Access Information Guidance [updated 2022]

As part of the Clear Sailing: Navigating the Archive symposium in July 2019, delegates took part in a workshop to share their experiences of accessing information from archives. In particular, delegates identified where information was clear and informative and where it was confusing or unhelpful.

In 2022 APAC and the Manchester Performance Archive held a workshop with collections managers, collections users and creators which led to further learnings on making collections accessible. This guidance has been pulled together from the workshop feedback
to provide some dos and don’ts for collections managers writing access information for users. There are some general points first about all communications, then some more specific recommendations relating to helping users to find out what’s in your
collection in the first place, and then on how to come and see that material in person.

In general

• Make your language as clear as possible, using short sentences
  in bullet point format
• Remember that people need to feel welcomed. Not everyone is
  experienced in using collections or knows what to expect, so…
• Wherever possible use images to illustrate what your
  collections and facilities look like
•  Provide easy and clear access to contact details
• Keep all information up-to-date, especially if it is about events,
  and about closure periods

To help people discover what’s in your collection

Do

• Consider your audience and the way you present your
  information. Write as accessibly as you can and use a
  readability website like this one
  (https://thefirstword.co.uk/readabilitytest/) to check how
  accessible your communications are
• Have information for researchers on a variety of platforms
  (websites, social media, leaflets etc.)
• Explain how your remote enquiries service works and how long
  a researcher should expect to wait for a response to any
  enquiry (telephone, email, post etc.)
• Consider the multi-entry points to your webpages from search
  engines (Google etc.) and ensure there is always a clear link to
  appropriate information for a new website visitor such as
  ‘About Us’ or ‘How to Visit’
• Say what is in your collection and what is not in your collection,
  particularly if you hold the records of an organisation for a
  certain period only, or the records are distributed across
  various repositories
• Make frequent and visible links to your online catalogue and
  instructions on how to use it
• Include a way for people to give feedback (e.g. email address,
  MS form etc)
• Be clear about your donations/accessions policy (in case people
  want to offer material)
• Include all information that is useful for researchers to know
  before they visit (what they need to bring in the way of ID,
  whether they need to register in advance as a reader/user,
  policies on note-taking, taking photographs, whether you close
  for lunch, places for them to eat lunch/have a drink)
• Follow the user journey with your information (planning a visit,
  resources available before visiting, arriving – where to go and
  what to do, the onsite experience, facilities available)
• Emphasise the physical location of your research room if it’s
  different to expectation/main site of business. Provide
  photographs of the site and space, add links to Google Maps or
  similar
• Give an idea on how much material you think a researcher can
  get through in one visit and how much they can order
• Include information on your policy (and any costs) for
  photography, scanning, and note-taking
• Include information on your policy (and any costs) for licensing
  third party copyrights material held in your collection

Don’t

•  Be inconsistent
• Hide contact details
• Ask for personal information that seems irrelevant without
  stating why you are asking for it
• Have an unreasonably low item limit for requests – people
  might be travelling for a long time, or at some expense to visit
• Structure your information by what archivists or curators find
  useful – consider for your audience. Readability tests like this
  can help: https://thefirstword.co.uk/readabilitytest/
• Use jargon
• Add obstacles to access to search box
• Use unclear/small sized fonts
• Include out-of-date information
• Use a negative tone; red text or capital letters

If possible

• Provide a method for self-booking appointments (with clear,
  step-by-step instructions)
• Have as few databases to search as possible
•  Provide a personal contact for researchers rather than a
  generic email/anonymous response
• Consider an online chat option/Skype session with researchers
  or even monthly drop-ins
• Consider creating short videos/audio guides about accessing
  the collections
• Consider keeping in touch with researchers to share
  acquisitions and developments and to keep the conversation
  open with researchers
• Remember not all users will have been to an archive or
  collections store before and may be nervous about visiting.

Last updated: November 2022