Artificial intelligence: useful resources
Below is a collection of useful reports, websites, blogposts etc. relevant to different aspects of artificial intelligence:
Uses for AI in the library (excluding) student information skills.
Post on the AIED@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Listserve. Monday 14 April 2025. Tracey Totty Library Services Manager. Middlesbrough College Group. t.totty@mbro.ac.uk
I recently asked what library staff would use AI for, that isn’t supporting student information skills.
Cataloguing
- Advice and help on MARC records
- Cataloguing certain subjects
- Data entry assisting with unconventional sources
- Classifying difficult to classify resources
- Keywords for specific books/subjects
Research
- Research tool
- Scoping research
- Information on difficult to find subjects (the fact check it)
- Journal article summaries
- Summarising findings
Analysis
- Analyse trends in access and resources borrowed
- Analyse data
Admin
- Workflows using Power Automate
- Appraisal objectives
- Writing business cases
- Write up library bulletin
- Writing e-mails, reports, guides, PowerPoints, tables
- Making forms
- Marketing and promotion
- Generating ideas
- Plan workshops and activities
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Making sure text is GDPR compliant and accessible
- Translation service
Generative AI and the future of library services
Opportunities and challenges in a changing technology environment. Clarivate white paper. March 2024
Link to sign up to receive a PDF. Download the paper
From the paper “According to the 2024 Pulse of the Library report, over 60% of libraries are evaluating or planning for artificial intelligence integration, with 43% prioritizing AI-powered tools for patrons in the coming year. Key objectives include supporting student learning (52%), promoting research excellence (47%), and enhancing content discoverability (45%).
Despite this enthusiasm, librarians report significant hurdles. About 47% of respondents identified shrinking budgets as a primary concern, while 52% pointed to a skills gap, noting the need for upskilling in AI competencies. Additionally, 32% reported a lack of available training opportunities. These challenges emphasize the need for strategic planning and collaboration within the library community to effectively implement AI solutions.
The consensus is that, for the foreseeable future, humans and AI will work in tandem to boost productivity, enhance decision-making, and drive innovation. In library environments, this partnership is already evident, with AI assisting in tasks such as resource discovery, metadata management, and personalized learning support while librarians provide critical oversight, ethical guidance and domain expertise. The stakes are high for libraries. They are trusted sources of knowledge, offering access to high-quality, scholarly, and scientific data. That trust has been built over hundreds of years of standards that outline meticulous selection and indexing of collections, ensuring users engage with authoritative and reliable academic resources. To maintain that trust, libraries must harness AI’s power responsibly. This involves not only adopting AI tools but also actively shaping how they are used, ensuring they align with core values of accuracy, inclusivity and academic integrity. “
By Michael Webb. Jisc. 2 January 2024.
“Publishing an intro to generative AI is a challenge as things are moving so quickly. However, we think things have now settled down enough for us to bring together information in a single place, to create a short primer.” Table of contents
- Introduction
- An Introduction to the Generative AI Technology
2.1 ChatGPT
2.2. Microsoft Copilot
2.3. Google Bard
2.4. Other Models
2.5. A summary of key capabilities, limitations, and concerns around ChatGPT and other Large Language Models
2.6 Image Generation
2.7 Beyond Chatbots 3. Impact of Generative AI on Education
3.1 Assessment
3.1.1 Guidance on advice to students
3.1.2 The role of AI detectors
3.2 Use in Learning and Teaching
3.2.1 Examples of use by students
3.2.2 Examples of use by teaching staff
3.2.3 Examples of uses to avoid
3.3 Adapting curriculum to reflect the use of AI in work and society.
- Regulation
- Summary
AI update from the Information Training Team
Originally posted to the lis-link@JISCMAIL.AC.UK listserv on 27th November 2023. This is a useful update for librarians covering
Yingshen Huang a, Andrew M. Cox b, John Cox C. The Journal of Academic Librarianship Volume 49, Issue 6, November 2023.
There is growing recognition of the value of applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) in libraries. This study explores how academic libraries have responded to this opportunity at the level of strategy, what is the status of the application of AI, if any, and what are the different emphases of development comparing the UK and China. The data for the study was strategy documentation from high-ranking universities and their libraries. The sample consisted of the top 25 universities from the United Kingdom and top 25 from the Mainland of China according to the QS world university rankings. Explicit mention of Artificial Intelligence and related technologies is rarely found in strategic plans of universities in the UK but most Chinese universities mention them in their vision statements which focus on the development of new majors and research of the technology. Though several libraries have already implemented applications based on AI or claim to be “smart” or “intelligent” most academic library strategic plans or agendas do not emphasize AI. This is one of the first studies to explore the current status of AI applied in academic libraries as a sector and to compare experiences internationally.
The impact of Generative AI on libraries?
Ex Libris [White paper] October 2023
Valid concerns and challenges surround Generative AI, leading to a growing debate on regulation. However, academic libraries cannot overlook its significant potential benefits. With an objective to deliver optimal service to users, libraries are looking at how their trusted vendors and suppliers may use Generative AI to help them achieve this goal.
Artificial Intelligence and Libraries Bibliography
Charles W. Bailey, Jr. Houston: Digital Scholarship, 2023
The Artificial Intelligence and Libraries Bibliography includes over 125 selected English-language articles and books that are useful in understanding how libraries are exploring and adopting modern artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It covers works from January 2018 through August 2023.
Library strategy and Artificial Intelligence
Dr Andrew M Cox. [Blog] Understanding AI in Education [Jisc] National Centre for AI 5 June 2023
On April 20th 2023 the Information School, University of Sheffield invited five guest speakers from across the library sectors to debate “Artificial Intelligence: Where does it fit into your library strategy?”
Artificial intelligence (AI) in libraries project - Digital futures research report. University of Leeds Libraries (Feb 2023).
This comprehensive report authored by University of Leeds libraries reviews the current and potential future impact of artificial intelligence on library spaces. It also includes a detailed survey of librarians at Leeds views on AI and library technology
23 resources to get up to speed on AI in 2023
Selected by the IFLA Artificial Intelligence SIG [Special Interest Group] Version 1 29/12/2022. IFLA
Andrew Cox, Journal of the Association for information Science and Technology [JASIST] 07 March 2022
“The probable impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on work, including professional work, is contested, but it is unlikely to leave them untouched. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to consider the likelihood of the adoption of different approaches to AI in academic libraries.”