For further details

The Economic Impact Survey (EIS) of Government Archives was administered the final week of August and the first week of September 2009, 43 government repositories (state, county, and municipal) administered the survey in their repositories. On average, the archives were open 10 days during this time period. Participating government archives were instructed to offer the survey to each unique researcher who visited their facility. The survey was anonymous.

Participating Repositories

The 43 participating repositories were dominated by state archives, both in terms of the number of participants and the surveys returned. Chart 1 shows the number of participating government archives by type and Chart 2 shows the number of respondents from repositories by type. It should be noted, however, that within each type of repository there was a large range in the frequency of responses. In the state archives the range was from 1 to 175; in the county archives the range was 1-24 and in the municipal archives 4 to 74. The mean number of responses was: 52 for state archives, 11 for county, and 28 for municipal.

Figure 1: Participating Government Archives by Type (N=43)

Figure 2: Responses by Type of Archives (N=1966)

Respondents

The 1966 respondents visited the archives for a variety of different reasons. A vast majority of respondents (1151 or 65%) were doing genealogical research. Work-related research was the second most frequently cited purpose for a visit. Three repositories actually had more work-related research than any other type. In the other

Figure 3: Purpose for Visiting the Archives (N=1765)

Respondents were largely local; 1132 or 61% of the respondents identified themselves as local. Based on the respondents’ reported home zip codes, the average distance was at least 214 miles.

Visiting the Archives

The purpose of the research provides some context for the visit to the archives. This section will discuss the dynamics of the visit. In particular, we will discuss whether the visit was a primary or secondary goal, the number of people in the group, the amount of time spent at the archives, and the other activities in which people engaged during that visit.

The Archives as Primary Destination

Most respondents came specifically to do research in the archives. The initial survey question ask respondents whether they 1) planned the trip specifically to visit this Archives, 2) planned the trip to engage in other activities and to visit this Archives, or 3) planned the trip for reasons unrelated to this Archives. An overwhelming number of people, 69% out of 1916 respondents, planned their trip specifically to visit the archives.

Figure 4: Planning the Trip to the Archives

Length of Stay

Respondents generally spent one day or less in the archives; 71% of the local visitors and 72% of the visitors from a distance spent a day at the archives. 11% of all visitors conducted research for over a week. In addition to their research in the archives, visitors stayed in hotels, ate, shopped and visited other attractions in the area.

For those not from the immediate area, the average number of days spent in the city where the archives was located was 3, the average number of days in the state was 8.

The Archives and the Local Economy

Respondents spent thousands of dollars during their visits to archives. While most spent between $1 and $99 dollars, the survey was done over only a two week period so this level of spending adds up over the course of an entire year.

Figure 5: Total Expenditures (N=1702)

Expenditures were made on a variety of local items: visits to other attractions in the area, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, shopping or partaking of local services, and attending theater, sporting, or cultural events. Figure 6 shows the number of visitors partaking of the local economy.

Figure 6: Expenditures in the Local Economy

This is a brief description of the findings of the Economic Impact Survey of Government Archives.