• Graphic with the text Archivists in the Loop and an image of people working in an archival reading room.
  • Graphic with the text Archivists in the Loop and an image of people working in an archival reading room.
  • Graphic with the text Archivists in the Loop and an image of people working in an archival reading room.
  • A graphic in blue and maize colors with the text Archivists in the Loop that is used as a visual identifier of the symposium.

Archivists in the Loop

A symposium on archival reference services in the generative AI moment

Read the report

 

Archival Reference Services in the Generative AI Moment

The Archivists in the Loop symposium focused on developing a practical understanding about the implications of generative AI and the work of archival reference services. The symposium convened in June 2026 for a two-day series of in-person workshops and group discussions on the topics of description, archival reference, access, and technology. The symposium was generously sponsored by the Bentley Historical Library and the University of Michigan School of Information.

Report: Archivists in the Loop Report

On June 4 and 5, 2026, a group of thirty practitioners, scholars and technologists gathered in Ann Arbor, Michigan to discuss the implications of AI on archival reference work. The Archivists in the Loop symposium, sponsored by the Bentley Historical Library and the University of Michigan School of Information, convened a small and interactive group to discuss archival reference interactions, access systems, and how AI is changing user needs. This report summarizes the themes and recommendations of the gathering.

Read the report summary | Download from Zenodo

A meeting of the minds to develop useful, actionable recommendations for how archivists can provide reference services alongside generative AI tools.

Due to budget constraints, the symposium was an invitation-only event, but we welcome questions and input from anyone interested in learning more about the project! Please reach out to the organizers at jajohnst@umich.edu and megcourt@umich.edu. Read more about our motivating questions on the “about” page.

Future Work

At the 2026 symposium, participants identified several specific areas for future work. The first of those was a required post-event outcome: producing the 2026 report. In addition, however, the cohort identified specific work areas that we can use to seek funding to continue developing resources and tools to help reference archivists navigate the changing nature of reference services and user behavior. We identified three cost tiers for this work:

For more details, see our full update on Future Work.

Symposium Information and Updates

Future Work

Note

This update accompanies our 2026 report and summarizes potential future work or next steps that were identified during the symposium.

Participants identified several specific areas for future work as outlined in this update.

AiTL Report Published

Cover of the report Archivists in the Loop: Archival Reference Practices and Artificial Intelligence

We are excited to announce that the report from our June 2026 symposium is now available!

Ann Arbor in June

Picture of people sitting on an outdoor staircase on the University of Michigan North campus

June is a beautiful time in Ann Arbor, so if you have a chance to get out to see the campus, or just a walk around, there’s many things to do.