Archival literacy: Different users, different information needs, behaviour and skills

Abstract

A pilot study of Slovenian and Bosnian archivists was conducted regarding their opinions and perceptions of archival users, because this area is still neglected in the two countries. Most participants thought of researchers and lay users coming to the archives or sending requests as the biggest user groups. They did not consider creators or themselves as users. They thought the knowledge of the history, creators, languages and scripts as some of the specific skills. They have not heard of archival literacy but thought that the definition of information literacy may be applied to archives as well. Most of them had received no education in this area and thought there is no particular need for it. Interviewing proved to be an appropriate data gathering method. We need to improve terminology, establish better rapport with clearer introductions and develop more specific questions particularly in information literacy area.