AI for Archivist
Processing a single mid-sized collection can mean 20+ hours of description writing — scope notes, series introductions, biographical notes, and hundreds of folder titles — and most institutions have years of backlog because the writing is that labor-intensive. On top of processing, you're writing detailed research responses for remote inquirers (1–2 hours each), grant proposals, exhibit labels, and FOIA correspondence. These guides show you how to draft finding aids, respond to researchers, and write grant narratives faster, using the formulaic structure of archival description to your advantage.
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Updated 14 days ago
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Copy a prompt, paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini
Works with any free AI chatbot — no signup needed
Convert Processing Notes into Container List Folder Titles
A formatted container list of folder titles in consistent DACS-style — ready to copy into ArchivesSpace or your finding aid — converted from your rough processing notes.
Convert these processing notes into DACS-style folder titles for an archival container list. Use the format: [Title], [Date or Date Range]. Keep titles concise and parallel. Processing notes: [paste your rough notes or folder list].
Tip: Paste your notes exactly as you wrote them, even messy, abbreviated processing shorthand. The AI is good at inferring what you mean. If you want a specific title format your institution uses, paste one example folder title and say "use this format."
Draft a Grant Proposal Narrative Section
A draft narrative section for an archival grant application — written for non-specialist reviewers and articulating the project's significance, public benefit, and institutional capacity.
Write a 3-paragraph grant narrative for an archival project. Funder: [NHPRC/IMLS/NEH/other]. Institution: [type of institution]. Project: [describe what you'll process/digitize]. Collection: [brief description]. Public benefit: [who will use it and how]. Prior work: [any relevant experience].
Tip: Specify the funder in your prompt. NHPRC, IMLS, and NEH each have distinct priorities (preservation, public access, educational value), and the AI will tailor the argument accordingly.
Draft a Reference Inquiry Response
A professional, helpful response to a researcher's email inquiry — explaining what you hold, how to access it, and any applicable restrictions or reproduction procedures.
Draft a professional reference response to this inquiry: [paste researcher's email]. We hold: [describe relevant holdings]. Access: [appointment-based/open]. Restrictions: [describe if any]. Reproduction: [describe process]. Tone: helpful, professional.
Tip: Paste the researcher's actual email into the prompt so the AI can mirror their vocabulary and address their specific question. Generic summaries of what they asked for produce weaker responses than the real text.
Draft a Finding Aid Scope and Content Note
A DACS-compliant scope and content note ready to paste into ArchivesSpace or your finding aid template — covering what the collection contains, who created it, and why it matters.
Write a scope and content note for an archival finding aid. Creator: [name, dates, role]. Collection name: [name]. Date range: [years]. Contents: [list record types, subjects, topics]. Follow DACS standards. About 150–200 words.
Tip: Add a sentence about your institution's typical tone (formal/accessible) and paste in any existing rough notes you have. The more context you give, the less editing the output needs.
Use AI in your tools
AI features built into tools you already have
AI features already built into your existing tools
Use Adobe Acrobat's AI to Extract and Clean Up Document Text
Adobe Acrobat's AI Assistant can read scanned PDF documents and answer questions about their contents — letting you quickly extract dates, names, subjects, and key facts from lengthy scanned record...
Use Google Sheets' AI to Generate Metadata Fields
Google Sheets can detect patterns across your existing metadata rows and auto-suggest values for new items — dramatically speeding up the repetitive work of filling in consistent description fields...
Use Microsoft Word's Copilot to Draft and Improve Archival Writing
Microsoft Word's Copilot can draft sections of long archival documents — grant proposals, finding aids, policy manuals — from your bullet-point notes, and can rewrite existing text to improve clari...
Use Zoom's AI to Summarize Archival Committee Meetings
Zoom's built-in AI Companion automatically generates a summary of your recorded meeting — with key discussion points, decisions made, and action items — so you can skip manual note-taking during de...
Set up an AI assistant
Step-by-step guides for dedicated AI tools
10–30 minute setup, then ongoing time savings
Build a ChatGPT Reference Response Workflow
By the end of this guide, you'll have a structured workflow for using ChatGPT to draft professional research responses to incoming inquiries — including responses to common query types like "do you...
Use ChatGPT to Write Archival Grant Proposals
By the end of this guide, you'll have a workflow for using ChatGPT to draft competitive grant application narratives — including project descriptions, significance statements, and work plans — in h...
Use Claude to Draft Complete Finding Aid Sections
By the end of this guide, you'll have Claude set up as your finding aid drafting assistant — able to produce scope and content notes, biographical notes, series descriptions, and administrative his...
Transcribe Oral History Recordings with AI
By the end of this guide, you'll have a two-step workflow for producing searchable text transcripts of oral history recordings: first using a free AI transcription tool to generate a rough transcri...
Transcribe Handwritten Historical Documents with Transkribus
By the end of this guide, you'll have Transkribus set up and running your first AI-powered handwriting transcription — turning a scanned handwritten document that would take hours to transcribe man...
Go further
Advanced workflows, automation, and custom AI setups
For when you’re ready to connect tools and automate
Claude Project: Build a Persistent Archival Writing Assistant
Instead of re-explaining your institution, standards, and style every time you open Claude, a Claude Project gives you a persistent AI assistant that already knows your institution, your finding ai...
Custom GPT: Build an Archivist's Writing and Research Assistant
A Custom GPT is a specialized version of ChatGPT pre-configured with your institution's finding aid standards, writing style, and common reference materials — so anyone on your team can open it and...
Recommended Tools
3Ranked by relevance for archivist
Claude
Draft Finding Aid Scope and Content Notes, Draft Grant Proposals and Progress Reports + 3 more
ChatGPT
Draft Reference Inquiry Responses, Write Exhibit Labels and Interpretive Text + 4 more
Transkribus
Transcribe Handwritten Historical Documents
This guide is refreshed as tools evolve. Bookmark it.
Last updated 14 days ago