Understanding Administrative Use and Users in University Archives

The users of institutional archives range from local and professional historians to lower- and upper-level administrators. In many cases, administrators are the primary user population. Past archival studies, however, have focused on users with principally a historical purpose. The lack of research is surprising since most archival programs rely on their parent institutions for funding. This study is an initial attempt to examine administrative use and users in a university archives setting. It raises some interesting questions concerning how administrators analyze primary sources, what types of finding aids are most appropriate, and how much interpretation archivists need to do. The research suggests that archivists should look at themselves less as the historical voice in an institution and more as part of the administrative team.