Seeking Information, Seeking Connections, Seeking Meaning: Genealogists and Family Historians

Elizabeth Yakel
Assistant Professor
School of Information
University of Michigan

6:30pm
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
411 West Hall (Ehrlicher Room) directions...

Genealogy is an example of everyday life information seeking and personal information management. This talk is based on 29 in-depth interviews with genealogists. Findings indicate that the search for practical information often led to one for orienting information. As a consequence, family history was viewed as a process, not an activity with a concrete goal. Furthermore, since the process included the identification of social systems to support information seeking, analysis, and management activities it has implications for information technologies to manage, communicate, organize, and transfer information across space and time.

About the Speaker

Elizabeth Yakel is an assistant professor in UM SI's Archives and records Management Specialization. Her research focuses on access and accessibility to primary sources, particularly the use of technology to increase access to records that were previously difficult to find. One current research project is "Assessing Access and Accessibility of Interfaces for Primary Sources" funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission which includes, among other methods, a series of usability tests on archival web sites.