The following personas seem to group together under the category of "hobbyist" or "personal interest" – please consolidate into one or two personas with very specific stories.
Local Researcher
- Chris, age 70
- Drives 45 minutes to visit library, and wants to maximize time on campus
- Unaffiliated with institution, so access is limited to some collections, databases, and holdings
- Does not like using computers and does not use e-mail
- Primarily communicates with library staff in person or via telephone
- Would like to do genealogical research on several different ancestors, but does not have any idea where to start
- Prefers using physical, original materials over digital objects and microfilm. Chris will be frustrated to learn upon arrival at the repository that the originals cannot be accessed (due to their having been digitized or microfilmed).
- Is not cognizant of restrictions surrounding the institution's student records and alumni files, and needs to be clearly informed of any such restrictions up-front.
- Will be confused if opening several different tabs and/or windows is necessary to request one item. Would have an easier time with a simple, fluid experience that encompasses searching for collections, identifying specific folders of interest, and requesting materials.
Academic Library/Special Collections Personas (added by Matt).
- D.J., general public, sports enthusiast, 50 years old.
- Wants to locate specific items he already has in mind.
- Is frustrated by too much information/too many search results.
- Would prefer for staff to perform searches/locate materials on his behalf.
University Archives/ Special Collections Personas (added by scott)
- George, professional musician and amateur historian, 56 years old. Working on an article on Sousa's relationship with the University of Illinois between 1908 and 2008 to be published American School Band Journal.
- Needs to execute keyword searches simultaneously across multiple repositories' content for all arrangements and recordings of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes March" created and/or performed at the University of Illinois.
- Needs to have all relevant content from each repository displayed alphabetically under that repository's holdings by the title of the archival collection, and with the specific box and folder locations for that collection's content.
- Would like to also have access to any relevant digital content (i.e., photographic imagery and sound recordings) as part of his search results, with the descriptive information for each digital object listed first with a link directly to that digital content.
- Tends to get short when he attempts to setup a research appointment to look at specific archival content that he believes is in that repository, only to discover that it is actually in another repository on the other side of campus.
Academic Research Library/Special Collections and Archives (Dara)
- Kathleen, historian/writer
- Regularly researches in archives for material and images related to her books on local history
- Would like to be able to use the advanced search to limit results to collections only, not archival objects
- Finds the navigation terms confusing; would prefer natural language terms
Historical Society (Added by Linda)
- Bob, History enthusiast, 62 years old
- Collects information about random historical events that he hopes to someday write about and publish
- Spends a lot of time in archives
- Wants photocopies of everything
- Will use online tools, but expects them to look like traditional paper finding aids
- Octavia Rosecliff, Historical Fiction writer, 49
- Writing a bodice ripper based in Litchfield during the early republic
- Doesn’t want to look anything up herself
- Would like information about things like bathing in the 1800s to provide historical context for various scenes
- Needs to be able to search the collection by date
- Gertie, Author and Public Speaker, 65
- Researching her ancestor, an enslaved African-American, for a project
- Would like access to archives and artifacts (cataloged in CollectionSpace)
- Would like digital images available
- Shares contextual information and research the repository can use to enhance the finding aid
- Beulah, 72, Genealogist
- She doesn’t have an e-mail address and is not happy at the idea of conducting her own search online
- She wants to find vital records
- She’s hoping to join the DAR and needs to have verification of her ancestor’s service
Special Collections Personas (added by Susan)
Leonard Doe, 42, is an independent scholar looking to apply for a month-long fellowship at Special Collections library. He needs to include a list of resources he will be using in his research application, which is on early English ballads.
- Needs to be able to do complicated boolean searching, limited by a date range.
- Wants to know what is digitized easily.
- Wants to be able to add everything he is interested in using to a set, then download all the metadata into an excel spreadsheet.