Specialize in an area of history or technology, researching topics or items relevant to collections to determine what should be retained or acquired.

“Specialize in an area of history or technology, researching topics or items relevant to collections to determine what should be retained or acquired.” is a core task performed by Archivists. Among the occupation's 13 rated tasks, workers place it 2nd by importance (#12 most important). About 97% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise. in Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

How AI is actually used on this kind of task

The Anthropic Economic Index observes how people actually use AI on tasks like this one across millions of real conversations.

• 0.002% share of AI-use records mapped to this task

Observed AI use describes people choosing to use AI as a tool on this kind of task today. It is augmentation and assistance, not a measure of jobs replaced.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Organize archival records and develop classification systems to facilitate access to archival materials. · importance 4.8
• Provide reference services and assistance for users needing archival materials. · importance 4.8
• Prepare archival records, such as document descriptions, to allow easy access to information. · importance 4.7
• Create and maintain accessible, retrievable computer archives and databases, incorporating current advances in electronic information storage technology. · importance 4.6
• Establish and administer policy guidelines concerning public access and use of materials. · importance 4.6
• Direct activities of workers who assist in arranging, cataloguing, exhibiting, and maintaining collections of valuable materials. · importance 4.5
• Preserve records, documents, and objects, copying records to film, videotape, audiotape, disk, or computer formats as necessary. · importance 4.3
• Research and record the origins and historical significance of archival materials. · importance 4.2
• Locate new materials and direct their acquisition and display. · importance 3.9
• Authenticate and appraise historical documents and archival materials. · importance 3.9
• Coordinate educational and public outreach programs, such as tours, workshops, lectures, and classes. · importance 3.9
• Select and edit documents for publication and display, applying knowledge of subject, literary expression, and presentation techniques. · importance 3.1

See all tasks on the Archivists page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-7640,
  title  = {Specialize in an area of history or technology, researching topics or items relevant to collections to determine what should be retained or acquired.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-7640}
}