End of year community update

Winter has arrived and with it holidays and reflections. As we prepare for 2026, we look back at 2025 and take the lessons we have learned with us. We already knew that people were passionate about the AtoM and Archivematica projects, but we learned that outreach to connect the community with the project maintainers can lead to more successful project contributions. We learned that people still wanted a roadmap, so we have delivered a new style and have been working on forward planning for both projects. We learned that people want more documentation to help them be successful contributors, so in 2026 we are going to work on that more.

Contributor Gatherings

In November we ran an AtoM Contributors Gathering. Attendees talked about extensions for AtoM, and how to improve them so it is easier to have a range of tools available to AtoM users. Extending AtoM without having to modify it could open up opportunities for RiC tools and SPECTRUM tools, both of which featured in the discussion.

In early December, we held the Archivematica Contributors Gathering. Attendees not only talked about their integration with Archivematica, but made suggestions for the future of Archivematica. These suggestions can be found in the meeting report, but were also fed back into roadmap planning. You can see a number of them on the updated Archivematica roadmap, mentioned below!

Roadmap updates

Following feedback from the community over the year, we’ve had some internal long-term roadmap planning for both the AtoM and Archivematica projects. Feedback from throughout the community, from user forums to the contributor gatherings informed our discussions. You can view the updated AtoM and Archivematica roadmaps now. You’ll notice we’ve put more ideas in the Next and Later sections. We welcome your feedback, so please contact contributors@artefactual.com or start a thread in the AtoM or Archivematica user forums to discuss.

Community Development Meetings

After a year of beta-testing these meetings to bring the project maintainers and community contributors closer together, we have had a team review. In 2026, we will continue holding these meetings at the same times every month with some minor adjustments on the structure of the meetings. The AtoM community development meeting will be on the third Thursday of the month at 8.30am Pacific time. The Archivematica community meet will be on the fourth Thursday of the month at 8.30am Pacific time. From January to March, the first three meetings of the year will be open to all contributors or potential contributors. For further details and Zoom joining links, please check the AtoM or Archivematica information pages. Announcements will go out by the end of the year on the user forums, so keep an eye out for them.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes for 2026!

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