How can a small college library encourage its undergraduate students to use the archives for research and to house student group records? Slides from a presentation by Elizabeth Andrews and Matthew Francis at the SUNY Librarians Association conference, June 2013.

1. Matt Francis +
Beth Andrews
SUNYLA2013
6/13/13
GETTING UNDERGRADS
INTO THE ARCHIVES:
INNOVATIVE OUTREACH AT SUNY POTSDAM

2. SUNY
POTSDAM
BACKGROUND
Original St. Lawrence
Academy building
(founded 1816).
Aerial view of SUNY
Potsdam grounds,
circa 1970s.

3. COLLEGE
ARCHIVES
BACKGROUND
College Archives reading room and main stacks,
2011-2012 academic year.

4. LITERATURE
REVIEW
“It is interesting to note that
students are continually the
most important target group
for outreach. No one else
comes close” (18).
- Chute 2002

5. LITERATURE
REVIEW
Outreach
Activity
Participating
Respondents (%)
1 Presentations to classes or
groups inside the archives
87.1%
2 Exhibits 86.2%
3 Giving tours of the archives 85.3%
4 Presentations to classes or
groups outside the archives
(on/off campus)
82.8%
5 Brochures 80.2%
Top 5 Archives Outreach Activities:
table recreated from Chute 2002, p. 14.

6. LITERATURE
REVIEW
“Without becoming an
underground member
himself, the archivist can
only hope to collect what
these organizations make
available” (50).
- Burckel 1979

7. GOAL: For undergraduates to
learn how the archives can
serve them.
Outcomes hoped for:
¡ Increased undergraduate
use.
¡ Increased student group
donations.
PLANNING OUR OUTREACH CAMPAIGN –
THE ARCHIVIST’S PERSPECTIVE

8. ARCHIVIST’S
PERSPECTIVE
PLANNING
Outreach plan should:
• Complement established practices.
• Take into consideration our limited resources and other
responsibilities.

10. GAME
PLAN
1. Create an Undergraduate Archives
Research Award.
2. Increase student record donations.
3. Market the College Archives directly
to undergrads.

11. DIGITAL
SIGNAGE

12. FACEBOOK: BEFORE

13. FACEBOOK: AFTER

14. FACEBOOK: AFTER

15. AMBIENT
OUTREACH:
POSTERS

16. AMBIENT
OUTREACH:
CONSISTENT
DESIGN

17. UNDERGRADUATE ARCHIVES
RESEARCH AWARD

18. BRING IT TO THE ARCHIVES WEEK
Donations from BITTAW (student
groups and academic departments).

19. STUDENT GROUP OPEN HOUSE

20. CHARTER DAY

21. Archives-related Facebook Posts
Likes 78%
Comments 25%
Shares 43%
Total Interaction 83%
ASSESSMENT

22. Archives-related
Facebook Posts
Non-Archives-related
Facebook Posts
Likes 78% 79%
Comments 25% 26%
Shares 43% 16%
Total
Interaction
83% 83%
ASSESSMENT

23. ASSESSMENT
Bring it to the Archives Week
• 7 total donations (5 during
event, 2 after)
• 5 new student groups
represented in the collection

24. ASSESSMENT
Student Research in the
College Archives
Academic Year Number of Visits
2010-2011 22
2011-2012 56
2012-2013 72
• 29% increase between last year and this year
• 32 unique users in 2012-2013
• 41% of students came twice (or more!)

25. ASSESSMENT
Student Research:
How did you hear about us?
• class/instructor + library (3)
• signage (1)
• library (3)
• library signage + word of mouth (1)
• class/instructor + word of mouth (1)
• word of mouth + self-referred (1)
• library + word of mouth (1)
• 4 unknown (e-mail contacts, no data gathering)
31% of visits prompted by the library,
library signage, or word of mouth!

26. ARCHIVIST’S
PERSPECTIVE
SO WHAT
DOES IT
ALL MEAN?
undergraduate preparing for an oral history interview

27. undergraduate doing historical research on Greek Life
SO WHAT
DOES IT
ALL MEAN?
OUTREACH
LIBRARIAN’S
PERSPECTIVE

28. WORKS
CITED
• Burckel, Nicholas C. “The Expanding Role of a College or
University Archives.” College and University Archives:
Selected Readings. Chicago: Society of American
Archivists, 1979.
• Chute, Tamar G. “What’s in a Name? Outreach vs. Basic
Services: a Survey of College and University Archivists.”
Journal of Archival Organization 1.2 (2002): 5-40.
• Swain, Ellen D. “Connecting Students of the Present, Past,
and Future: an Activist Approach to the Collection and Use
of Student Documents in the University Archives.” Journal
of Archival Organization 2.1/2 (2004): 39-54.
• Taylor, Anne et al. “College Students, Cookies and
Collections: Using Holiday Study Breaks to Encourage
Undergraduate Research in Special Collections.” Collection
Building 25.4 (2006): 145-149.

29. WORKS
CONSULTED
• Ericson, Timothy L. “Preoccupied With Our Own Gardens:
Outreach and Archivists.” Archivaria 31 (1990-1991):
114-122.
• Greene, Mark A. “Using College and University Archives as
Instructional Materials: a Case Study and an Exhortation.”
Midwestern Archivist 14.1 (1989): 31-38.
• Luedke, Jill E. and Sarah K. Laleman Ward. “It All Started
with a Button ...” Urban Library Journal 15.1 (2008): 1-8.
• Prom, Christopher J. and Ellen D. Swain. “From the College
Democrats to the Falling Illini: Identifying, Appraising, and
Capturing Student Organization Websites.” American
Archivist 70.2 (2007): 344-363.

30. CONTACT US
Matthew Francis
College Archivist, SUNY Potsdam
francimr@potsdam.edu
@archivingmatt
Elizabeth Andrews
User Services Librarian, SUNY Potsdam
andrewec@potsdam.edu
@eandrews