Who’s Ready to Surf the Next Wave? Perceived Challenges to Implementing New and Revised Standards for Archival Description Frank Lambert Karen F. Gracy School of Library and Information Science Kent State University

 Revised DACS standard (2 nd ed., 2013)  Revised EAD standard (currently in beta, slated for 2014 release)  EAC-CPF (2011, mostly early adopters at this stage)  RDA (2010, replaced AACR2, impacting MARC records for archival collections) 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa132 What’s the “Next Wave”?

 New/revised standards mean:  Increased interoperability among archival, library and museum information systems;  Improved sharing of archival information about records and creators;  Improved access to archival information about records and creators;  Opportunities to link archival information to outside data sources SAA Research Forum, #saa133 Convergence!

 What are the barriers to acceptance of new standards?  New knowledge, skill sets, and resources  How can we overcome these barriers?  What will it take to get buy-in, or get “over the hump” of adapting and adopting to change? 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa134 Are We Ready?

 Assess archivists’ familiarity with current descriptive standards;  Gauge archivists’ perceptions about readiness to adapt to changes in standards and new standards;  Identify possible technical challenges (affecting workflows and systems);  Identify other institutional barriers, such as needs for additional human or financial resources, or for CE/in- house training in the application of the new standard SAA Research Forum, #saa135 Goals for This Study

 What types of challenges do information organizations responsible for the care of archives encounter when adopting a new standard for describing information resources in a collection?  What sorts of pressures, if any, are placed on the organization’s:  a) staff and personnel;  b) financial resources; and,  c) technological resources and tools used for organization and access to archival information?  What problems are perceived as barriers to successful adoption of new standards and adaptation to change in existing standards? 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa136 Research Questions

 Population for this study: SAA members  Exclusions: students, faculty, and retirees  Sample size = 1,724 members  Number of valid, completed questionnaires = 345 (20% response rate)  Findings have 95% degree of confidence, ± 5% 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa137 Survey Methodology

 Level of Education as Independent Variable  Strong predictor of:  likelihood that the archivist has knowledge of and about FRBR (X 2 =6.804)*  likelihood that the archivist has knowledge of and about RDA (X 2 =17.004)* *p< SAA Research Forum, #saa138 Findings

 Type of Education as Independent Variable  Strong predictor of:  likelihood that archivists create finding aids, inventories, MARC records, etc. (X 2 =5.601)*  likelihood that the archivist will use or has used DACS (X 2 =4.121)*  likelihood that the archivist has knowledge of and about FRBR (X 2 =6.804)*  likelihood that the archivist has knowledge of and about RDA (X 2 =17.023)* *p< SAA Research Forum, #saa139 Findings, 2

 Length of time using DACS as an Independent Variable  Strong predictor of:  likelihood of one’s organization adopting the updated 2012 version of DACS (rs=.299)*  an archivist’s greater confidence in the possibility of having to use the updated 2012 version of DACS (rs=.303)*  an increased likelihood of using EAD (X 2 =22.158)*  with an increased likelihood of having heard about or encountered RDA (X 2 =11.538)* *p< SAA Research Forum, #saa1310 Findings, 3

 Use of EAD in archives as an Independent Variable  Strong predictor of:  likelihood that archivists use EAC also (X 2 =5.750)* *p< SAA Research Forum, #saa1311 Findings, 4

 Archivists are most familiar and comfortable with changes to the standards landscape if they had a firm grounding already in the purpose, nature, and implementation of standards.  Standards adoption is often dependent on graduate education in LIS, archives, or a related field, or through previous experience in the field with a standard such as DACS.  What about other factors, such as …  the type of archive and its relation to a parent institution?  technical and financial limitations that may preclude standards adoption?  the amount of support provided by the archive or parent institution to provide training to its staff? 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa1312 Conclusion

 For more information, please contact:  Frank Lambert,  Karen F. Gracy, 2013 SAA Research Forum, #saa1313 Thank You!