[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Results of the Reference, Access, & Outreach Survey



        Greetings fellow RAO Section members.  Below are the results of the RAO survey distributed at the Pittsburgh SAA Meeting and also recently distributed via the listserve.

        Pls. take the time to review this data as this will be an important issue to discuss at the Denver 2000 RAO Section Meeting.  It is the goal of the Steering Committee, the chair and incoming chair to hear what the section members want out of the RAO Section - how it can be improved and enhanced.  Pls. bring your ideas to the section meeting.  It should prove to be an exciting time!

        Thank you.

        Shari Christy, Archivist & RAO Chair
        AFRL/HO Archives
        1864 4th St.
        Suite 1
        WPAFB, OH 45433-7131
        (937) 255-4661; DSN 785-4661
        FAX: 937-255-2219; DSN 785-2219
        email: shari.christy@wpafb.af.mil


 ==============================================================================

RESULTS OF THE RAO SURVEY
FRIDAY, AUG. 27, 1999
SAA ANNUAL MEETING



Out of 54 attendees who signed the Sign-In sheet, 33 responded to the survey (not including chair and vice-chair).  Survey also includes 9 responses from the email survey for a total of 42.

 =================================================================================
Are you a RAO Section member?   __36__yes       ___6__no

Is this your first RAO Section meeting?    _19__yes     __23__no

Did you like this format for the section meeting (i.e.: special focus speakers from outside of RAO)

__33__yes               __6__no - if no, what would you have preferred? _3_didn't check either one

"No" Comments:  "There should be time for the section members to mingle, and get acquainted.  Perhaps, small group discussions should be balanced with invited speakers."

"I like to hear Council folks some. I like good outside speakers. The meeting in San Diego was about the best of the last decade: there were about 5 people speaking briefly (ca. 10 minutes) on on-going projects/problems/etc. (One person went overboard and made it a regular presentation. That person was last, thank goodness, but it prevented any discussion or Q&A for the other presenters. What a bimbo!) So make a work of art out of a well-thought out meeting and it will work fabulously."

"I prefer the study discussion groups used by the college & university archives section."

"Discussion Groups!!!  C+U does this to great effect and it's a great way to learn from and meet each other."

"One of the other sections has break-out discussion groups with brief reports from each with wrap-up - that format works very well."

"Part of the meeting could have been devoted to discussion (of new initiatives, issues, projects, and so on) and sharing of information from individual repositories."

"Specific demonstrations or problems are alwasy more worthwhile."

"Yes" Comments:  "I also like RAO member speakers as well."

"But discussion groups are helpful if they are narrowly focused."

"Excellent format - it was helpful to hear what is going on."

"The presentations were especially informative this year."

"I especially like the fact the preliminary agenda was on the Archives Listserve early."

Do you think the RAO Section should continue to exist?    __39__yes   ____no      __3__no comment

If yes, should it remain the same or be more focused?    __15__same   __21__more focused  __6__no comment

___5__  on Reference?        __2__on Access         __1__on Outreach           __2__Other? What?  - Points of Interest between the 3 areas;


_5__Combo of Ref+Access     __3__Combo of Ref+Out      __1__  Combo of Access+Out           __1__All 3 areas

How would you change the RAO Section for the better?

People are looking for involvement in SAA through committee work and a way to become acquainted with older & newer members.

How about having speakers AND breaking into groups for Reference, for Access, for Outreach - 3 groups meeting at once and then giving a synopsis of their discussions.

If it changes, Reference and Outreach seem closer together than access; it crosses lines into other groups (e.g., description).

Focused on Patron Services? End users?  Something to ally all areas.

To keep narrower focus, form statement of purpose (mission).

Each area could almost be its own entity.  Maybe have sub sections with focus for those individuals interested in those areas bringing back something for the entire group.

More focused on particular topics per each annual meeting.

Relevant issues should be brought before this group via SAA web page, email and/or the RAO newsletter in an appropriate time before the annual conference with the view of fleshing out these issues.  Having said this, having some presentations are good.

Keep it balanced among the three.

The newsletter has actually been the best product of this group.  It is good to know what others are doing.

Do a combination of perhaps one hour having speakers focus on topics of interest to this section and the second hour having this group break up into groups to discuss various topics and report back to the larger group.

Discussion groups might help address the diverse needs of this section.

Do not lack focus so much as we sometimes lose sight of the fact that these activities are all integrated.  Need to become more involved in commenting on SAA initiatives or standards; also need to consider projects dealign with problems or other areas of concern to its members.  Might want to consider setting aside a meeting session (Denver?) to discuss direction of RAO section.  Consider focus groups for this?

Outreach was not discussed much either at the RAO meeting or in the SAA sessions.

If we had more time, an opportunity for the members to talk about what are concerns would be good.  The focus is broad, true, but I'm interested in both reference and outreach, access is a whole different topic - its legislative and different in each region.

When I joined SAA, I signed up for the RAO section but am not aware of their activities. Would like to see information on best practices, new ideas and resolving issues from this section. I most likely won't attend a
SAA annual conference so I would like this info to be in a newsletter format, email, and/or web site.

Electronic reference and access seem to be the hot topics right now.  I would like to see more of that discussed, with practitioners from  the field describing their projects. The general sessions give us enough theory...let's try to get the results of the theory on display at the section meeting.

I have only been to one RAO section meeting so I may not have enough information to comment. I do think with the frequent emphasis on technology, that we need to have a forum in which the "human" part of the archivist's job is the focus. I am a historian/archivist rather than a librarian/archivist, and this means I have used archives and historical societies extensively in doing research. I found a wide variance in the type of service a researcher receives at different institutions, some being welcoming and helpful, others being possessive and unhelpful. I understand security and preservation issues, but the whole purpose of preserving the records is for use by other humans.

Also, I think issues of Access should mean access to all kinds of researchers: scholars, students, general public, genealogists, even children sometimes. The goal should be to make things more easily accessible to all.

Outreach can be our best PR tool. I can't count the number of people who meet me and say "you don't look/act/talk like an archivist." Whether we like it or not, the public image is a dusty old storeroom, filled with cracking documents and photos, cared for by an introverted and lonely person or a huge warehouse filled with boxes, with no one knowing where anything is. My archives and I do not fit either of those descriptions at all, and thus I like to dispel the notion as much as possible. Outreach can both do that and portray old documents and photos (among other things) as interesting.

So, I think we should look outside ourselves to learn as much as we can on how to best serve those humans that walk through our doors or call, mail, or e-mail requests. We can learn from each other and from others outside our profession.

I am coming at this from an organization not a manuscript repository.  As I said specific workshops on designing better access, increasing internet use.  User friendly interfaces with databases. Photo- imaging or other imaging
projects.  Virtual archives -- are they working in your institution?  Just a few ideas... I know here we are trying to streamline and anticipate frequently asked questions and have them available over the intranet .. etc...
Exhibit design? Indexing Programs and projects.. What do you index and when? The quick answer....

Drop the "outreach"_and dialogue with the Confidentiality group about access.

Regular Newsletter

Ideally, "more focused." That is of course dependent upon people stepping forward with an idea, a project, etc. The chair has some executive privilege to try to get things moving, to motivate activity but people willing to do things need to pick up and help carry things. Barring this, we go back to being the "same." That leaves us not as far along as could be, but that's okay. Let's keep the Section in existence. Don't give up the ship unless and until SAA redesigns everything.

Try to stimulate some things. Pick a small but do-able idea or two and get it done then brag a little about movement with the hope it will develop into momentum into bigger things. Talk with the steering committee about some ideas for task forces and pick people for these who can do them and do them well.

Work hard at the steering committee slate so we look like we mean business, so we have candidates at the meeting eager to start and don't be in a position to ask for people to serve almost off the street. The more it looks like the Section means business the easier it will be to come to life.

Make sure the newsletter gets out three times a year. It's a basic service and connector with all members, the two-thirds who are interested but don't usually attend annual meetings. Again, the editorial work takes a mixture of inspiration, imagination and (greatest of all) determination and perseverance.

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>