A Study on the Improvement Direction for Online Finding Aids: Based on the Assessment of National Archives

Abstract

Many archives, including the National Archives of Korea, use online finding aids. However, in many aspects, they need improvement. In this study, with focus on the National Archives of Korea, the online finding aids of the National Archives of Australia (NAA), The National Archives (TNA) of United Kingdom, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the United States were analyzed. Focus group interview was administered to users of the archives, identifying the pros and cons of online finding aids of NAA, TNA, and NARA. Based on the results, various improvement and development directions are suggested, including aspects on overall functions and hierarchical search, search options and subject search, representing search results, and archival contents services.