# The Living Library: Transforming Archival Collections into Conversational Knowledge Systems -- Lessons from the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09368 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.09368/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 25 of its 45 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [Sentence-BERT: Sentence Embeddings using Siamese BERT-Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.10084/) (2019)
- [Dense Passage Retrieval for Open-Domain Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.04906/) (2020)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Large Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10997/) (2023)
- [REALM: Retrieval-Augmented Language Model Pre-Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.08909/) (2020)
- [Survey of Hallucination in Natural Language Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.03629/) (2022)
- [Self-RAG: Learning to Retrieve, Generate, and Critique through Self-Reflection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11511/) (2023)
- [Not what you've signed up for: Compromising Real-World LLM-Integrated Applications with Indirect Prompt Injection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.12173/) (2023)
- [MemGPT: Towards LLMs as Operating Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.08560/) (2023)
- [Improving language models by retrieving from trillions of tokens](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04426/) (2021)
- [Leveraging Passage Retrieval with Generative Models for Open Domain Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.01282/) (2020)
- [Llama Guard: LLM-based Input-Output Safeguard for Human-AI Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06674/) (2023)
- [ColBERT: Efficient and Effective Passage Search via Contextualized Late Interaction over BERT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.12832/) (2020)
- [Personalizing Dialogue Agents: I have a dog, do you have pets too?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.07243/) (2018)
- [Retrieval Augmentation Reduces Hallucination in Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.07567/) (2021)
- [A Lip Sync Expert Is All You Need for Speech to Lip Generation In The Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.10010/) (2020)
- [Moshi: a speech-text foundation model for real-time dialogue](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.00037/) (2024)
- [Active Retrieval Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.06983/) (2023)
- [SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.12194/) (2022)
- [NeMo Guardrails: A Toolkit for Controllable and Safe LLM Applications with Programmable Rails](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10501/) (2023)
- [Character-LLM: A Trainable Agent for Role-Playing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10158/) (2023)
- [Measuring Attribution in Natural Language Generation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12870/) (2021)
- [InCharacter: Evaluating Personality Fidelity in Role-Playing Agents through Psychological Interviews](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17976/) (2023)
- [RoleLLM: Benchmarking, Eliciting, and Enhancing Role-Playing Abilities of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.00746/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present the Living Library, an end-to-end framework for transforming fragmented digital archives into governed, conversational, in-person exhibit experiences. Developed and deployed at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, the framework comprises four layers: digitization and corpus creation, AI-powered processing, retrieval and reasoning, and an optional embodied conversational interface. The first three layers aggregate a 300,000-record collection, apply OCR and structured metadata enrichment for expert curatorial review, and publish records to a hybrid dense/semantic index. Expert review is conducted through the Archivist App, a curator-facing interface that supports correction of AI-generated transcriptions and metadata. The governed corpus powers both a researcher-facing interface and Talk to TR, a continuously operating exhibit that embodies Theodore Roosevelt as a full-scale digital human within a museum environment. To support live, face-to-face interactions, Cross-Era Analogical Grounding reframes contemporary questions through documented historical parallels, allowing Roosevelt to address present-day topics without inventing facts. Dual-path retrieval and end-to-end streaming keep responses grounded and responsive. Layered watchdogs, visitor-session isolation, automated conversation management, and independently restartable services enable reliable unattended operation for hundreds of visitors. Avatar realism, spatial audio, lighting, staging, and conversational design are developed and evaluated as an integrated experience. Rather than report a controlled benchmark, we describe lessons from operating Talk to TR as a public exhibit and offer a transferable model for transforming archival collections into believable, in-person conversational experiences.