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A Comparative Study of Accessibility to Information in Historical Data Retrieval Systems

User Test for the Trenton Historical Society Website

Purpose: The purpose of thisshort test is to make a statistical determination of how accessible and how

usable the information contained in the societys online data retrieval system is for a variety of users.

Instructions: Please go to the Trenton Historical Society Website at

http://www.trentonhistory.org/index.htmland use this site to respond to the following questions and

directions by browsing and querying. Do not use any other source, such as Wikipedia, to locate the

information. You may employ all browsing and querying techniques with which you are familiar to find

the information within the website. Please type in your answers and highlight the appropriate multiple

choice answer. If submitting this in person, you may write in answers and circle multiple choice

selections.

Demographic Information: Please include your demographic information in the survey at the end of this

document. It is not necessary to provide your name or any other identifying information.

Where is it?

1.Find a letter written by Colonel John Cox. What is its manuscript number? _______ Can you see animage of the actual letter with John Coxs handwriting? _______ Can you read it? _________ Is

there a transcript of the letter available?

What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

2.Find an image of currency from 1776. What is the unit of currency called ________________. Whatis the manuscript number of the image? ____________

What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

3.Can you find an image of any building that General George Washington used as his headquarters inTrenton? ____________ What is the name of the building or what is listed on the caption?

_____________________________________________________________

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What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

4.Can you find advertising related to any business that existed in Trenton in the late 1800s. Describewhat you have found? _____________________________________________________________

What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

5.What is the name of the first newspaper founded in Trenton and in what year was it founded?_____________________________________________________________________________

What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

6.Where was the first Masonic Lodge in Trenton Located? ________________________ Is it possibleto see an image of it? ____________

What steps did you have to take to find this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

7.What was the name of the first Roman Catholic church founded in Trenton and where was itlocated? ___________________________________________________Is it possible to see an image

of it? ______

What steps did you have to take to find this?

______________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

8.If I wanted to be able to locate and read an obituary for an ancestor that died in 1902, what would Ihave to do? _________________________________________________________What other

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information could I get from this website to research my family tree?

______________________________________________________________________

What steps did you have to take to find this?

______________________________________________________________________________

Finding this was: easy average difficult

9.Browse the site and indicate anything that you find that you think is particularly interesting.___________________________________________________________________________

Your opinions:

1.Overall, finding information on this website was: easy average difficult

2.If you were in charge of collecting local historical information for school, work or genealogy, howlikely would you be to use this website again? Very likely Not sure Probably not

Could you explain why?

3.What did you like about searching for information on this website?

4.What didnt you like about searching for information on this website?

About you:

Gender: Male Female

Age Group: under 13 13-19 20-29 30-39 40-50

Highest Level of Education Completed:

elementary secondary 2 years of college 4 years of college graduate degree

How often do you search for information on the Internet?

at least once a day at least once a week at least once a month less than once a month never

What is your country of origin? ____________________________________________________

Have you ever lived in the State of New Jersey? _________ If so, for how long? ____________

Have you ever lived in the Mercer County area of New Jersey? ______ If so, for how long? ___________