Abstract

This study aims to suggest the use-based policies for archival reference service by investigating the actual archival uses and services of the National Archives of Korea (NAK). Considering that there is little information on the overall archival reference service by NAK, an exploratory research method is adopted to understand the current status and issues of the service. In this study, the use of archival records in NAK is investigated from statistical data, and service cases by record type are collected through interviews with archival service professionals of NAK. Then, the success and risk factors of the archival reference service are analyzed in three categories of human resources (reference archivists’ competency), tools (finding aids), and records (appropriateness and sufficiency). Based on these analyses, archival reference service policy directions are proposed to strengthen the two different archival roles as “arsenal of rights protection” and “academic information provider.”