The AAO’s Professional Development Committee presents
Spotlight Discussion on AI and Archives
Join the AAO for an exciting afternoon of presentations and discussions on AI and Archives in the first of our new spotlight discussion series! This event will bring together two presentations which will address projects that use AI to transfer the nature of archival work. After the presentations, a facilitated discussion will take place where attendees can reflect on broader themes of AI and archival work.
The presentations are:
RAG to Empower Searching of EAD Records
By Dr. Qing (Jason) Zou and Sara Janes
By integrating EAD finding aids with a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), we can transform archival search. Unlike traditional keyword methods, this system will support natural language queries by semantically processing full EAD record contexts. A Large Language Model then synthesizes retrieved data into direct, conversational responses. We expect that this alignment of descriptive metadata with user intent will improve research and discovery, and reduce the friction between archival terminology and researcher needs.
Verifiable Natural Language Retrieval of Archival Data
By Natkeeran Ledchumykanthan
Dragomans Renaissance Research project consists of a rich dataset that explores the role of diplomatic interpreter-translators, referred to as 'dragomans', in mediating relations between the Ottoman Empire and European states from approximately 1550 to 1730. This data, which consists of people, organizations, documents, subjects, and the relationships between them, is expressed using an intricate custom ontology. Based on that ontology, the data is indexed into a Linked Data based graph database. While the database supports the SPARQL query language, the language's steep learning curve creates a barrier for many researchers. To bridge this gap, we investigated using Large Language Models (LLMs) to translate natural language into SPARQL queries. Overall, LLMs were able to correctly produce a wide range of queries, while they still struggled with novel or complex questions. The presentation will explore the methodology, the benefits of LLM-driven querying, and the technical hurdles of implementation.
After the presentations, the facilitator for this event, Kelli Babcock will moderate a discussion on the themes of the presentations.
When: Thursday March 26th, 2026. 2:30-4:00 EST Click here for a time zone converter.
Where: Virtual (via Zoom)
Cost:$20 (AAO members); $15 (AAO student members); $25 (non-members)
,About the presenters and moderator:
Natkeeran Ledchumykanthan is a software developer at the University of Toronto Scarborough Library’s Digital Scholarship Unit. He works in developing open source, multilingual digital repositories and digital scholarship infrastructure and applications. Natkeeran contributes to community documentation and archival projects such as Noolaham, Kaniyam and Wikimedia to develop free and openly accessible resources. His focus is on developing tools and resources to represent and serve the missing voices in libraries and archives.
Dr. Qing (Jason) Zou is the Head of Digital Initiatives at the Lakehead University Library. His research investigates the integration and impact of new technologies within academic libraries and archives.
Sara Janes is University Archivist for Lakehead University, and works on collection development, digital preservation, and improving access to historical documents through outreach and public engagement.
Kelli Babcock has been the Digital Initiatives Librarian with the University of Toronto Libraries since 2013. At UTL, she manages U of T's multi-repository AtoM service, Discover Archives, and digital collections service, Collections U of T, in collaboration with archivists and IT colleagues. Kelli has previously served as the AAO's Archeion Coordinator. She served on the AAO Board as President over a decade ago. She was a member of the AtoM Foundation Roadmap Committee and is a member of the Joint US-Canada AtoM User Group. Kelli graduated from McGill University with an MLIS, specialization in Archival Studies, in 2011.
Format: Presentations followed by moderated discussion
Recording: This workshop will NOT be recorded
Registration: A minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 50 participants may register for this event. Institutional members can register three participants at the members rate. If you require additional time to prepare payment, please contact aao@aao-archivists.ca to set up an invoice.
Please be advised that this event is governed by the AAO’s Code of Conduct and is subject to the AAO’s Cancellation Policy. Questions about the workshop can be directed to the PDC co-chairs at professionaldevelopment@aao-archivists.ca.
