Users’ Trust in Trusted Digital Repository Content

Abstract

Scholars who study trust in digital archives have largely focused their attention on the power of certification by third-party audit as a way to communicate trustworthiness to end-users. In doing so, they assume that the establishment of a network of trusted digital archives will create a climate of trust. But certification at the repository level also assumes the trustworthiness of digital objects within a repository; specifically that digital repository objects are authentic and reliable. This paper proposes the use of document-level seals of approval as a means of communicating to end-users about the trustworthiness of digital objects that is commensurate with specific user interaction. Implications of this proposed research stress the importance of assessing the ‘real-world’ impact of trust signals on users.