UC Merced Library

It is crucial we examine the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the field and practice of librarianship and on teaching information literacy (IL). Calls for development of IL skills[i] are more urgent in the face of AI technologies because of their unprecedented abilities to mimic how humans create information, which has resulted in widespread belief these technologies are “thinking” and yielding trustworthy and complete “answers." At UC Merced, we are undertaking a study combining A/B user testing and qualitative approaches to look at the attitudes and behaviors of students toward AI in Library Research. In particular, this study aims to compare student uses of and reactions to UC Library Search’s AI Research Assistant. We will present preliminary findings that can inform libraries that are deciding whether or not to introduce AI into their own discovery systems and tips to librarians who are looking for critical ways to teach these tools in classrooms. The presentation will also provide an overview of UC Merced’s AI planning more broadly.

[i] Recent studies from Project Information Literacy (PIL), Stanford Graduate School of Education, and NIH have called for development of IL skills in high school and college students and in teachers.