In this paper, the author will attempt to indicate the needs of archive visitors from the perspective of an external user. Even in the initial definition of the problem, it is necessary to distinguish between two types of users. Regular visitors, especially researchers who are used to working with archival materials, have fewer problems in finding their way around archive spaces. Those who are forced by circumstances to search for documents to solve their personal problems usually find it more difficult; they usually need to be offered more information than the first group. When searching for what they came to the archive to find, the user encounters various questions that they would like to answer: the accessibility of the archive, the accessibility of archival inventories and materials, the comprehensibility of archival sources, and many more. However, this should not be the only question, as archives are best presented to the lay public also through exhibitions and book publications that testify to the materials they keep in their storage facilities.