Dear colleagues,
Descriptive Notes is pleased to share a new post from the Description Section Steering Committee Chair, Max Goldberg, outlining the activities of the Section so far this year - and looking ahead to future events and efforts. You can find the blogpost here: https://saadescription.wordpress.com/2026/01/27/steering-share-january-2026/.
In his January 2026 Steering Share, Max describes events hosted by the Description Section this past fall, as well as the upcoming conversation with Lexy deGraffenreid (Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections Technical Services, Princeton University) for a wide-ranging discussion based on her 2024 article, "Engaging the Space Between Minimal Processing and Inclusive Description to Create More Sustainable and Ethical Workflows" (register here), also moderated by Max and members of the Description Section Steering Committee.
As we kick off a new year, Descriptive Notes is soliciting submissions for an upcoming series on AI and archival description. Our hope is to provide space for conversation and multiple perspectives on the topic of AI and description. With this in mind, we are looking for folks to contribute 200-300 words on the development and/or implementation of AI policy in your institution for an upcoming piece in Descriptive Notes. Is your leadership developing an AI policy? Are you and your colleagues working on incorporating AI into existing policy? What challenges are you facing? What success stories do you have? Contributors to this piece can be anonymous/anonymized if requested.
We also welcome case studies, editorial or perspective pieces, situated around questions such as: Are you using AI as a tool for archival description? If so, what specific work are you attempting/accomplishing with it? What have you found to be the benefits and challenges? If you've chosen not to use AI in your descriptive practice, what factors or concerns have influenced that decision, and what challenges or pressures are you encountering as a result? Descriptive Notes is looking for articles, case studies, and other posts related to the how, what, and why (or why not) of AI and description to share with our readership. Posts may consider themes such as: the descriptive workflows or projects into which you've integrated generative AI, the challenges of implementing AI, guidelines or guardrails for using generative AI in description, how you've advocated for (or against) the use of AI in your descriptive practice … and more!
Submit your pitches or interest in contributing to the policy post to saadescription@gmail.com.
You can read more on our submission guidelines here: https://saadescription.wordpress.com/guidelines/. We are also still interested in receiving submissions for any of our existing series, as well as any announcements or updates, conference dispatches, history and heritage month-related posts, as well as our longtime favorite finding aids pieces.
Best,
Betts Coup
Blog Editor, Descriptive Notes
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Betts Coup
Head of Archival Operations
Technical Services for Archives & Special Collections
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
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