Are You Experienced?

It turns out that Jimi Hendrix's inquiry was quite appropriate. Here at True Archives we have noted the rise of a new pair of buzzwords from the minions of Information Science. “User Experience” (or UX for the English-reading impaired) is a term bandied about that describes the effort to measure the efficiency of online tools for the attention-challenged masses. It seems that the process of dumbing down a web page so that your average browsing buffoon will linger before clicking away to YouTube is becoming a genuine subfield of study, and perhaps that is a good thing. In a world where fifteen seconds of fame is becoming about ten seconds too long for most people’s intellect, getting your message across quickly is essential. However, we at True Archives see a problem with this latest hula-hoop of the Biblioposers.

One definition of the word experience is “the knowledge or mastery of an event or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.” If that is the case, then User Experience must be regulated to the rubbish bin of failed efforts. No one gains mastery of historical investigation when Information Scientists continually make it easier for troglodytes to have the illusion they are doing actual research. Besides, no one can have the virtual “experience” of discovery once that discovery has already been made for them. These helpful online tools are the digital equivalent of a canned "hunt" at some safari club where rich guys pay to shoot a lion that has just been released from a cage.

Instead of making a digital surrogate of document, we would like to see the enhancement of “user experience” for researchers who actually get off the couch and come to our repositories. Stickers like the ones seen on election day proudly proclaiming “I researched!” might be in order. Perhaps free cocktails and snacks in the lobby to welcome historians before they enter the sanctum sactorium of the reading room would be a nice experience. Comfortable leather covered chairs, with real incandescent bulb lighting makes a great ambiance for the researcher. We might even try to improve our services, like a real effort to accelerate the retrieval of requested items. Who knows, those who experience amenities like that may learn to prefer it to a screen, and rediscover the delight in actually holding and reading a book. (We would elaborate on this last point if we were not so busy building a really cool historical photographs database for our library that allows keyword searching for images of our school...)