I replicated his methodology in one component of my National Archives study. In addition to published studies, a handful of significant essays have developed research models that have helped many archival institutions conduct targeted user studies of purely local interest. Patrons approach historical sources with narrowly focused research problems in mind, rather than broad-subject topics. This conclusion appears to hold across types of patron purposes, which range from the purely academic, personal family research, hobbyists, and corporate or governmental clients. Patrons are not particularly concerned about the format or media of the information they are seeking.
Concrete results are what matter and what drives patron judgments of the retrieval system.
Patrons of archives are a perseverant lot, don't expect to be handed answers on a silver platter, tolerate frustrating dead ends and delays, and will be satisfied with a query and retrieval system that gets them close to the evidence they need. When patrons find documents pertaining to their topic, they want hard copies. At least half had specific experience searching in OPACs. It is my judgment that very little content learning takes place in archives. This process happens over and over again with patrons of varying sophistication, experience, purpose, and expected outcome.