical Society (6)

Librarian (2)

Computer programmer. State Department of Education

Lancaster County Genealogy Society

Teacher/teacher consultant (2)

Retired employee of U.S. Postal Service

SESSION 2: Tuesday, June 21, 1994—Post Secondary

1:00-3:30 p.m. CDT, Lincoln Nebraska Center (Beatrice Room)

Attendance: 16 persons attended this session. Of the 15 who pre-registered, 12 attended. At the end of the session 13 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 2 on Post Secondary

Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Federal Register

Irish Americans

Finding aids on Internet Overview of finding aids Frontier forts Civil War

Recent technology topics

Historical development of Nebraska colleges

K-12 and college curricula topics

Extensive finding aids and full text of documents

World War II records

Still pictures/video

Atomic age subjects

Agency film collections

Indian Affairs Great Plains

Where and When Needed:

In-state repository

G - 2
At work—desk (at least finding aids)

Local libraries 5 days max for some researchers Up to 8 weeks for faculty

15-24 hours of journal articles How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

By subject

Geography/time frame/subjects

Easy, practical user interface Good guidance on how to start a search

What Format Is Needed:

Electronic documents on Internet CD-ROM

Direct printing from computer screen Audio clips

Delivery Methods:

On-screen

Federal Express/UPS for non-fax, electronic users Fax

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Post Secondary Education." The

information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA. Second is a list of

the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

WorklResearcli:

This group of attendees is very diverse. Individually, their work focuses on electronic communication,

computing connectivity for the college campus, helping university archives users, general humanities

publications, shaping policy for higher education, rules from the Federal Register, procedures for students' right

to know, all issues related to kindergarten to doctorate education, historical perspectives on higher education

in Nebraska, providing resources to support vocational and academic transfer curriculum, sustainable

agriculture. Two attendees listed distance education.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

University of Nebraska faculty (2) College faculty/staff (4)

Archivist (2)

Nebraska Humanities Council

Post-secondary education agency

Dean of learning resource center Developer of curriculum

SESSION 3: Wednesday, June 22, 1994—Business, Economics, Law

9:30 a.m. - 12:00 Noon CDT, Omaha P-K Center, (102B)

Attendance: 7 persons attended this session. Of the 5 who pre-registered, 4 attended. At the end of the session,

6 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with them

again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 4 on Business, Economics,

Law Informational Needs.

G - 3
Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Still pictures

Census information

Nebraska history

Government Manual (full-text) Grant writing and requirements

Summary statistical information

Social Security information

Law in education

Code of Federal Regulations

Agency regulations

Defense site information for future industrial sites "How to" guidance on pursuing/beginning research On-line index (findings aids)

Health records - NIH

Passenger lists Case law

Federal Register

Where and When Needed:

Home

School

Office

Library

Time frame—immediate to week

Time depends on use for the information and currency of need

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Electronic findings aids JPEG, MPEG, PDF for WAIS/MOSAIC users Create an index on archivists' experiences

Content-oriented

Time frame/geography/subject

What Format Is Needed:

List formats on-line

No microfilm

Fax

Interactive video disks

How Information Delivered:

Interactive on-line ordering

Computer download

E-mail

Questions I Issues: Learn lesson from other Federal agencies making their information available

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Business, Economics, Law Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees. WorklResearch:

G - 4
One attendee is doing federal/state/local government research, business and economic research, and

genealogy. Another attendee is exploring needs of bar association members and how to best disseminate legal

information to them. One attendee wants to repackage information electronically; another one is doing medical

research.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Nebraska State Data Center (2) Nebraska Bar Association

Librarian (2)

Computer company

SESSION 4: Wednesday, June 22, 1994—K-12

1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. CDT, Omaha TAC Bldg (201-202)

Attendance: 16 persons attended this session. Of the 14 who pre-registered, 10 attended. At the end of the session 13 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 5 on K-12 Informational

Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Information related to other countries

Status of legislative bills moving through Congress

Federal Register on-line Grants and funding information

Graphic images

Political cartoons K-12 subjects in teaching curricula Architectural plans/drawings

Items that add color to subject being taught

Information on major historical events Science and technology

Statistical information

Current events Information providing background/linkages to current events UFOs

Multi-media information

Indexes/finding aids on-line

Where and When Needed:

On-line, not place specific

Homes

Schools

Grants information needed ASAP

1-2 weeks

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Internet access/searchable gopher

Extensive index by subject/grade level Keyword/full-text searching

Linkages and pointers

Time period/geographic location/subjects/personal names

Easy to navigate system of information

G - 5
What Format fs Needed:

CD-ROM issued annually to state (area)

CD-ROM for state historical areas of Internet Macintosh and PC

Full text document delivery Resources on-line on Internet CD-ROM rather than paper publications

How Information Delivered:

Fax

CD-ROM

Electronically down-loadable

Internet

Questions/Issues:

Students are visual Linkages are important for navigation

On-line ordering and expedited billing processes for schools should be explored, perhaps a subscription type of

service

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "K-I2 Informational Needs." The

information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals attending the

session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA. Second is a list of

the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

Work/Research:

Six attendees are providing technology support to students and teachers through media centers and libraries. One attendee needs immediate access to the Federal Register; another researches grants, bills, etc. for a school district; two attendees are involved in K-8 or K-12 education; one is researching material for high

school social studies classes.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Media specialist (2)

Administrator

Teacher (5)

Librarian (3) Grant writer

SESSION 5: Thursday, June 23, 1994—Government Officials

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. CDT, Lincoln Nebraska Center (Beatrice Room)

Attendance: 12 persons attended this session. Of the 10 who pre-registered, 6 attended. At the end of the session 1 1 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 6 on Government Officials Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Movies/motion pictures

Maps

Statistics, CPI

Water issues

Still photos

G - 6
Status of legislative bills Government Manual on-line

Toxic waste information

Native American issues, history, records

Updated government information locator Guidance on how to get started Grants information/ funding sources Legal/law related information

Genealogical information

Artifacts Finding aids

Where and When Needed:

Work

Home

Legal information/regulations needed today

1 week for ordered items

Time frame needed depends on use Media information needed immediately to 1 week

Next day service

How You Search I Locate Information Needed:

Subject/date (time frames)/geographic location

Personal names

Keywords, boolean searching Item level indexes

Cross references

Linkages/pointers to related topics

References to other agencies information

On-line ordering and billing

Fully interactive searching

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM for static, historical information

Down-loadable full-text of finding aids and documents

Graphics/visuals not yet acceptable via electronic High quality photos

paper copies for some items

(university faculty will take a fine photocopy over fax)

Cable delivery for movies on big screens How Information Delivered:

On-line

Fax

Questions/issues:

Consider OCLC approach for determining time frame needed

Digital images should be available for review before ordering prints on-line

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Government Officials' Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

Work/Research:

G - 7
Two attendees are interested in rural development, and one college journalism teacher is researching

feasibility of offering workshop on how to do oral histories. One attendee needs information on Congressional

legislative activity; another is focusing on environmental law and uses the Federal Register; and another

research grants and regulations. A government employee researches statutes and other information. One

attendee needs electronic access to scientific papers.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Teacher (2)

Journalist

Librarian (2)

Researcher (2)

Attorney

State government employee

SESSION 6: Thursday, June 23, 1994—Information Service Providers

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. CDT, Lincoln Nebraska Center (Beatrice Room)

Attendance: 9 persons attended this session. Of the 12 who pre-registered, 8 attended. At the end of the session

8 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with them

again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 7 on Information Service

Providers' Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords / Information:

Census

Law/legal records

US Government Manual on-line

Military records

Supreme Court decisions

Finding aids Presidents/statesmen

US Code

Topics of interest could be unlimited

How to navigate NARA

Electronic Government Information Locator Genealogical records/cluster

National Guard

POW/MIA information Current government information

Pop culture history

Image index

Motion pictures

Multi-media

Where and When Needed:

Office

Schools

Libraries

Historical Societies

Homes (if equal access is available)

Time frame dependent on context and use and volume of information needed

Up to 30 minutes

Up to 2-3 weeks

G - 8
How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Subject/time frame/geographic location

Agency source Type of record

Individuals' names Keyword searching/boolean searching

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM indexes

Print-outs On-line and downloadable

Paper

No microfilm for use in schools

How Information Delivered:

Electronic on-line

Mail for photos, etc. Internet Fax

Cable TV

Telephone

Questions/Issues:

Expand citizens' awareness of what's available

Use video-conferencing for training on NARA, similar to this presentation

Satellite training on NARA, public TV, videotapes

Equal access is important for all citizens Privacy concerns are important in electronic environment

NARA could serve as gateway to government information

Priorities should be established on supply/demand and current use patterns

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Information Service Providers'

Informational Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees.

First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA. Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

Work/Research:

Four librarian attendees would use NARA resources in their work; two educators want information about K-12

and arts education, including funding sources. One attendee researches general information in his marketing

job; another focuses on continuing ed courses and information for lawyers.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Librarian (3)

Telephone marketing manager

Association executive

Superintendent

Arts/education administrator

SESSION 7: Monday, July 11, 1994—K-12

7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. CDT, Lincoln High School Auditorium

Attendance: 21 persons attended this session. Of the 22 who pre-registered, 12 attended. At the end of the session, 15 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

G - 9
Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 8 on K- 12 Informational

Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Where to go for current information on each item

Grant information

Civil disobedience

Student assessment Rare elements (Chemistry)

Native American, Multi-Cultural History (especially current information)

Legislative bills, issues Tribal issues

Role of humor in healing

Women in history

Documents to bring history to life Documents that could be used in English class related to other subjects

Access to documents in order to select own teaching aids

Starter kits as primers for teachers to build on

Finding aids with keyword search (aka "Ask Eric")

E-mail access to each NARA facility and what they have

WWII videos

Old newsreels

Where and When Needed:

Everywhere, now

' On-line quality for down-loading

Thumbnails for browsing

Public libraries, schools

Internet local node via modem

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Non-commercial access

Individual, not pre-packaged

Keyword search aka "Ask ERIC"

Not by subject headings (i.e. those of LC)

Via abstracts All searches done on Internet, delivery format could be CD-ROM, etc. By curriculum topics

What Format Is Needed:

OCRed text documents

CD-ROM (Note: all information on CD-ROM should also be available on-line)

Photo CD as part of starter kits Standard compression formats on down-loadable images, JPEG, etc. Platform independent

Images must be tagged with descriptors: source info and descriptions, etc. How Information Delivered:

Internet (keep access equitable)

Video teleconference—interactive with NARA

Request by gopher allowing return mail or down-load

On-line ordering

Bulk off-hour down-load of pre-selected items

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: G - 10
Other history than white-males needed

Start shallow but broad—high-level

Pictures of individuals

When cataloguing, keep the audience in mind

Keep as much as possible in the public domain

27 Oct ESU Conference - NEMA (? Nebraska Educational Media Assoc)

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "K-12 Informational Needs." The

information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals attending the

session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA. Second is a list of

the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

Work/Research:

Nine attendees are involved in finding/sharing information with students and teachers in a variety of school

situations; one is an information resource for public/private institutions. One attendee studies Native American,

Asian, African American Latino topics. One depends heavily on electronic access to locate grant and contract announcements, legislation, etc.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Teacher (3)

Media specialist (5)

Information supervisor for Internet provider

Nebraska Humanities Council

Coordinator to help teachers use Internet State information officer Curriculum administrator

SESSION 8: Tuesday, July 12, 1994—Post Secondary

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. CDT, Omaha P-K Center (102A)

Attendance: 4 persons attended this session. Of the 13 who pre-registered, 2 attended. At the end of the session, no attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with them

again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 9 on Post Secondary

Education Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Locator, finding aids Help for librarians/instructors to find out what NARA has

Comprehensive finding aids

OCLC type indexers

Economic development (patents, etc.) Work with Nebraska Library Commission

Finding aids need to be "Quick Access" Legal research materials for paralegal classes Truman Library Student Research Project put on-line

No copyright problems

Current events available immediately

Pointers to other sources Grant information, other administration items—Federal Register and Statutes

Statistical abstract information

Where and When Needed:

G - 11
Access equitable

Occasional Federal Register access should be free or nearly so Regional electronic archives network with pointers with multiple

mirrored copies/sites

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Natural language interface Tie into State Libraiy Commission

Subject plus keyword search

Need thesaurus/synonym capability (ESOL students especially need this) On-line ordering

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM—full-text Laser disk

How Information Delivered:

800 numbers—regionalized to avoid long waits

900 numbers—maybe

Down-load for off-line review

No busy signals on dial-up to Internet access No serve lock-ups due to lack of ports

FTP download

Do simple and easiest stuff first for broad audience

Variety of methods and cheap as possible

Subscription service/open accounts ability

Teaching aids info/kits

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Post Secondary Education Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. The participants in this group were looking for information to take to new jobs. They

did not give us information about their research or professions.

SESSION 9: Tuesday, July 12, 1994—Family and Local History

7:00 pm. - 9:30 p.m. CDT, Omaha P-K Center (102A)

Attendance: 13 persons attended this session. Of the 13 who pre-registered, 9 attended. At the end of the

session, 10 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 10 on Family and Local

History Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Indian Affairs Office—letters received file Individual Relief Laws and Index

Papers of Continental Congress

Confederate records and slave records

Boys Town Alumni in World War II Baltimore port ship records

Tax list for 1863-64 (Tennessee and other states, too)

Census records

Civil War records

Railroad records

Ellis Island records

G - 12
Still photos, maps, finding aids Comprehensive indexes, cataloging, finding aids on-line

Where and When Needed:

Expectations are "immediate" but can wait for valuable information

Libraries

Home

Public library with free Internet access

Internet How You Search I Locate Information Needed:

Citations are important

Locale for photos

Keyword

"Debra Newman's" Guides

Place/location, name and Soundex name, time frame

First, before everything, you have to know what's there

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM has an electronic microfilm

Indexes (selected) and other finding aids on diskettes Brochures, catalogues, etc. on diskette, especially for the visually impaired

since software can help the user "read" Printout via printer at each PC (some libraries don't provide this) How Information Delivered:

NARA forms via fax on demand

Public library

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Family and Local History Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

WorklResearch:

Six attendees listed genealogy; two listed local history. One attendee is studying territory land records and

Revolutionary War records. One needs to be updated constantly on federal rewards.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Journalist Genealogist (7)

Writer

College teacher

SESSION 10: Wednesday, July 13, 1994—Family and Local History

6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. CDT, Kearney Public Library Meeting Facility

Attendance: 31 persons attended this session. Of the 13 who pre-registered, 11 attended. At the end of the session 23 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 1 1 on Family and Local

History Informational Needs.

G - 13
Kinds ofRecords I Information:

Hessian soldier list from about 1776

Federal Writer's Project —folklore

Revolutionary War

"Complete" file of county records (Form 80 Reply)

French and Indian War

Homestead and Tree Claim Files—Kinkaid Act

Indian Affairs Citizenship files —Naturalization

Maps—historical Homestead records

Electronic inventory on-line

Electronic forms

Aerial photos

Legislative proceedings—current

Where and When Needed:

Local library

Home

Archive area of museums

Electronic ordering

Form by fax Book of forms for copying

Historical societies Vet's Service Office

State Historical Society Field Service Office

Maximum of one month delay for genealogy records

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Subject

Keyword, everyday language, natural language

Name

Browsing

Geographic

Agency name

Via footnotes, cross references Township and range

Place name GPS—geographic position

What Format Is Needed:

Put more things on microfilm, e.g., homestead records

Microfilm is often not useable

Hardcopy as a final product—from microfilm and from downloaded files Fax

USPS

Express mail, e.g., second day air How Information Delivered:

Electronic browsing/exploration for students and others Indexes downloadable to PC

Audio and video capability (K-12, information provider and post secondary)

Downloadable maps

Microfilm available by interlibrary loan

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist:

G - 14
Track use for decision on what to put up

Local information centers for public use—working with local businesses

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Family and Local History Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

WorklResearch:

Twelve attendees are studying genealogy, and 9 are studying local or national history. One specifically wants World War II photos, and another is researching the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Other areas of research

include, individually, student reporting projects, library reference, education economic development, and

work related to a museum and historical society.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees: Historian (2)

College teacher (2)

Historical museum director/specialist/volunteer (3) Librarian (3)

Genealogist (4)

Nebraska State Historical Society

Teacher

Student (2)

Adams County Historical Society

SESSION 11: Thursday, July 14, 1994—Family and Local History

5:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. MDT, Scottsbluff Public Library

Attendance: 16 persons attended this session. Of the 7 who pre-registered, 5 attended. At the end of the session

16 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with them

again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 12 on Family and Local

History Informational Needs.

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

WPA farmstead records

Land records and Post Office records

Civil War records

Census records

WW II photos

Ship's passenger lists CCC records

Presidential (Eisenhower)

Military

Homestead records

Pension records

RR records

RR pension records

Cherokee records

Confederate records

Grant information

How to get started package

Indexes, finding aids G - 15
Broad general indexes

Pointers to start the search path WITH FORMS

Where and When Needed:

Scottsbluff Local and college libraries 2 - 3 weeks for genealogy items

Home

FAX

How You Search I Locate the Infommtion Needed:

Need on-line, e-mail research assistance

Browsing

Index by area name

Personal networking

Cross-reference

Point and click, a'la gopher

What Format Is Needed:

On-line ordering using membership number to facilitate charging

FAX

Phone using membership number to facilitate charging

Digitized images

Digitize items as they are requested, but always maintain originals

How Information Delivered:

Electronic desktop conferencing

On-line, e-mail research help

Forms available via FAX, booklet, etc. Pay by credit card electronically

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Family and Local History Informational

Needs." The information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals

attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summary of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA.

Second is a list of the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

Work/Research:

Eight attendees are studying genealogy, and six are studying local history. Four attendees are interested in military history, and one attendee researches World War II information. A librarian researches a variety of

information, and a professor is studying electronic information access.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Genealogist (4) State Historical Preservation Board

Dawes County Historical Society Museum

Student

Librarian (4)

College teacher

SESSION 12: Tuesday, July 19, 1994—Veterans

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. CDT, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Training Room, Lincoln Nebraska

Attendance: 25 persons attended this session. Of the 15 who pre-registered, 12 attended. At the end of the session 16 attendees provided their names and addresses so we could send them a questionnaire or talk with

G - 16
them again.

Group Input: The following information was captured on flip charts during Session 13 on Veterans' Informational Needs.

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Speed up processing/research time

Need overall networking capability among service providers

FOIA/FOJA (Public Info) available on-line

Do some pilots like DD214's for Homeless Vets Maybe let St. Louis send mag tapes or on-line records back to VA

Locator Information

St. Louis BBS

Kinds ofRecords I Information:

POW-MIA

Philippine scouts/guerrillas

Individual military service records

Medical Records—out patient

Clinical (Hospital) records

Psychiatric records

Management of VA facilities Corrected military records (prompted by Jan)

Military pay records—all services

VA eligibility records

Military uniform pictures (prompted by Jan)

Ship pictures (prompted by Jan)

Where and When Needed:

VA should have priority of some kind

Levels of priority (brought up by John)

E-mail delivery

Maybe library or court house

FAX

How You Search I Locate the Information Needed:

Demographic information on vets Name and date of birth for old records (plus city and state?) Keyword for research topics

What Format Is Needed:

Paper, hard copy with legal seal VA could use electronic, FAX, etc. as they have enough other sources to certify claims

How Information Delivered:

FAX

E-mail

Paper by mail

Group Input Summary: The focus of the NARA presentation was "Veterans Informational Needs." The

information needs input of this session was influenced by the background of the individuals attending the session. Below are two summaries based on information provided by the attendees. First is a summaiy of the work of the attendees that might cause them to need to use the resources found in NARA. Second is a list of

the profession, business, or avocation of the attendees.

G - 17
WorklResearch:

Ten attendees focus on obtaining medical, service records, and other benefits for veterans. One attendee

researches POWs and MIAs. One processes retirements for the National Guard; another works with pension

files. One reviews and recommends information for members: one administers VA homes. One attendee studies genealogy and census records.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

State service officer (9) VA claims processor/medical administration (2) Army National Guard (2) Teacher

Political scientist Military records specialist

Midnet information officer Librarian

G - 18
Appendix H: Sample Discussion - Video Tapescript

NARA Video: Judi Moline, Moderator, August 1994

[Note: Many answers were inaudible due to background noise. Individual audience members responding to the same questions are separated by four dots.]

Judi Moline (JM): What materials have you needed recently that may or may not have been available in the Archives?

Audience: Japanese internment. ...correlation between social studies and literature. ...regional

communications. ...authentic assessment....! teach native American and multicultural history. We're interested in anything from literature to documents that give any insight to the histories / anything other than white male

history. ...want documents about tribal issues.. ..legislative issues.. ..pueblos (junior highs interested)....role of

humor in healing. ...individual human stories that are microcosms of the larger issues. ..current history of Indians; what are they doing NOW?

JM: What they told us in Omaha was: information related to other countries, legislative bills moving through

Congress, the Federal Registrar, grants information (which we did get), graphic images, political caitoons, K12 subjects and the teaching curriculum, architectural drawings, items that add color to subjects being taught,

information on major historical events, science and technology, statistical information, current events,

multimedia information, UFOs (which we got), indexes and finding aids on-line. Given this, does this spark

any other things?

Audience: Women in history. ...real documents. ...Louis Hine photos; I could have used that so much in my

research. When giving slide lectures, that kind of thing is absolutely vital. ...World War II propaganda filmsare they on videotape?....! can answer that quickly. Not at this point; they still just on the reel-to-reel. ...The current event reels that they used to show in theatres —movie channel has them. That's wonderful stuff. I don't know if that's available to or not.. ..Yes.

JM: Actually, what I've heard—that we didn't hear earlier—is that you would like to have documents to use in place of, or to supplement, text words. And using it for literature as well as the subject. That's a big difference

from what we've heard in previous sessions.

Audience: We're thinking of giving the children 2 documents to process.

JM: Who do you want to select these?

Audience: My husband's a teacher; he doesn't have time to do this.. ..some commercial products are

available....is Archives planning to use OCR?

JM: The need for OCR is something we want to document on our list, that that's what you think you need.

Audience: Before you were talking about having photocopies of documents. Having them on electronic form

would be wonderful. You originally spend all this time trying to make photocopies look like the real thing....This needs to be like the library where you don't have to pay. It's $7.50 a print, even though that's the National Archives' cost...There's a pilot project called Diplomats Online.. ..That's another issue that impacts

education—publishers getting into the marketplace.. ..Senator Kerrey from Nebraska wants us to get money from

companies and corporations, I think that's really important that we look at OTHER places rather than

commercial publishers for information we need.. .teachers aren't paying for electronic information, but the

district is; it's not free.... keep access equitable. If we start selling information, it will eliminate large chunks of

people [who want to use the information].

NARA: First of all, we should be careful. Right now we only have experimental things to make documents

H- 1
available. Part of what we want here is to find out whether you find this desirable. What we're hearing very

strongly is that you want actual documents available, especially if they're public domain documents that you

can get very cheaply. Most of the things in the National Archives that are produced by the government are in the public domain; there's no copyright. Even some of the other information can be released by the Freedom of

Information Act.

JM: You've really emphasized documents. What about finding aids? Is that something that you'd really use, and then still get information in traditional ways?

Audience: It would be nice when if I know what subject my key words are—[there'd be a system similar to what I use know when a librarian answers my questions within 48 hours]...There are students who don't know

what key words are for full text documents.. ..want directory of location of things. ..want Gopher.. ..subject

headings are limited.. ..students will need to be taught electronic research skills. ...[key words] prevent students from saying "I want everything you have on marijuana."

NARA: If you have a collection of hundreds of thousands of documents, someone has to determine what key

words are printed in the public fields. Students can have guides. These guides can have lots of different levels. We can tell you if we have 300 photos of Nebraska, but then you have to [do more research to find them.]

JM: [Defines and briefly discusses finding aids] Abstracts would be useful. There may be some popular pieces

that everyone will use.

Audience: The more you can keep and record what every teacher in America wants, the better. Ask history teachers what they want. [JM replies that in a limited survey, she has. One history newsletter carried the announcement and it was ignored by readers.] ....As a history teacher, I want information about the trial of

Standing Bear, which leads to immigrants of Germans from Russia into the Great Plains, which leads to children working in the beet fields, which leads to the photographer Louis Hine who photographed them.

Audience: I'm from the University of Nebraska Press. [We understand] what you've just described. We want to interweave this kind of stuff-it's not cheap. ...We want teachers to work pathways through the wonderful frontier of information. Part of the difficulty is trying to find out how to make interconnections work. A good way to go

is if social studies teachers develop a priority list. Gather the teachers and favorite 100 things; make it available to all teachers in the state. NARA: You're identifying priority documents—that's a good way to go.

Audience: We hear at the Humanities Council that people are reinventing the wheel, especially with

multicultural education It's a big problem. A teacher is Scottsbluff has a fabulous thing; the Winnebago travel

kit is great here. But how can you get it from to one another without everybody duplicating their work? I can

see this as being just another spinoff of that same problem.

JM: Duplication?

Audience: Yes, when people have access to information and put it together in a really novel way—to say, "Hey e-mail. I've got this."

JM: But that's your problem. If Archives makes it available, you all have to organize yourselves so that you

use your e-mail. You probably have better resources than a lot of states for communicating with each other

about what you've done with the material. OK. Where and when do you need this information?

Audience: Everywhere! Now! [laughter]

JM: OK, what did they say over here? They said: on-line, home, school, grants information needed as soon as

possible. One to two weeks is when they said they needed their information.

Audience: If you're scanning things for photographs, and saying, "I want these two pictures from three kids," I

H-2
want to download it.

JM: OK, that 's perfect valid. But media doesn't. They need high priority prints, so we need to hear this from

you.

Audience: I'm with you. As a teacher, I use the thumbnails for research and then download the actual

print.. ..Isn't there a telephone line?. ...Have you heard of the Net blazer? We're going to support that this year.. ..A

lot of districts wouldn't have that capacity but they would be able to go to an ESE but would go to a place that has a printer.... You'd be surprised how affordable [something like a Net blazer is]. Students do this from their homes?. ...There's so many computers in the home now.

JM: Do most of your students have [??????] machines?

Audience: Libraries have them. Students don't have accounts at home, but teachers do.. ..We're providing

access to Internet to students at home with phone line.

JM: What other formats? You've only really said OCR text documents, which could be Internet.

Audience: They should be platform independent.. .similar impression formats.

JM: You brought up an interesting point. You said: "Somebody select them." That sort of contradicts something

you said earlier. You want Archives to take a topic and put ALL of that topic on-line and not just select a few?

Audience: Out of a stack of 25 pictures, I'd like to choose these 24. ...Should they have captions and

descriptions?. ...Yes.

JM: That's one of the questions. How are students in writing reports going to document their source? If they

pull pictures off the network, will you accept it if it's not documented?

Audience: If they say it's from the National Archives, yes. ...Microfilm absolute last choice.

JM: In Omaha, they said format CD-ROM issued annually from the state, which sort of summarizes things

about the state. They talked about PCs and Macintosh, resources on-line on the Internet, CD-ROM for state historical areas, everything pertinent to the state being available because that might not change, so CD-ROM

is a little more permanent. Then full-text document delivery either on network or through the mail, CD-ROM

rather than paper publications. You're shaking your heads. Most of you have been talking about Internet rather than CD-ROM. I'm reading you again.

Audience: We have a real problem in our office in that people are coming to us wanting to create CD-ROM

stuff, and hey, you need money to buy CD-ROM. I imagine schools are in the same situation. So we think

that's pretty far down the pike for us.

JM: Internet?

Audience: We have Internet in our office now. ...That's unique to Nebraska [Internet and CD-ROM on the back

burner in schools:] we're unique in Nebraska.

JM: Actually, you're unique, but you're not as unique as you were a few months ago because now Maryland

has mandated Internet for every family and every household. They're making it available. Gopher's free to get

started. Our county's for September.... Internet is the bigger search tool.

Audience: 10,000 people a week are signing up for Internet. Like any new technology, you think it will be

great at the outset. But there's a lot of wasted space in Internet. In specific areas like graphs where you aren't able to download them at the present time, CD-ROM fills that gap—if it's done right. I see Internet as being a

bit overblown right now. How do I get to all this stuff? It takes time to locate. In our afternoon classes there's gridlock: it takes 10 minutes to log-on.

H-3
JM: Actually, this has been a very active group. What ONE thing would you tell the archivist—whether it's material you wanted, medium you wanted, what's important to you as an individual?

Audience: History other than white male history. ...begin with a broad, shallow approach. ..indexing order.. ..focus on ability to locate information. ...prepare helping aids to find information. ...want pictures of

individuals.. ..categorize at the highest level. ...want ability to network with other groups working on the same

subject, so we can share hints (example: teaching junior highs about homelessness)....easy access. ...self- explanatory instructions. ...infonriation organized by subject. ...keep as much as possible in the public

domain. ...create way to "funnel down" initial search so that information will appear very quickly on screen;

don't want to wait 20 minutes.. ..Archives should work with NEMA and media specialists and ESUs in Nebraska

on this project.

JM: We have 16 minutes left. UFO's is first on the list.

Audience: All of the records about UFOs are in the Air Force Blue Book, and all the people who sighted

UFOs, which would be of interest to junior highs. Some is on microfilm; the electronic handout sheet has

addresses and phone numbers.

JM: Tribal issues.

Audience: Go to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to find out what's going on. I have three interns working in my

office at Archives now studying tribal issues...

JM: Archives doesn't have current issues though.

Audience: [Indian representative?]: We have records for Indians from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and some of Oklahoma. Have offices for Indian agencies and extensive microfilm collection. Many Indian records

aren't federal; you have to contact tribal councils for them....Indians played a special role in U.S. government.

That ethnic group is more completely documented than any other ethnic group. We don't have federal offices

for African Americans and other groups....in Nebraska, Indians is a live and vital issue.. ..need documentation

about Indian land. ..we don't have indexing mechanisms to find this.

[end]

H-4
Appendix I: Data from August Visits

Norfolk, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 5 persons attended this session.

Inputfrom Attendees:

Kinds of Records/Information:

Information for people who cannot drive to school for higher education

Census records

Marriage licenses

War records

School records

Historical significance of weather events Weather/climate for junior high science classes History for junior high classes NASA expenditures

Environmental Protection Agency records for speech classes History of democracy

Stock market material (CPI Index)

Basic financial forecasting U.S. westward expansion

Bureau of Indian Affairs - Indian tribes/Indian diaries Astronomy - sunspots

Federal Register (but too expensive)

Where and When Needed:

Home

School

Library

Toll-free lines Immediately - Immediate down-load

24-48 hours for schools

Genealogists will wait longer

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Complete index useful—even for obscure information

Internet Government document specialist in college library

What Format Is Needed:

Scanned photos with better and higher resolutions than available now

Ability to download immediately on CD-ROM or laser disk

How Information Delivered:

Electronically

User fees/subscription acceptable

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: NARA should be selective about what it digitizes

Want ability to retrieve information from home computer

Include climate/national weather records

Share teachers' successful uses of subjects

On-line access only to items frequently used

I- 1
Work/Research of Attendees:

One attendee teaches American history; another teaches weather/climate and NASA-related information; and

a third is a junior high media specialist. One attendee is chairman of a group building a video educational

network.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Teacher (2)

Media specialist

Educational network executive

Genealogist

Wayne, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 10 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Voting records

Economic records

Health agency records covering period of time from CDC and NIH

Old newsreels

History of sports, especially Olympics (French/Canadian Archives has done some of this)

Where and When Needed:

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Internet: to search, order, receive

Indexes

Communication law—FCC

Community standards

What Format Is Needed:

Paper

High end at receiver's end

Multimedia—need digitized images

Key word, then time/place

How Information Delivered:

3-5 days

$3-25 per item for document dehvery

0?ie Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Want "Ethics and Values" info for junior high environment class Want "Technology and Society" information for junior high class Patent information on-line

Give us pool of information to look at, then standards to find specifics

Want multimedia and publications fulfillment; native American development (land rights, water rights)

Mass communications

Video showing scenario of how student works

List of NARA sites and holdings

On-line search system not as complex as LC

Work/Research:

Seven attendees are individually researching these subjects: (1) voting/economic records (2) Civil War, U.S.

lighthouse service, native Americans (3) regional information in business/agriculture (4) American culture (5)

1-2
media/journalism (6) language/broadcasting/journalism (7) exercise/metabolism/fitness. One attendee teaches

computer classes.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Researcher (2)

Teacher (5)

Librarians (2)

Network manager

Santee, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 4 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information

What information is available?

Lands reverting to public domain

History of Post office in Santee (p.o. doesn't exist now)

Indian studies History of Indian letters, documents, treaties (some available through Minnesota Historical Society)

1862 uprising

Bureau of Indian Affairs

History of executive orders that set up reservations in Nebraska (and how/why it reverted to public domain)

WPA and CCC

1944 dams for flood control WPA rights for roads—status of roads, county vs. state. Thurston county, especially Indian and non-Indians in Indian territory

Early BIA records (1800 War Department) including letters that show

policy changes

Federal Register

Healthy Start Service (databases connected between tribes)

Allotment Act of 1887

Leaders of Dakota Bands

Pierre Radison (1648), details of clothing

Genealogy before 1800

School and college funding

Where and When Needed:

Community center School

Library

Community college

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Community college has 800-number access to West Law and Indian Law Center at University of South Dakota

in Vermillion.

Medicine: CDC and NIH (90 percent of today's medicines

are based on Indian medicines)

Healthy Start: 19 sites, via Indian Health Services

Community Colleges in Santee, Omaha, and Winnebago

Indian Net in Rapid City, S.D. Advanced course where students do research and contact Archives

What Format Is Needed:

Original document copies

Have archived material available

1-3
How Information Delivered:

FAX

Photo

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Repatriation of museum objects to tribal areas ( For example, what the Smithsonian has and how they got it)

Work/Research:

Three attendees are researching treaties, government policy, education, contracts, and genealogy. One

attendee collects data on infant mortality and Indian health services.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Tribal representative

Teacher (1)

Network manager

Social services representative

O'Neill, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 2 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Genealogy

Immigration records

Homestead papers

Where and When Needed:

Library

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Bill Brady Pharmacy in Hastings (consultant)

Mormon churches in Grand Island and Norfolk

In vault (where????)— 1000 family records

Took 12 years to do cemeteries of county

What Format fs Needed:

Microfiche

How Information Delivered:

Military/pension records take 3-4 months

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: "The dead will wait and they won't give you any lip"

Work/Research:

Both attendees research genealogy.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Genealogist (2)

Valentine, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 3 persons attended this session.

1-4
Kinds of Recordsllnformation

Presidential speeches

Fort Niobrara soldiers' rosters Homestead Act and people who came

Tree claim (shelter belts; additional acres for planting trees) Indian history (Kidd Wade, hung in Bassett, Neb.; Dr. Middleman;

horse thieves)

Supreme Court decisions (example: Roe vs. Wade)

National issues

1883

Martin Luther King

Segregation laws

Life in U.S. before integration

Copies of original documents (IMAX sells) Newsclips on video

WPA project in Rock County

CCC camps

Orphan Train (foster care in Louisiana and Nebraska)

Where and When Needed:

Via bookmobile (rural schools get it every 2 weeks)

Bookmobile makes 33 stops

NEON to OCLC

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Via Educational Service Unit; Valentine a pilot last year Database

Calendar

Job listings

Library information

Cherry County Historical Society history now on-line

What Format Is Needed:

Internet for NARA materials

Finding aids

Internet (in library —how do we charge the patron for use?)

24 hour access ($1500 a month for on-line)

Nebraska on-line (800 number). Calendar and e-mail available

with special permission

CD-ROM available in town schools, but only in 21 rural schools

Cost of phone biggest problem

How Information Delivered:

Mail for historical society

FAX for school, county superintendent, library, city hall, county courthouse

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Tell us what you have

How easy it is to access? Can I get the same information elsewhere?

Advantage of microfilm for historical items: can be printed out and made into books, newspapers, etc. Patrons go to historical society to use it. If microfiche arrives, patrons use library.

Work/Research:

1-5
One attendee researches genealogy; one researches questions that come from library patrons; one would teach

rural teachers about NARA via Internet.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

County Historical Society

Librarian

School computer coordinator

Chadron, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 2 persons attended this session and talked with the president.

Kinds of Records/Information

:

U.S. policy—each decade since 1880

Social work—infants and orphans

Human diversity—ethnic. Native Americans, Hispanics

Where and When Needed:

Quick turnaround

No copyright problems

Videos of history

Information for distance learning

When and Where Needed:

School

Library

Home

College dorm (wired for Internet)

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Finding aids

Database

What Format Is Needed:

WWW—Mosaic or MacWeb

Clips of movies, thumbnails, photographs, documents

CD-ROM for multimedia materials

Download resolution adequate for video production

Index of NARA's public domain photographs

Photo CDs (of promotionals, general classroom, distance learning, and historic trails) How Information Delivered:

Not FAX

Fast

Ability to download

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Create electronic system that's easy to search and browse

Linkup—hypertext

WorklResearch:

One attendee researches social work policy; one develops multimedia lessons.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Audiovisual director

1-6
Professor

Chadron, Nebraska (Museum of the Fur Trade)—August 1994

Attendance: 2 persons attended this session

Kinds of Records/Information : Romance of mountain man (30 years over 400 year period)

Lewis and Clark—people they met before L & C dairies written 19th century commercial enterprise in France and Britain Louisiana Purchase—why didn't Spain commercialize it? Pressed fur, specifically beaver hats History of indigenous staff in Chadron area Non-romantic [mythical] aspects of fur trading; need hard data Any information about fur trade from 1500-1900

Court records

Where and When Needed:

Fur trading history complex; information usually not quickly available

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Needs guidebook/outline to Archives

Relies on persons who research and know Archives

Ft. Robinson curator does research in Kansas City

Smithsonian has done work on transition from fur trade to reservation

Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis

American Fur Trade (New York) provides microfilm

Computers not installed; maybe not needed

Park Service uses Harpers Ferry for technical research

What Format Is Needed:

How Information Delivered:

Telephone

FAX

Microfilm

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Museum receives 35,000 written requests annually for information

Fur trade is a neglected part of important U.S. history

Want specific information about Chadron area; not broad park service history

Work/Research: One participant was the curator-researcher in residence. The other was a researcher who

helps with all aspects of the operation.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees: Curator Researcher

Alliance, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 6 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

1-7
Genealogy

Patents and information on how to get one Census

Military records

Railroad Retirement Act

Indian treaties Woodrow Wilson's 14 points

Homestead Act

Science

Social sciences

Where and When Needed:

Library

Home

School

Immediately

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Internet Would use Federal Register if we knew more about it Without Archives access, researching is timely or not done at all Microfilm (storage problems)

Microfiche (costs less) Interlibrary Loan

Mormon Church archives for genealogy

Nebraska On-line

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM (even though it scratches)

Electronic

Want access to full text How Information Delivered:

Electronically

Have to wait several weeks for military records—national policy

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: National phone directory on-line would be nice

Affordability is primary

Free access most desirable—rural areas pay more for information than do city residents (proposed one-cent town sales tax for library computers might help)

Want online access to be user friendly

Many people use computers at home on Sundays—want access then

Work/Research:

Two attendees are researching business/economic development; one studies WWII history in relation to the

local air base; one is a genealogist; and one researches education.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Museum curator Librarian

Genealogist

Teacher

Economic development (2)

1-8
ScottsblufT, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance : 5 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Document reproduction

Full text transcripts—like Charles Manson's parole board transcript

Anthropology

Primary source documents

Federal Register (grant information; updates to CFR)

Documents for history class Native Americans

Civil War battles Continental Congress

U.S. history (need images)

Where and When Needed:

Immediately

Schools—all students can have accounts How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Internet (screens now are awful)

CD-ROM

Key words (need more synonyms)

What Format Is Needed:

Good index

Internet CD-ROM

Ability to download (not possible now in schools)

Slides

Videos

Include graphs on computer

Laser discs (need paper)

No microfilm; CD-ROM is better Everything should be easy to use How Information Delivered:

Online

FAX

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist:

It takes a year of online experience before you can even do "good browsing"

Teachers are still "paper literate" Priorities: public domain photos. NARA should label them.

Suggestion: ID each item/file with barcode

Work/Research:

Three attendees would use NARA to assist themselves or teachers in preparing reports/projects, and locating

primary source documents. One attendee works in a college library.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Museum curator Librarian (2)

Student

Curriculum developer

1-9
Ogallala, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 1 person attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Weather trends Agriculture statistics (from 1970)

Nebraska wheat yield {based on weather, supply and demand, marketing)

Dateline showing satellite info, news, marketing

Federal government meteorologists

1995 farm bill Agriculture cash flow (to assist with pricing)

Government farm programs

Farm Home Administration

Export Enhancement Program

Canadian and European government support of farm families U.S. census (farmer occupation might be deleted—too few)

Farming technology

Where and When Needed:

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

DTN—satellite hookup. Has news network, radar weather, government reports, screen with dish ($100/month)

AM radio—gives market conditions hourly

2-way radio on tractor

What Format Is Needed:

On home computer (used for bookkeeping)

Rely on Dones Publications, which is pro-farmer

How Information Delivered:

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Agriculture is the largest industry in Nebraska— 1 million people employed

Con Agra [Omaha-based; in Fortune 50]

Farmers produce more than they can sell

Work/Research:

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Nebraska Wheat Board Member

Sidney, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 3 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information

:

Statistical probability for math classes Nebraska history—statistical, demographics, census—comparison to other states Daily weather

Science/earthquakes

Multimedia

Old newsreels

I - 10
Where and When Needed:

Home (30 percent of students have computers at home; 15 percent have modems)

School

Immediately

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

By dialing Educational Service Units; access available to all educators

UNIX (with Gopher)—teachers have accounts; depends on school. Space limit per person. Need contractual packet with parents giving student's permission to use

Scottsbluff college provides accounts for librarians Bulletin board is separate from Internet Alliance/Chadron/Sioux County not part of ESU

Teachers need hands-on courses—available in workshops, graduate credit E-Mail

What Format Is Needed:

Images—characters and places

Ability to download on Internet (which is better than CD-ROM)

Good searching tools (now they're limited and access difficult due to popularity)

How Information Delivered:

Electronic

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Current information is what makes Internet fly

Gopher bookmarks need unique ID

Work/Research:

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Teacher

Media specialist

Technology coordinator

North Platte, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 4 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Corps of Engineers: water, environmental concerns, stream flows

Republican River

Platte River

Dairies

Photographs

Federal Register

Climate

Federal Register (needs reliable index)

Congressional Record

Census

Farm bills Platte River Valley

Photos of Nebraska

Inventory of natural resources in Nebraska

Where and When Needed:

I- 11
Immediately (we allow 3 weeks to plan projects)

Schools (have direct connect to MOSAIC)

Home (25-30 percent have computers)

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Press—has Internet University of Nebraska (wet meadow study; Artesian conditions)

Center for Advanced Land Management Action

Satellite sensory information

NASA

Aerial photographs

Census-break down: some info outdated. Call in and talk to Archives person USGS publications (available on-line)

What Format Is Needed:

Electronic

Original documents with graphics

CD-ROM

How Information Delivered:

FAX (enhance photos)

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Make system affordable

Devise search system for subject, area, date, word, federal agencies

Work/Research:

One attendee researches environmental and earth science issues; one researches curriculum and grant

information; one does regional genealogy.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Hydrologist

School telecomputing coordinator

Journalist

Newspaper publisher

Broken Bow, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 2 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information

:

NASA

Math

Science

Current events

Jupiter

Presidential (and other VIP) speeches—would like on video

Business information—local data/demographics of real estate Presidential libraries

Where and When Needed:

Home (Broken Bow has been teaching adult computer classes for 10 years)

School (130 computers in system)

1-12
How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Internet (8-10 teachers have accounts)

Distance learning

Schools are hub in community

Library

Educational Service Units

Dial-up modems in schools

What Format fs Needed:

CD-ROM (would be ideal for museum-type objects)

Video

Internet for current materials

How Information Delivered:

FAX

Uplink/downlink to connect with anyone else in state (quad system)

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Put sets of materials on CD-ROM regionally organized or thematic

Prepare standards for doing computer-based presentations

Work/Research:

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees: Superintendent of school

Board member

Kearney, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 3 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information

19th century American culture and life Secretary of War documents

Opening of the American West

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Alaska (need photos)

Original materials

Where and When Needed:

College dorms

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

UNK library (has electronic card catalog); UNO library not user friendly

What Format Is Needed:

CD-ROM

Step-by- step paper instructions How Information Delivered:

FAX high quality (can also be a waste of time)

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: CD-ROM 19th century newspaper too costly ($4500) ???????? CD-ROM that GPO set up disappointing—no finding aids/uniform searching software

1-13
Don't promise more service than can be delivered

Look at Vatican collection for sample of interest-grabbing material

Cost of Internet a priority

WorkIResearch:

One attendee researches genealogy; one is a university library director.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Genealogist

Librarian

Hospital grant director

Hastings, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 4 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/fnfornmtion:

Genealogy (represents 75% of 1000 requests)

Watergate tapes

Famous speeches

Economic development

Business

Education

Medicine

Government

Where and When Needed:

Hastings College

Hastings Community College

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Nebraska On-line

Data Times (Oklahoma-based newspaper articles)

Mid Net

What Format Is Needed:

How Information Delivered:

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist:

Work/Research:

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

DAV representative

Economic Development Committee representative

Librarian (2)

Grand Island, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 10 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Genealogy

1-14
Freedom of Information Act

Census records

Newspaper articles Curriculum

Census records

Military records

Land records

Pension records

Historical events

Original documents

Immigration records

Where and When Needed:

Immediately; younger generation won't wait for mail

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Mormon Church archives

Personal contact with archivist

What Format Is Needed:

Finding aids on-line with simple instructions Cross-referencing

Internet Digitize material

How Information Delivered:

On-line

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Need system that's cheap, easy to use

If Archives doesn't have certain material but knows where it is, give location to user

WorklResearch:

Four attendees focus on genealogy; one attendee does general historical research (Victorian period to the

present); one educator wants NARA available to students for research; two attendees want to know more NARA resources.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Librarian

Genealogist

Museum director

Teacher (3)

School superintendent

Data processing

York, Nebraska—August 1994

Attendance: 3 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information

Civil War and education at that time

Military records from Great Plains

Ecology, geography, and botany of Great Plains 1930s photos

Weather—observations from individuals

I- 15
Laws by state such as drinking age, helmet, number of teens, etc.

Where and When Needed:

Schools

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Internet Nebraska On-line

Topic

LC terms Boolean logic

Spelling biggest problem

Library—hurdles are connection and maintenance

What Format Is Needed:

Electronic—with proper front-end software and local access numbers

Photos—primary sources PTO—models, labeling tools Ability to find thumbnail images and then download them

Documents as images with descriptors

Microfilm

How Information Delivered:

FAX

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: Kids like to browse.

Work/Research: •.

•

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Librarian

Media Specialist

Teacher

Winnebago, Nebraska—August 1994

y4f/e/!c/a/!ce; 4 persons attended this session.

Kinds of Records/Information:

Information for teaching history classes Primary source maps

Jesuit diaries Tribal histories Uses of waterways

Missouri—how land was measured, how land plats changed before fur trade Davis Act

Issues of warfare 1500-1600 (peoples' diets, hunting)

Beaver wars/fox wars Woodland Tribes Migration

Refugees running from wars in the East to escape hunger

Indian colleges in U.S. and Canada

Tribal history and languages

Census records

Maps

1-16
jreat Lakes

Waterways from Illinois Illinois economics, ceremonies, gun power, tobacco, affected woodlands, fur trade Agriculture—description of trees/grasses before Jesuit concepts of gardening and animal husbandry

Migration and language—multicultural Origins of sign language

Symbols of peace

Leadership—origin and clans French pre 1600

Easter tribes education in Europe before official government

Society of Jesus—Northern Hemisphere as early as 1200

Probate court 1880-1930

Land descriptions before and after World War II Davis Act

Laws that impacted Indians

Land stolen from Indians

Food

Cattle

Pork

Bills of sale on steamers and along overland routes Clothing distribution in New York City (military uniforms)

Battle of Little Bighorn

Federal government attitude toward Indians last 100 years

Where and When Needed:

How You Search/Locate the Information Needed:

Title Nuberry Library (Chicago) has helped Indian colleges

Genealogy

CROW Agency—yellowtail archives, medicine crow archives

Nebraska Arts Council

Historical societies (though sometimes interpretation is incorrect)

Library modem

Nebraska On-line

What Format Is Needed:

Original source materials

CD-ROM

How Information Delivered:

FAX

One Thing They Would Tell the Archivist: "We live a lie here in Nebraska" —Indian history isn't being told—need to tell the truth. Korean War veteran's body not allowed to be buried in Sioux City cemetery in 1951. Buried at Arlington

National Cemetery.

Work/Research:

Three attendees research history of the Santee Sioux, Omaha, Winnebago, and Ponca tribes; one attendee

studies Indian legal documents available through NARA.

Profession or Business, and Avocation of Attendees:

Indian advocate

Public relations Teacher

I - 17
Librarian

WorkIResearch:

Four attendees focus on genealogy; one attendee does general historical research

1-18
Appendix J: Sample Discussion - Script from Audiotape of August Meeting in Norfolk

NARA Meeting in Norfolk, Nebraska—August I, 1994

Note: The preliminary introduction to the session was not taped.

Attendee: I'm involved in lifelong learning center that we'll build on college campus that will connect 58

schools within 120 miles from here. 80 percent of programming will be done by 10 schools. We'll be lied to universities, Wayne State, etc. It will be biggest high tech project we've tried. We want to take information to people who are base-bound and cannot drive to school for higher education. There will be 2-3 classrooms per school K-12 and will be used after hours.

Attendee: I went on bus tour to Minnesota to see their program. It's used all during the day and after school,

too. Used for cosmetology, real estate, emergency personnel. Instruction is video-based in real time. At the university, for example, we have an instructor sitting in a classroom who's talking to 300 kids. 90 percent of

Nebraska's school are wired with fiber optics, which greatly enhances ability to do real time. System works on

copper now at 15 frames per second. We're proposing 30 frames per second video system.

Judi: How does this tie in with computers or Internet?

Attendee: If you have access to a telephone line and a carrier, you can use Internet. All ESU units should

eventually be equipped with computers.

Attendee: I'm state president of the Nebraska genealogy society; our collection is in Beatrice. The counties are coming on-line and starting to go digital —it may take 50 years! Census records, war records, marriage

licenses, school records is what our archives is interested in.

Judi: Is junior high interested in these projects?

Attendee: We'd use archives for some history and science class research in junior high class. I've heaid that there will be available archived imagery from the past. Kids could do research about historically significant

weather events and how they impacted a part of the U.S.

Judi: Archives is on-line with selected data. There are 4 billion pages of materials (plus 9 million aerial photographs) at NARA—won't all be on-line. Federal Register is available, also census, war records, and

records from government agencies.

Attendee: I might have kids do research on NASA expenditures: will that be available?

Judi: That's what we want to know.

Attendee: For speech classes, I'd like things about EPA.

Attendee: Do you have info from other countries, such as how democracy developed beginning in England?

Attendee: Sounds like you're looking for the highest usage items to go on-line, not just the most obscure.

Judi: What DOESN'T work is doing studies on what people have requested in the past, because people only

request what they know about.

Attendee: If you knew what Archives had, you might request 5,000 other things.

Judi: A high school math teacher wants budgets available.

J - 1
Attendee: Seems to me that stock market and basic financial forecasting probably would have a lot of

application in research and also help with forecasting. I'd be interested in any kind of data regarding climate. You can correlate it with agricultural information and have some really interesting studies.

Attendee: Questions are how far back do you go for stock market info? To the 30s? 60s?

Judi: I think Archives wants to find out what material people say they will use, and then find out if they really

DO use it. We could start out shallow and then go broad.

Attendee: My school spends a lot of time on westward expansion. We learned in one meeting that the 1960

census is in a format [at Archives] that only two machines in the world can access—at the Smithsonian and in Tokyo. Now Archives is trying to convert it to something more usable for everyone. If you have information in a digital format it's a lot easier to change.

Judi: There's another issue—a lot of this material may never be digital, although the finding aids may be. Archives is not Hke libraries—not everything is indexed. Indexing the finding aids digitally would seem to be

helpful to most people. If you had a list of finding aids, you could request photocopied sets of data.

Attendee: How do you know what's available today?

Judi: You have to have a topic and call and find your way to an archivist.

Attendee: College libraries have a person who is a government document specialist. I took a class in this—it's

still hard—just the tip of the iceberg.

Judi: Would you use indexes over the Internet if it were available?

Attendee: I think Internet will eventually be in every school system, every corporation. It's becoming the only

system out there. There's no real good index of imageries. If I know the topic, I can search on CD-ROM most

efficiently. To spend 5 minutes downloading one image on Internet isn't worth my time.

Attendee: I think Internet speed will increase. If index is on Internet, it can change constantly. Pretty soon

you're going to have a clutch of CD's as long as your arm because you want one thing from one, and something

else from another. It's not very efficient way of storing, plus it's manual.

Judi: One group earlier (K-12) suggested that they need more real documents; they could use historical documents in English and history classes. These are free publications you can use to request information.

Attendee: There was a school in Minnesota—the 8 Americans of the Owejee tribe did their own research,

interviewed older members of the tribe, and got the students interested. I wonder if the Bureau of Indian Affairs would have some info. Are diaries available?

Judi: If you have an idea for a project, call the archivist who's most closely related to that topic. Archivist

can't do the research, but can guide you. Maybe schools need a subscription to archives for the copying

services so that teachers don't have to pay for it themselves.

Steve: If you are making progress, check with Kansas City, which is the closest regional Archives office.

Judi: If you had access to indexes on-line, from where would you use them?

Attendees: From school, home, library. Teachers work at night; need access at home. Communications is a problem in rural America because we don't have toll-free hnes. In Norfolk, we're setting up lines in the school—

-can't grant use for homes. One thing I see changing is that communications will be based on time, not

mileage. Now we pay a penalty for being at a distance.

Judi: What I'm hearing is that you really need them in public places like libraries and schools so that people

J - 2
can download a photo, for example, take it home and use it.

Attendee: What about publications, and newspapers like NY Times, Washington Post --- are ihcy part of the archives?

Judi: No; there has to be a tie-in with government. I think Federal Register would be important to you. Index is on-line. You can subscribe to electronic version.

Attendee: Our business is affected by things in the Federal Register, but we usually wait for someone to .send us a picture of it. We won't pay $400 for subscription.

Judi: You would want your material electronic, but would Mike's history students need paper copies? If indexes were available on-line, how would you want it?

Attendees: Immediate download! If I don't have it now, I move onto another project. My generation is used to having something to hold in your hand—it's not legitimate enough on the screen. The kids do NOT have that kind of holdback. They've accepted TV since the day they were born; they can look at something on screen and believe. It's not less trustworthy on the screen. Remember the digital revolution to have a paperless

society? We have more paper now than ever before. I think that will change. To design a system to provide

paper defeats on-line.

Judi: If you had to order material, how do you want it?

Attendee: But where WOULDN'T you have computers? We say scan it once, and then photocopy it 8,000

times if necessary. It needs to be automated. Why go through manpower of mailing, postage, etc. if you can

get it electronically?

Judi: Scanning on demand means you're in a queue. How long will you wait? It's useful to know what your real times are.

Attendee: Depends on what you need. In genealogy, you know that research is not a fast process, so you don't expect to get instant results from archives, either. In a school situation, 24 or 48 hours is important. Scanning

fees cannot be ignored.

Judi: What I'm hearing is that Archives shouldn't worry about sending things overnight or express—you really

want it electronically immediately.

Steve: How about photos?

Attendees: Scanned photos generally acceptable—almost never need actual glossy photograph. If we don't need glossy print, then that should drive Archives to develop better and higher resolutions for electronic photos. There's no reason why we should get photos at 2400 dots per minute.

Attendee: Can Archives target specific projects to put on-line and make available to everyone, for example

educational programs? Teachers would prepare certain information and share it with others.

Judi: There's some very structured material developed—such as Thomas Jefferson.

Attendee: How do you store it so it can be used again? Enough room? CD-ROMS are too small and too slow. I like to download info on a laser disk—which I can then mail to someone. Just now coming on-line. Spent S200-

$300 for disk—works like hard drive. Hewlett Packard makes them.

Judi: If you had one idea that you could give to Archives, what would it be?

Attendees: (1) Archives should be selective about what they digitize—they should spend time on applications

that are broad enough to justify cost. Rather see good system that's selective than a system with everything

J - 3
that nobody uses. If everything is on-line, how do you sort it down to what you need? I think private industry can serve this purpose too. I don't want to see the federal government be in competition with private industry.

My company in Norfolk can offer statistics to thousands of people—perhaps at a higher cost. I don't want Big

Brother doing everything. Let Archives handle the federal government and let private industry serve the rest of

it. (2) As a genealogist, I'd like to be able to retrieve information from home. (3) Climate, national weather

records desirable. Also, if teachers have a successful use of a subject, there would be a way they could share

that.

Steve: Whatever people download—should that be accessible to public view? If the Washington Post is the only one using pictures, should the pictures be removed from on-line?

Attendee: There's no point in having on-line access to things that aren't used frequently; that's a bad use of

computer resources. It should be stored, but not thrown away. There should be some standard: this is worth

keeping, or not worth keeping.

Judi: How important to you is it that Archives has a complete index?

Attendee: Could potentially be important. There are things hidden—like the U.S. soldier who married a German woman in Germany 30 years ago, but couldn't take her back to the U.S. A special law was passed so she could come here. The man recently saw the law for the first time.

Judi: How comfortable will you be with citations? When the student does a search for the word, it will pose some interesting questions. Will the student read enough of the material?

Attendees: The information I've used lists citations at the beginning. Who's paying for these 18 million new

Internet users every month? In Nebraska, 12 ESU's pay for it. Government funds only 10 percent of Internet; rest funded by users. I guess the NSF backbone will cease to exist within the year; it will all be taken on by

private carriers. There's big concern that in the future there will be a charge per message—50 cents?—that's just a number out of the air. That's a big issue—will it be per usage base, or set fee?

It's mind-numbing to me—I was talking to Moscow to get info where my daughter's going. Somebody's got to pay [for that call]. It's a great system but I wonder if someday it will come to a halt when they say "We've got

500 million users and we can't afford to do this anymore." I can use Internet to do business with customers in India or Germany—and do it cheaper than using FAX machines.

Judi: If you have questions or requests, we'll pass them on to the appropriate people.

END.

J = 4
Appendix K: Data from Questionnaires

Question 1 : What place(s) would be convenient for you to electronically search for or receive

National Archives information?

Convenient place for searching

and receiving electronically

Checked this item Did not check this item

public library 155 (63.5%) 89 (36.5%)

school 100 (41.0%) 144 (59.0%)

community center 19 (7.8%) 225 (92.2%)

office 135 (55.3%) 109 (44.7%)

home 131(53.7%) 113 (46.3%)

other * 23 (9.4%) 221 (90.6%)

*No list from Survey Research

Place G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

public library 37.5 86.4 38.7 54.3 46.2 83.3 75.6 76.9 33.3 66.7

school 00.0 22.7 51.6 89.1 30.8 41.7 28.9 07.7 33.3 44.4 community center 00.0 13.6 03.2 06.5 07.7 25.0 04.4 07.7 00.0 11.1

office 81.3 20.5 83.9 34.8 92.3 91.7 48.9 53.8 100 72.2 home 18.8 68.2 45.2 67.4 69.2 58.3 44.4 61.5 16.7 44.4

other 06.3 09.1 06.5 00.0 00.0 08.3 22.2 30.8 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K- 1
Question 2: How do you search for information?

How do you search for

information?

Checked this item Did not check this item

UCldOllal lIulllCo yJl Lllidj 172 (10 ^%'\ 72 C29 S%)

place names/geographic areas 138 (56.6%) 106 (43.4%) names of Federal Agencies 81 (33.2%) 163 (66.8%)

time frame 107 (43.9%) 137 (56.1%)

subjects/events 191 (78.3) 53 (21.7%) names of organizations 101 (41.4) 143 (58.6%)

Note: one individual wrote in "social security number"

Access Points G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

persons, titles 81.3 88.6 77.4 73.9 30.8 41.7 71.1 61.5 66.7 50.0

places, areas 06.3 75.0 51.6 54.3 23.1 50.0 71.1 38.5 100 61.1

Federal Agencies 06.3 20.5 32.3 23.9 61.5 41.7 48.9 38.5 66.7 33.3

time frame 37.5 59.1 48.4 30.4 30.8 25.0 55.6 30.8 33.3 44.4

subject/events 37.5 54.5 80.6 95.7 92.3 83.3 86.7 84.6 66.7 88.9

organizations 43.8 31.8 35.5 28.3 38.5 58.3 57.8 46.2 66.7 44.4

Note: 0 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, 0 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K-2
Question 3: What kind(s) of information services from the National Archives would be most

useful to you if available electronically? Indicate priority by rating each item as High, Medium, or Low.

Kinds of Information Services High Medium Low No

Answer

Getting started / How to locate information or records and services

available through NARA

197 (82.8%) 33 (13.9%) 8 (3.4%) 6

Public calendar of events 1 / (/.J70) -70 ^1.^ C07 \ /o (j4.!)7o) 1 T 1 /CO f\o/ \ IDi (jo.Uvo) 18

Information about NARA facihties (overview of holdings, hours, location,

etc.)

69 (29.5%) 114 (48.7%) 51 (21.8%) 10

Information about records and related materials held by NARA

loo( /O.jvo) CI /oo 1 07 \ J J (ZZ.lyo) 4 (l./vo) 4

Copies of actual documents held by

NARA

158 (66.1%) 73 (30.5%) 8 (3.3%) 5

NARA sponsored workshops or training 45 (19.3%) 127 (54.5%) 61 (26.2%) 11

On-line ordering of records or publications162 (69.2%) 63 (26.9%) 9 (3.8%) 10

Information about other Federal

Agencies

68 (29.7%) 119 (52.0%) 42 (18.3%) 15

Information about records created or held by other Federal Agencies101 (43.0%) 115 (48.9%) 19 (8.1%) 9

Kinds of Information

Services of High Priority

G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

getting started 86.7 78.0 73.3 87.0 84.6 91.7 84.4 69.2 100 88.2

calendar of events 00.0 05.4 13.8 08.9 00.0 08.3 00.0 08.3 00.0 31.3 NARA facilities 53.3 40.5 24.1 23.9 30.8 16.7 18.2 50.0 00.0 37.5

finding aids 68.8 83.7 66.7 71.7 84.6 75.0 84.4 69.2 66.7 75.0

copies of holdings 75.0 83.7 61.3 71.7 46.2 25.0 75.0 66.7 50.0 31.3

workshops/training 20.0 35.7 13.3 23.9 07.7 08.3 13.6 00.0 00.0 28.6

on-line ordering 73.3 69.0 73.3 75.6 61.5 83.3 61.4 58.3 60.0 68.8

info re Fed Agencies 28.6 16.2 23.3 23.9 61.5 33.3 39.5 41.7 33.3 25.0

info re records of other

Fed Agencies

53.3 36.6 40.0 37.0 61.5 58.3 43.2 41.7 66.7 37.5

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12. G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

K-3
Question 4: The National Archives has records and related materials documenting the legislative,

judicial, and executive branches of the Federal govemment. Which of the following would be

most useful to you? (Circle as many as apply.)

Useful Records and Materials Historical No

Historical YesCurrent No

Current Yes

Information related to: The Presidency 151 (61.9%) 93 (38.1%) 151 (61.9%) 93 (38.1%)

Congress 141 (57.8%) 103 (42.2%) 129 (52.9%) 115 (47.1%)

Federal Regulations and Laws,

including the Federal Register

97 (39.8%) 147 (60.2%) 77 (31.6%) 167 (68.4%)

Federal Courts 150 (61.5%) 94 (38.5%) 150 (61.5%) 94 (38.5%)

Agency Records:

Agriculture 145 (59.4%) 99 (40.6%) 144 (59.0%) 100 (41.0%)

Commerce 179 (73.4%) 65 (26.6%) 166 (68.0%) 78 (32.0%)

Defense 177 (72.5%) 67 (27.5%) 178 (73.0%) 66 (27.0%)

Education / Culture 98 (40.2%) 146 (59.8%) 95 (38.9%) 149 (61.1%)

Energy 193 (79.1%) 51 (20.9%) 174 (71.3%) 70 (28.7%)

Health & Human Services 166 (68.0%) 78(32.0%) 148 (60.7%) 96 (39.3%)

Housing & Urban Services 204 (83.6%) 40 (16.4%) 196 (80.3%) 48 (19.7%)

Justice / Law Enforcement 176 (72.1%) 68 (27.9%) 165 (67.6%) 79 (32.4%)

Labor 190 (77.9%) 54 (22.1%) 178 (73.0%) 66 (27.0%)

Maritime 211 (86.5%) 33 (13.5%) 211 (86.5%) 33 (13.5%)

Postal Service 214 (87.7%) 30 (12.3%) 211 (86.5%) 33 (13.5%)

Public Lands, Parks, &

Environment

140 (57.4%) 104 (42.6%) 136 (55.7%) 108 (44.3%)

Science & Technology 148 (60.7%) 96 (39.3%) 126 (51.6%) 118 (48.4%)

State/Foreign Relations 187 (76.6%) 57 (23.4%) 179 (73.4%) 65 (26.6%)

Transportation 185 (75.8%) 59 (24.2%) 184 (75.4%) 60 (24.6%)

Treasury/Revenue/Finance 195 (79.9%) 49 (20.1%) 183 (75.0%) 61 (25.0%)

Records of Individuals

Genealogy 96 (39.3%) 148 (60.7%) 114 (46.7%) 130 (53.3%)

Military Service Records 129 (52.9%) 115 (47.1%) 147 (60.2%) 97 (39.8%)

K-4
Ethnic Heritage:

Native American

189 (77.5%) 55 (22.5%) 196 (80.3%) 48 (19.7%)

Ethnic Heritage:

Other * 213 (87.3%) 31 (12.7%) 221 (90.6%) 23 (9.4%)

* Historical Records: Other = Jewish Nebraska and Iowa, Foreign/Immigration, Immigration, Irish-English, All of the above (3), Both Black and Caucasian for the wars. Ethnic information, Caucasian, AfricanAmericans (2), Immigration all ports 1800-1950, German (2), Czech, British Isles, North European, Mexican

American. All Ethnic, Important Ethnic leaders - women too please. Latino, European, Immigration Records - Ellis Island

* Current Records: Other = Jewish Nebraska and Iowa, German-Russian (Volga), Foreign Immigration,

Hispanic American, Caucasian, African-Americans (3), North European, Mexican American, Asian American,

European

K-5
Useful Historical

G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 GVJ 9y GVJ 10X w

Information related to: The Presidency 25.0 04.5 35.5 76.1 30.8 25.0 55.6 23.1 16.7 27.8

Congress 25.0 13.6 35.5 67.4 38.5 58.3 60.0 15.4 33.3 AAA

Federal Regulations

dllKi J—ftl W O

68.8 40.9 64.5 60.9 69.2 91.7 57.8 53.8 66.7 72.2

18 8 43 2 25 8 52.2 30 8 50 0 44.4 15 4 16.7 38 9

1? ^ 27 3 41'~t \.,y9 39 1 23 1 58 3 46 7 100 X \J\J 83 3 97 8

yJyj.D 76 1 4R 0 X J.*T 16 7 16xu.7/

Defense 62.5 15.9 12.9 39.1 23.1 16.7 35.6 Ql.l 16.7 27.8

Education / Culture 12.5 50.0 71.0 82.6 69.2 41.7 62.2 30.8 50.0 72.2

Energy 00.0 02.3 16.1 32.6 15.4 33.3 33.3 15.4 33.3 27.8

Health & Human

Services

25.0 22.7 29.0 32.6 53.8 50.0 35.6 07.7 00.0 55.6

Housing & Urban

Services

06.3 06.8 12.9 19.6 15.4 33.3 28.6 00.0 00.0 22.2

Justice / Law 12.5 13.6 16.1 41.3 23.1 41.7 37.8 23.1 00.0 44.4

Labor 06.3 09.1 35.5 23.9 23.1 41.7 31.1 07J 00.0 22.2

Maritime 12.5 09.1 06.5 19.6 15.4 08.3 17.8 00.0 16.7 22.2

Postal Service 12.5 15.9 06.5 17.4 15.4 00.0 15.6 07.7 00.0 05.6

Public Lands,

Parks, &

Environment

12.5 36.4 35.5 54.3 15.4 25.0 55.6 38.5 100 50.0

Science &

Technology

00.0 136 48.4 63.0 30.8 50.0 46.7 46.2 33.3 38.9

State/Foreign

Relations

12.5 09.1 25.8 39.1 23.1 25.0 33.3 00.0 00.0 22.2

Transportation 00.0 25.0 12.9 30.4 15.4 33.3 33.3 30.8 16.7 22.2

Treasury/Revenue

/ Finance

12.5 04.5 19.4 21.7 15.4 25.0 33.3 07.7 16.7 38.9

Records of

j Individuals

Genealogy 37.5 90.9 48.4 60.9 53.8 33.3 71.1 46.2 50.0 58.9

Military Service

[ Records

93.8 84.1 12.9 34.8 on.i 33.3 53.3 38.5 50.0 33.3

K-6
Ethnic Heritage:

Native American

18.8 20.5 16.1 19.6 00.0 00.0 37.8 23.1 16.7 44.4

Ethnic Heritage:

Other

00.0 34.1 03.2 08.7 00.0 00.0 15.6 00.0 00.0 22.2

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 = government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service

providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

K-7
Useful Current Records

and Materials G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

Information related to: The Presidency 31.3 04.5 32.3 71.7 23.1 33.3 57.8 38.5 16.7 22.2

Congress 25.0 15.9 38.7 69.6 61.5 66.7 64.4 53.8 16.7 38.9

Federal Regulations

and Laws

62.5 29.5 67.7 78.3 92.3 100 73.3 84.6 83.3 77.8

Federal Courts 31.3 20.5 25.8 58.7 30.8 58.3 48.9 23.1 16.7 44.4 Agency Records:

Agriculture 12.5 15.9 38.7 47.8 38.5 66.7 51.1 92.3 83.3 22.2 Commerce 06.3 06.8 38.7 37.0 30.8 83.3 51.1 38.5 00.0 16.7

Defense 68.8 06.8 12.9 47.8 23.1 25.0 28.9 23.1 16.7 16.7

liciucdiion / L-Uuuie iZ. J

'X(k jO.'tA lA 9 yj. 1 7A Q '>0 0 /^9 oz.z9 19. '\ JO. J 11

1

79 9 /Z.Z

Energy 00.0 (M.5 16.1 52.2 15.4 33.3 46.7 30.8 33.3 33.3

Health & Human

ocrvicea

31.3 13.6 38.7 54.3 53.8 33.3 51.1 30.8 00.0 55.6

nUUalllg OC UlUall Services

09 16ID. 11 Ofi ZD. 111 A JJ.D JJ. J 01Zj. 11 00 0 99zz.z9

Justice / Law

Enforcement

25.0 09.1 16.1 58.7 23.1 33.3 44.4 23.1 00.0 50.0

Labor HA 7. UO.J ^ 11 o 91 1 Zj. 1 41. / D 1 .0 JO.

J

oo o uu.u 97 8 Z/.o

Maritime 12.5 02.3 06.5 23.9 15.4 08.3 13.3 23.1 16.7 22.2

Postal Service 06.3 06.8 09.7 23.9 15.4 00.0 15.6 23.1 00.0 16.7

Public Lands,

Parks, &

Environment

18.8 25.0 35.5 60.9 15.4 25.0 62.2 53.8 100 50.0

Science &

Technology

06.3 18.2 41.9 82.6 38.5 66.7 60.0 53.8 33.3 50.0

State/Foreign

Relations

12.5 06.8 22.6 52.2 15.4 16.7 37.8 30.8 00.0 22.2

1 rdiisporidiioii on n 99zz.of\ '^0 1 1 ^ A A\ 7 9d A 1C\ 8 16 7 97z/.o8

Treasury/Revenue

/ Finance

12.5 04.5 25.8 37.0 15.4 33.3 33.3 30.8 16.7 33.3

Records of

Individuals

Genealogy 31.3 79.5 38.7 56.5 38.5 33.3 60.0 46.2 50.0 38.9

K- 8
Military Service

IxCCUI

81.3 65.9 06.5 34.8 07.7 25.0 42.2 38.5 50.0 33.3

Ethnic Heritage:

Native American

12.5 13.6 12.9 21.7 07.7 00.0 31.1 23.1 16.7 38.9

Ethnic Heritage:

Other

00.0 22.7 03.2 10.9 00.0 00.0 11.1 00.0 00.0 11.1

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

K-9
Question 5: Please circle up to 3 types of records or documents you would like to have available for on-line

computer access.

Types of records or documents on-line No Yes

written (textual) documents 22 (9.0%) 222 (91.0%)

photographs 95 (38.9%) 149 (61.1%)

motion pictures / video 189 {11.5%) 55 (22.5%)

maps 128 (52.5%) 116 (47.5%)

architectural drawings 237 (97.1%) 7 (2.9%)

audio-sound recordings 206 (84.4%) 38 (15.6%)

data sets 166 (68.0%) 78 (32.0%)

images of museum objects 213 (87.3%) 31 (12.7%)

other * 242 (99.2%) 2 (.8%)

*The following was written as other on questionnaires: "death information on people; depends upon content"

Document Type G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

written / textual 100 95.5 87.1 87.0 92.3 83.3 100 100 66.7 72.2

photographs 62.5 72.7 41.9 87.0 38.5 33.3 62.2 53.8 50.0 38.9

motion pictures 25.0 09.1 16.1 45.7 15.4 25.0 11.1 30.8 00.0 38.9 maps 37.5 77.3 29.0 37.0 30.8 33.3 51.1 30.8 100 50.0

architectural drawings 06.3 02.3 03.2 00.0 07.7 00.0 02.2 00.0 00.0 11.1

audio recordings 18.8 06.8 29.0 02.2 15.4 33.3 17.8 23.1 16.7 22.2

data sets 18.8 25.0 38.7 21.7 46.2 50.0 31.1 46.2 33.3 44.4

images of museum

objects

00.0 06.8 12.9 28.3 15.4 08.3 08.9 00.0 16.7 16.7

other 00.0 02.3 00.0 00.0 00.0 08.3 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0

Note: 0 1 = veterans. 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K- 10
Quesrion 6: For whom do you usually search for information?

Search for Self Others Both

100 (41.2%) 95 (39.1%) 48 (19.8%)

Search for G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

Self 25.0 56.8 54.8 42.2 46.2 33.3 08.9 76.9 16.7 55.6

Others 68.8 15.9 19.4 46.7 23.1 33.3 71.1 15.4 50.0 33.3

Both 06.3 27.3 25.8 11.1 30.8 33.3 20.0 07.7 33.3 11.1

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K- 11
Question 7: For what purpose(s) might you or your customers need information from the National Archives?

(Check and circle as many as apply.)

Purposes for Information No Yes Sub-group No Sub-group

Yes

To supplement teaching materials 88 (36.1%) 156 (63.9%)

for elementary school 92(59.0%) 64(41.0%)

for middle school 84 (53.8%) 72 (46.2%)

for secondary school 71 (455%) 85 (545%)

for undergraduate teaching 90(57.7%) 66 (42.3%)

for graduate teaching 92 (59.0%) 64(41.0%)

for adult education teaching 85 (545%) 71 (455%>)

To do school assignments 120 (49.2%) 124 (50.8%)

for elementary school 81 (65.3%o) 43 (34.7%)

for middle school 69 (55.6%) 55 (44.4%,)

for secondary school 55 (44.4%) 69(55.6%)

for undergraduate classes 63 (50.8%) 61 (49.2%)

for graduate classes 73 (58.9%) 51 (41.1%,)

for adult education classes 78(62.9%) 46(37.1%)

To prepare publications 96 (39.3%) 148 (60.7%)

For legal research 202 (82.8%) 42 (17.2%)

To search for current grants and funding

sources

114 (46.7%) 130 (53.3%)

For regulatory research 190 (77.9%) 54 (22.1%)

For business or investment opportunities 206 (84.4%) 38 (15.6%)

To support a benefit or claim 210 (86.1%) 34 (13.9%)

veteran 09 (265%) 25 (735%)

other * 30(88.2%) 4(11.8%)

For genealogical research 125 (51.2%) 119 (48.8%)

For local and community history 111 (45.5%) 133 (54.5%)

For media use 190 (77.9%) 54 (22.1%)

radio 37(685%) 17(315%>)

newspaper 29 (53.7%) 25 (46.3%)

magazine 41 (75.9%) 13(24.1%})

K- 12
iV jj (64.0%) 19 (35.2%)

Other ** 47(87.0%) 07 (13.0%)

For personal interest or enrichment *** 180 (73.8%) 64 (26.2%)

Other **** 238 (97.5%) 6 (2.5%)

Note: These are the responses written in on the questionnaires.

* ??? daughter, widows of vets

** speeches and program, cable, multimedia, on-line resource enrichment

*** atomic bomb development before 1945, rocket development after 1945, American heritage, historical records, educational, genealogy, weather, ASA, trades and consumer patterns, Lewis and Clark expedition,

maps, historical information, literature, music, theater, diaries, cartoons (political), slave records and

genealogy, family history and local migration routes with associated journals, historical interests, to write

historical articles and books, multi-cultural education support, regional (Great Plains) immigration

information, work on Master/Doctoral theses

**** lesson plan development/unit development, historical site (tourist information), for industry comparisons,

classroom research, background for legislation

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

K- 13
Purposes for Info G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

For teaching 31.3 29.5 87.1 97.8 53.8 50.0 77.8 38.5 33.3 61.1

elementary school 20.0 46.2 03.7 55.6 42.9 66.7 42.9 20.0 100 54.5

middle school 20.0 23.1 07.4 71.1 42.9 33.3 60.0 20.0 100 45.5

secondary school 20.0 38.5 11.1 93.3 42.9 33.3 62.9 20.0 100 36.4

undergraduate 20.0 38.5 85.2 13.3 42.9 33.3 60.0 00.0 100 27.3

graduate 40.0 23.1 70.4 24.4 71.4 16.7 45.7 00.0 100 45.5

adult education 60.0 61.5 40.7 20.0 71.4 16.7 57.1 60.0 100 81.8

To do assignments 25.0 22.7 71.0 78.3 23.1 33.3 75.6 30.8 33.3 27.8

elementary school 00.0 30.0 04.5 50.0 33.3 75.0 26.5 75.0 100 60.0

middle school 00.0 30.0 13.6 72.2 33.3 50.0 41.2 25.0 100 60.0

secondary school 00.0 40.0 13.6 86.1 33.3 50.0 61.8 50.0 100 60.0

undergraduate 50.0 50.0 72.7 08.3 33.3 50.0 82.4 25.0 100 20.0

graduate 00.0 30.0 81.8 13.9 100 25.0 52.9 00.0 100 20.0

adult education 50.0 40.0 22.7 16.7 33.3 50.0 67.6 00.0 100 20.0

For publications 37.5 61.4 llA 43.5 76.9 66.7 68.9 53.8 83.3 55.6

For legal research 31.3 09.1 06.5 17.4 23.1 41.7 15.6 15.4 33.3 22.2

For grants / funding 18.8 27.3 61.3 69.6 61.5 66.7 66.7 38.5 16.7 66.7

For regulatory work 12.5 04.5 16.1 15.2 46.2 66.7 37.8 00.0 33.3 27.8

Business/Invest 00.0 06.8 06.5 15.2 07.7 41.7 37.8 15.4 00.0 05.6

Benefit or claim 87.5 18.2 03.2 04.3 07.1 08.3 13.3 00.0 00.0 05.6

veteran 100 62.5 00.0 100 00.0 100 50.0 00.0 00.0 00.0

other 07.1 25.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 16.7 00.0 00.0 00.0

Genealogical work 31.3 95.5 41.9 41.3 07.7 16.7 66.7 30.8 16.7 11.1

Local history 25.0 86.4 35.5 58.7 15.4 50.0 64.4 30.8 33.3 55.6 Media use 18.8 11.4 22.6 19.6 23.1 41.7 26.7 07.7 16.7 44.4

..... .... ... radio 66.7 00.0 14.3 22.2 33.3 40.0 50.0 100 00.0 25.0

newspaper 100 40.0 71.4 33.3 00.0 40.0 66.7 100 00.0 12.5

magazine 00.0 00.0 42.9 22.2 00.0 20.0 33.3 100 100 12.5 TV nnuu.un Zo.O 00./ inn nnuu.un JU.U '\n n

other 00.0 00.0 14.3 11.1 33.3 40.0 08.3 00.0 00.0 12.5

Enrichment/Interest 12.5 27.3 16.1 39.1 23.1 08.3 33.3 23.1 16.7 222

Other 00.0 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 00.0 02.2 15.4 16.7 00.0

K- 14
Question 8: In what format(s) would you want information or copies of records from the National Archives?

In what format(s) is information needed? No Yes

printed publications 116 (47.5%) 128 (52.5%)

photocopies 101 (41.4%) 143 (58.6%)

photographs 158 (64.8%) 86 (35.2%)

CD-ROM 119 (48.8%) 125 (51.2%)

microforms 202 (82.8%) 42 (17.2%)

on-line 62 (25.4%) 182 (74.6%)

other * 239 (98.0%) 5 (2.0%)

* laser disk - levels 1 and III, text on diskettes not CD-ROM, FAX (2), AudioA^ideo Tapes

Formats needed: G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

printed publications 37.5 61.4 38.7 43.5 53.8 25.0 62.2 61.5 100 61.1

photocopies 75.0 84.1 41.9 43.5 15.4 58.3 71.1 61.5 66.7 44.4

photographs 37.5 50.0 12.9 34.8 07.7 25.0 48.9 30.8 50.0 27.8 CD-ROM 18.8 61.4 29.0 65.2 69.2 75.0 55.6 30.8 16.7 44.4

microforms 06.3 40.9 16.1 04.3 07.7 08.3 28.9 00.0 00.0 05.6

on-line 62.5 65.9 93.5 80.4 100 83.3 71.1 61.5 66.7 55.6

other 00.0 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 16.7 02.2 00.0 00.0 00.0

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K- 15
Question 9: How would you like this information or copies of records delivered to you?

What delivery method No Yes

FAX 122 (50.0%) 122 (50.0%)

Computer (on-line) 50 (20.5%) 194 (79.5%)

Overnight or 2nd day express 203 (83.2%) 41 (16.8%)

COD 235 (96.3%) 9 (3.7%)

First class mail 93 (38.1%) 151 (61.9%)

Other * 237 (97.1%) 7 (2.9%)

* Third or 4th class mail to reduce postage cost, cheap version best for everyone, library rate mail, phone (prerecorded messages), ability to download

Delivery method G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

FAX 37.5 43.2 38.7 43.5 46.2 58.3 62.2 53.8 50.0 77.8 Computer (on-line) 68.8 70.5 93.5 87.0 92.3 91.7 80.0 69.2 66.7 61.1

Overnight/2nd day 00.0 13.6 12.9 19.6 15.4 16.7 26.7 15.4 16.7 16.7 COD 00.0 09.1 00.0 00.0 06.7 00.0 06.7 00.0 00.0 05.6

First class 75.0 86.4 45.2 47.8 46.2 50.0 64.4 84.6 83.3 44.4

Other 06.3 00.0 00.0 04.3 00.0 00.0 04.4 07.7 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, 0 3 = post secondary educators, 04 = K- 12, 05 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

K- 16
Question 10: What technologies are you currently using? Please circle all that you use.

What technologies are you currently using? No Yes

CD-ROM 103 (42.2%) 141 (57.8%)

FAX 46 (18.9%) 198 (81.1%)

Computer as a word processor 29 (11.9%) 215 (88.1%)

Computer with a modem 66 (27.0%) 178 (73.0%)

Macintosh 172 (70.5%) 72 (29.5%)

r wiiiivjui wiiiuuw^ 1/Z 177 iin \I\J.J/C) / L \Ly,J 10

)

PC with windows 122 (50.0%) 122 (50.0%)

PC with windows and a sound card 197 (80.7%) 47 (19.3%)

Scanner 170 (69.7%) 74 (30.3%)

None 241 (98.8%) 3 (1.2%)

Other * 226 (92.6%) 18 (7.4%)

* color, typewriter, FTP, interactive video, internet (6), levels I and III video laser discs with text and

graphics, digital cameras, laser disk with PC (2), network, telephone for satellite up-link and down-link, photoCD, direct on-line (WAN to Internet)

Technology in use G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

CD-ROM 18.8 47.7 67.7 78.3 76.9 66.7 68.9 15.4 50.0 33.3 FAX 62.5 47.7 90.3 78.3 100 100 95.6 92.3 100 94.4

Computer-word

processor

75.0 75.0 96.8 97.8 92.3 100 91.1 69.2 100 83.3

Computer with a modem

56.3 47.7 83.9 80.4 92.3 83.3 84.4 61.5 100 61.1

Macintosh 12.5 06.8 35.5 73.9 15.4 16.7 22.2 38.5 16.7 11.1 PC no windows 18.8 18.2 19.4 23.9 61.5 33.3 46.7 30.8 33.3 27.8 PC with windows 37.5 47.7 48.4 34.8 61.5 58.3 60.0 53.8 83.3 55.6 PC with windows and

sound card

12.5 22.7 22.6 17.4 07.7 25.0 31.1 00.0 00.0 11.1

Scanner 06.3 13.6 45.2 54.3 30.8 58.3 28.9 00.0 33.3 11.1 None 06.3 04.5 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0 00.0

Other 06.3 02.3 09.7 15.2 00.0 08.3 08.9 00.0 00.0 05.6

Note: G 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03= post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, O 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, O 10 = others in the general population

K- 17
Question 11: Do you use the following? Please circle all that you use.

Do you use No Yes

E-mail

on-line searching 95 (38.9%) 149 (61.1%)

electronic bulletin board(s) 123 (50.4%) 121 (49.6%)

Internet 111 (45.5%) 133 (54.5%)

commercial on-line services 187 (76.6%) 57 (23.4%)

other * 235 (96.3%) 9 (3.7%)

*Bitnet, CD ROM database. Hum Net, Local library - mail, Nebraska On-line, None

Use G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 G 10

E-mail 43.8 15.9 87.1 78.3 84.6 75.0 71.1 38.5 66.7 44.4

on-line searching 43.8 38.6 80.6 76.1 61.5 75.0 71.1 38.5 33.3 50.0

electronic BB 25.0 31.8 71.0 60.9 69.2 66.7 53.3 30.8 50.0 27.8

Internet 18.8 29.5 77.4 71.7 76.9 66.7 57.8 46.2 50.0 38.9

commercial on-line

services

12.5 13.6 25.8 28.3 53.8 25.0 31.1 07.7 00.0 16.7

other 06.3 02.3 03.2 02.2 15.4 00.0 04.4 07.7 00.0 00.0

Note: 0 1 = veterans, 0 2 = local and family historians, 03 = post secondary educators, O 4 = K-12, 0 5 =

government employees, 0 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, 07 = information service

providers, 0 8 = agriculturalists, 09 = environmentalists, 0 10 = others in the general population

K- 18
Question 12: Have you ever visited a National Archives facility?

Question 13: Have you ever called or written to a National Archives facility for information?

Question 14: Have you attended any of the Electronic Access Study discussion group sessions that were held

in Nebraska in June and July (1994) with National Archives staff?

Contact with a National Archives Facility Yes No

visited a facility 109 (44.9%) 134 (55.1%)

called or written a facility 103 (42.4%) 140 (57.6%)

attended discussion group, summer 1994 142 (59.4%) 97 (40.6%)

Contact with National Archives G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4 G 5 G 6 G 7 G 8 G 9 GIO all

Previously called or wrote and

attended NARA presentation

9 28 10 9 8 4 29 1 0 0 98

No previous contact but attended

NARA presentation

4 4 6 19 0 5 1 2 2 2 45

Previously called or wrote but did

not attend NARA presentation

2 11 12 8 1 0 10 5 0 8 57

No previous contact and did not

attend NARA presentation

1 1 3 10 4 3 5 5 4 8 44

Totals 16 44 31 46 13 12 45 13 6 18 244

Note: G 1 = veterans, G 2 = local and family historians, G 3 = post secondary educators, G 4 = K-12, G 5 =

government employees, G 6 = business, economics, law, and other professionals, G 7 = information service providers, G 8 = agriculturalists, G 9 = environmentalists, G 10 = others in the general population

us GOVERNMENT PRItJTING OFFICE; 1994 — 386 - 5 k h /9 4042

K- 19

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW PUBLICATIONS ON

COMPUTER SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY

Superintendent of Documents

Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 20402

Dear Sir:

Please add my name to the announcement list of new publications to be issued in the series: National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 500-.

Name

Company

Address

City State Zip Code

(Notification key N-503)


U.S. Department of Commerce

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300