One of the greatest strengths of the Mortenson Center Associates Program is that learning does not only happen during workshops or library visits. It also happens through conversations with librarians, researchers, and professionals whose work challenges us to think differently.

For my final blog post, I had the opportunity to interview Antonio Sotomayor, Associate Professor and Latin American and Caribbean Studies Librarian at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His work combines history, genealogy, digital humanities, and librarianship, offering a unique perspective on how technology is transforming both historical research and library services.

Our conversation explored three themes that have also been central throughout the Mortenson Program: the role of artificial intelligence, the value of genealogy as a research tool, and the challenges libraries will face in the coming decades.

How Technology Is Transforming Genealogy

Genealogical research has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. According to Professor Sotomayor, the internet, email, online communities, and digital repositories have completely transformed the way researchers collaborate and access historical records.

Resources such as FamilySearch and other digital collections have made nineteenth- and twentieth-century records accessible to researchers around the world. What once required months of correspondence between historians can now be achieved almost instantly.

However, he also emphasized an important warning: technology should never replace critical thinking.

Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to analyse large volumes of historical information and reconstruct family connections, but genealogy remains deeply dependent on human interpretation. Variations in names, spelling, surnames, and historical conventions often require contextual understanding that current AI systems still struggle to provide.

His message was clear: technology should enhance the work of historians and genealogists, not replace their expertise.

Genealogy as a Window into Society

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation focused on genealogy as a historical discipline.

Professor Sotomayor believes genealogy is still somewhat overlooked within academic history, yet it offers powerful opportunities to understand broader questions of identity, power, race, and social relationships.

Rather than simply tracing family trees, genealogy allows historians to challenge long-held assumptions and explore how societies were actually formed. He highlighted, for example, how genealogical research can reveal unexpected patterns of social mobility, interracial marriage, and family relationships that traditional historical narratives sometimes overlook.

This perspective reminded me that libraries preserve much more than documents—they preserve the evidence that allows future generations to reinterpret history.

The Three Great Challenges for Libraries

When asked about the greatest challenge facing libraries today, Professor Sotomayor did not choose between preservation, open access, or digital literacy.

Instead, he argued that all three are inseparable.

Libraries must continue preserving documentary heritage despite declining budgets. At the same time, they should promote open access through institutional collaboration while helping users develop the digital skills needed to navigate an increasingly complex technological world.

One of his observations particularly resonated with me. Technology advances so quickly that many people feel overwhelmed and eventually give up trying to keep pace. This creates fertile ground for misinformation and digital exclusion.

For that reason, libraries have an essential role not only in providing technology, but also in offering guidance, patience, education, and support.

My Reflection

Interviewing Professor Sotomayor was a fitting way to conclude my experience at the Mortenson Center.

Throughout these four weeks, we have discussed impact, leadership, artificial intelligence, preservation, assessment, and community engagement. This conversation brought many of those themes together.

One idea, in particular, stayed with me.

Libraries are not simply institutions that preserve information. They are institutions that help people make sense of information.

Whether helping a researcher reconstruct a family history, preserving fragile historical documents, teaching digital skills, or guiding users through rapidly changing technologies, librarians continue to play an essential role in society.

As I leave the Mortenson Center Associates Program, I do so with an even stronger conviction that the future of libraries will not be defined only by the technologies they adopt, but by the people they serve and the professionals who continue to connect knowledge with communities.

I would like to sincerely thank Professor Antonio Sotomayor for generously sharing his time, his experience, and his thoughtful reflections. Conversations like this remind us that some of the best learning opportunities begin with a simple question.