Valuing the American Archivist: An Interpretation of SAA's First Readership Survey

Abstract

The American Archivist Editorial Board administered a Web-based survey to 6,000 Society of American Archivists members and affiliates. The survey was open for response for 45 days during April and May 2010. Respondents expressed overall satisfaction with the American Archivist. Print remains the publishing vehicle of choice. Reading the American Archivist varies in priority. Three major issues emerge from the data analysis. First is the apparent contradiction between generally high overall satisfaction with the American Archivist and significant variation in the perception of the value of its individual components. Second is whether the journal should focus primarily on matters of practice or on scholarly or theoretical explorations of archival principles. The third issue is the relationship of the print and online versions of the journal.