 |
 Elizabeth Yakel
Elizabeth Yakel is an Assistant Professor at the University of
Michigan School of Information in the Archives and Records Management specialization.
Previously she taught at the University of Pittsburgh and was a practicing
archivist for over 15 years. She is active in the Society of American Archivists
(SAA) where she has served on the governing Council, was elected Fellow in
1999, and chaired a CEPD Task Force in 2003.
Elizabeth’s research interest is access and accessibility to primary
sources. This includes investigations into the design and development of access
systems, the information seeking patterns and the human information interaction
of users with archival records. She is currently involved in two complementary
research projects. The first, “Assessing Access and Accessibility of
Interfaces for Primary Sources,” is funded by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission and examines the usability of archival
surrogates in online catalogs and databases of EAD finding aids as well as
the information searching strategies of researchers seeking primary sources
in the online environment. The second, “Academic Reference Librarians
and Extending Access to Primary Sources” is funded by the Online Computer
Library Center (OCLC) examines the role of reference librarians as gatekeepers
to primary sources. Her research combines methodologies from Archives, Library
and Information Science, and Human Computer Interaction.
Her third project “Developing Archival Use and User Metrics” is
funded by the Mellon Foundation. This project is aimed at standardizing the
information archives and special collections collect on use and users. Elizabeth
has published in the top archival journals. Recent articles include “AI:
Archival Intelligence and User Expertise,” with Deborah A. Torres which
appeared in American Archivist and an article called, “Archival Representation,” published
in Archival Science. Her forthcoming article, “Midwest State Archives
on the Web,” co-authored with Jihyun Kim in Archival Issues analyzes
web site design and discusses some of the concepts that will be presented in
the SAA workshop “Designing Usable Web Sites.”
|
|
