Session #1: AI in the Archives

 

Date: February 4, 2026

Recording Link: https://ecu.webex.com/ecu/ldr.php?RCID=70eb7dd29d44fdb80e572a8b021d710c

Password: Fhp33rD$

 

Description: In recent years, almost every profession has engaged in heated discussions around the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) - especially what is widely called generative AI - for their work.  In this session, we'll explore characteristics of some of the current and emerging technologies.  We'll then consider three general questions for archivists: (1) What tasks are most amenable to AI support? (2) What types of implementations are most aligned with archival values? and (3) What are the responsibilities for curating the inputs, outputs and models involved in GenAI-supported processes?

 

This lunch & learn is presented by Dr. Cal Lee, a professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

 

Christopher (Cal) Lee is Professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He teaches courses and workshops in archives and records management; understanding information technology for managing digital collections; digital curation workflows and information ethics.  His primary research focus is the long-term curation of digital collections.  He’s passionate about enabling information professionals and other stakeholders to successfully implement and sustain new digital curation practices.  Cal developed “A Framework for Contextual Information in Digital Collections,” and edited and provided several chapters to I, Digital: Personal Collections in the Digital Era.  He has served as Principal Investigator of the Digital Acquisition Learning Laboratory (DALL), BitCurator, BitCurator Access, BitCurator NLP, BitCuratorEdu, Review, Appraisal and Triage of Mail (RATOM), and Computer-Assisted Redaction and Anonymization of Scholarly Communications and Products (CARASCAP).  He has been Co-PI on OSSArcFlow, as well as several projects focused on digital curation education: DigCCurr, DigCCurr 2, Closing the Digital Curation Gap (CDCG), Educating Stewards of Public Information in the 21st Century (ESOPI-21), and Educating Stewards of Public Information Infrastructure (ESOPI2).  Cal was also Senior Personnel on the DataNet Federation Consortium funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  He is a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists and served as editor of American Archivist (2018-2020). 

 

Session #2: AI Adds Spice. We Still Pay the Bill. 

 

Date: March 4, 2026

Recording Link: https://ecu.webex.com/ecu/ldr.php?RCID=a643f9b0f672090882e3175f93c6675b

Password: 9wSND7Y@

 

Description: Generative AI is now part of academic work. In this session, we’ll discuss the ethical questions we’re raising with students and where those questions intersect with archival concerns. From a research librarian perspective, we’ll consider:

·                     Transparency and authorship

·                     Intellectual agency and disclosure

·                     Bias and automation bias

·                     Environmental and infrastructural costs

·                     Authenticity, privacy, and digital stewardship

We’re interested in where responsibility actually resides when AI is involved.

This lunch & learn is presented by Amy Cooley and Brandon Stilley from East Carolina University's Joyner Library.

 

Amy Cooley is the Science Librarian at ECU Libraries and has been at her current role since 2019. She teaches library instruction sessions as part of the Research & Instructional Services department and is liaison to several different science departments on campus. She was part of a team that created the Guide to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Students in Fall 2024, and also conducted an IRB-approved ECU student survey on AI usage and perspectives during that time (along with Brandon Stilley). An article examining those results is forthcoming.

 

Brandon Stilley is Assistant Head of Research & Instructional Services and a Research Librarian at ECU Libraries. Beginning as a graduate assistant, he has served in roles including Evening Reference Librarian and Interim Head of the Music Library. He supports Social Work and the social sciences and focuses on research consultation and collaboration with faculty on course-based research instruction. In collaboration with Amy Cooley, he has contributed to campus AI literacy initiatives, including the development of an AI-focused section of COAD 1000, ECU’s first-year seminar course, the Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Students, and a study of student AI use at ECU.

 

Session #3: AI Projects at UNC Chapel Hill

 

Date: May 14, 2026

Recording Link: https://ecu.webex.com/ecu/ldr.php?RCID=fc0dc2459d88714e18a1e545f482d279

Password: Ja9grJ7*

 

Presentation #1: Using AI for Transcription and Close Reading of Manuscript Collections

 Lydia Hendrick is a Graduate Assistant in Technical Services Special Collections at Wilson Library. She works on the Mellon-funded project "On the Books: AI-Assisted Collections" and is an MSLS student in the UNC School of Information and Library Science. Her career focus is in Special Collections and Public Libraries.

 Nancy Kaiser is a technical services archivist at Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She arranges and describes archival collections and for the last several years has been working on reparative description to make finding aids for manuscript collections more accessible to family history researchers and genealogists. She works with Lydia Hendrick on the Mellon grant.

Presentation #2: Evaluating AI-Generated Image Descriptions for UNC Library’s Digital Repositories

Deseree Stukes is the Software Quality Assurance Specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, where she develops and implements automated testing strategies for digital repositories and web applications. She also leads quality assurance efforts across multiple systems, ensuring usability, accuracy, and inclusive access to digital assets. In addition, her work focuses on accessibility compliance, including evaluating large language models for automated image description (alt-text) generation using WCAG standards and established image description guidelines.

Ben Pennell is an applications analyst at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. He leads and contributes to the development of the special collections and institutional repositories for the Library, as well as the preservation technologies that support them. In the last few years, he has also worked on development of machine learning and LLM based tools to support archival workflows.