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Digital Stewardship

Help build the future of digital collections stewardship

Join a growing community of institutions partnering with JSTOR—a mission-driven nonprofit—to advance responsible, AI-assisted digital stewardship. Charter participants gain early access to JSTOR Seeklight, and help guide how technology enhances discovery, access, and care.

Become a charter participant*

*Open to institutions with Tier 3 licenses active by or before 12/31/2025

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A values-aligned partnership

  • Help develop technology that serves and strengthens the library community
  • Advance our shared purpose to expand access to knowledge and education
  • Refine JSTOR Seeklight, our AI-powered collection processing tool, to ensure it reflects our community values including care, accuracy, and context
Read more about JSTOR Seeklight
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Two colleagues collaborating at a computer in a modern office, reviewing information on a screen together.

Help lead the future of stewardship

  • Join a global community advancing the responsible use of AI in libraries and archives
  • Collaborate with peers and JSTOR experts through working groups and shared initiatives
  • Shape new capabilities by guiding the development of features and providing feedback
Help shape the future of stewardship*

*Open to institutions with Tier 3 licenses active by or before 12/31/2025

Visibility and support

  • Gain recognition through case studies, spotlights, and field-wide presentations
  • Share your work and insights as part of panels, presentations, and community discussions
  • Receive personalized onboarding, training, and dedicated support from JSTOR experts
See how peers are leading the way
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Created through close collaboration with our charter participants, including:

Reflections from the community shaping JSTOR Seeklight

With JSTOR Seeklight, we’ve processed more than a thousand photographs in under 45 minutes. The scale is really life altering in terms of workload, but also impact—we can make materials discoverable faster, better and in places where people are already working.

Rachel Walton, Head of Library Digital Strategies and Scholarly Communication

Rollins College

Read the case study

JSTOR Seeklight is a notable example of innovative and forward-thinking development within archival description… Merging archival principles, technological innovation, and a commitment to sustainable stewardship, JSTOR Seeklight exemplifies the [C.F.W. Coker] award’s criteria.

2025 Coker Award Committee

The Society of American Archivists

Read reflections on receiving the Coker Award

We used JSTOR Seeklight to draft descriptions in minutes. With our ‘AI drafts, people decide’ workflow, staff verified and published in just hours. That shift—from authoring every word to reviewing and governing at scale—is the difference between backlog and discovery.

Russell Michalak, Director of Library and Archives

Goldey-Beacom College

JSTOR Seeklight lets us imagine better descriptions—faster, and with more depth—than we could achieve otherwise.

JSTOR Seeklight charter participant


Read early reflections from our charter community

Explore how JSTOR Seeklight is evolving with our community

A group of attendees sits at round tables in a warmly lit event space with exposed wooden beams and string lights. A panel of four speakers is seated at the front behind a white table, with a presentation screen behind them. Many attendees have red tote bags hanging from their chairs with a white “J 30 Years” logo, celebrating JSTOR’s 30th anniversary.

Sustainable books models and digital stewardship at Charleston 2025

November 26, 2025

At this year’s Charleston Conference, JSTOR hosted two lunch events. Highlights included updates on Path to Open, Publisher Collections, and JSTOR Seeklight’s growing role in AI-assisted metadata generation.

An intricately carved ivory sundial and compass in the form of a folding book. The open surface features engraved figures of men in period dress holding banners, with a central compass needle pointing north. Fine calibration lines and Roman numerals mark the sundial’s face, while a plumb line and detailed scene of workers appear on the raised lid.

What is a collections processing tool?

November 19, 2025

Roger Schonfeld introduces the concept of a collections processing tool—a new, community-driven system that reimagines how special collections are described and discovered. With JSTOR Seeklight, this approach uses digitization and intelligent recognition to make archives more accessible and impactful.

Handwritten letter on blue paper dated “Rome 9th Jan.y 1850” from sculptor John Gibson. He acknowledges a prior letter and quotes prices for his statues of Aurora (£450) and Cupid disguised as a shepherd (£300). The page shows brown stains and folds and is signed “John Gibson.” At the bottom is a pen sketch of a standing male figure with dotted measurement lines and notes about height and a dark line in the marble.

Beyond description: Introducing transcript generation in JSTOR Seeklight

September 30, 2025

JSTOR Seeklight now generates transcripts for typed and handwritten items, making every word searchable and accessible while keeping editors in control. Available now for Tier 3 participants.

A cluttered metal shelf filled with stacks of old papers and folders. A blue sticky note taped to the shelf reads “SHELVES OF WOE, CONT’D” in black marker.

Illuminating possibility: Early reflections on JSTOR Seeklight from our charter community

September 16, 2025

This summer, charter participants in JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services shared their early enthusiasm for JSTOR Seeklight, our AI-powered tool for accelerating collection processing. We share their feedback, ideas, and a glimpse of what’s ahead.

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What we talk about when we talk about content management

September 4, 2025

JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services does more than store your collections. Explore content management that drives discovery, use, and impact.

Image of an open book with a magnifying glass over an illustration titled "A useful stream", showing local residents and their livestock fetching water from a stream. Elementary hygiene for the tropics, p. 89.

Building evolving guardrails: How JSTOR Seeklight helps address bias and harm in descriptive metadata

September 2, 2025

Bias is inherent to description, but description can and should be revised over time. We’re evolving JSTOR Seeklight’s safeguards against bias and harmful content to reflect our values, our engineering ethos, and our commitment to transparency.

Ready to join the charter program?

Connect with our team to learn how your institution can help shape the future of JSTOR Stewardship.

Note: Items marked with * are required.

Collaborate with us

Interested in the charter program?

Share a few details and our team will connect with you to explore how your institution can help shape the future of digital stewardship.

Note: Items marked with * are required.