What We Heard at SAA 2026
The Society of American Archivists (SAA) Annual Meeting brought archivists and digital collections professionals from across the field together in New Orleans. Discovery Garden attended to connect with the archival community and hear about the priorities and challenges shaping their work.
At our booth and throughout the conference, a few themes came up repeatedly.
Limited resources are shaping what institutions can take on
Budget and staffing constraints came up frequently. Funding is harder to secure, and some teams are also navigating staffing cuts and growing workloads.
These constraints affect which projects can move forward, how much technical work teams can take on, and which priorities institutions can address.
Changing user expectations are driving conversations about modernization
Many of the people we spoke with are thinking about how to modernize their digital collections systems. Existing systems may still serve their core purpose, but user expectations and institutional needs continue to change. For some, that means upgrading an existing system, while others are considering migration to a new platform.
The urgency varies. Some teams are actively considering a change, while others are hesitant to take on the cost and disruption involved.
AI is generating hype and hesitation
AI came up frequently, particularly around its potential to help with time-consuming work like metadata cleanup. At the same time, many of the people we spoke with were cautious about how it should be used.
Questions around accuracy, trust, and human oversight remain important. People are interested in what AI can make easier, but they want to understand where it belongs in archival workflows and where professional judgment needs to remain central.
Looking ahead
SAA gave us a clearer picture of the pressures archival teams are navigating. It reinforced the direction of our work: making our solutions more affordable, feature-rich, and aligned with evolving expectations, while reducing the technical burden of managing digital collections.
Hearing directly from the archival community shapes where we go next. We had many of those conversations in New Orleans, and we look forward to continuing them at future events.
SAA 2026 highlights
We were also excited to hold our SAA giveaway and meet so many of you at the Discovery Garden booth.
Congratulations to Daniella Mosqueda and Alexis Scargill, who both selected a reMarkable Paper Pure as their prize.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, entered the giveaway, or took the time to speak with our team.
Interested in learning more?
If you’d like to schedule a demo or discuss how Aurora could support your institution’s digital collections, contact Discovery Garden.
The Times-Picayune Map of New Orleans, 1917. Staff of the Times-Picayune. Public domain.
