Glasgow School of Art (GSA), a specialist higher education institution with 2,500 students, had been using static PDF lists for course resources for many years. In 2019, they decided to implement a resource list management platform for the first time. While functional, these lists lacked flexibility and adaptability, and the shift to hybrid teaching during COVID-19 highlighted their limitations. Therefore, they decided to implement a new system to meet their changing needs.
GSA identified 14 essential and desirable criteria to guide their search for a new solution, prioritizing enhanced student and academic experiences alongside improved library workflows. Students needed the ability to filter, search, and customize reading lists. Academics sought seamless integration with the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), public accessibility for prospective students, and exportable bibliographic references. For the library team, integration with the CLA’s Digital Content Store (DCS) was critical.
After evaluating various options, Talis Aspire was chosen for its flexibility and ability to align resource lists with course structures and extracurricular activities.
GSA’s library team successfully managed the migration to Talis Aspire, supported by flexible onboarding from Technology from Sage’s Operations team. Despite a tight two-month timeline before the academic year, the team ensured a smooth transition. The expertise and adaptability of the Customer Success Consultants were pivotal in meeting GSA’s needs.
“We asked to move some of our training around to accommodate staff leave over the summer which was kindly granted. The Customer Success Consultants are very friendly, flexible and keen to help.”
Jenna Meek, Assistant Librarian – Resource Lists, Glasgow School of Art
A detailed workflow was established to facilitate collaboration across library teams, enabling the migration and refinement of nearly 300 lists. This approach ensured accurate metadata, streamlined processes, and lists that were ready for use. The Operations team also guided the library staff in creating instructional materials to demonstrate key functionalities, such as filtering, note-taking, and bibliographic exports.
Within three months, GSA successfully launched Talis Aspire, migrating just under 300 resource lists comprising over 8,500 items and relinking 700 scans through DCS integration. The new system’s streamlined processes reduced the time required for updates, paving the way for academic self-management in the future.
Feedback from academics highlighted the seamless Canvas integration and support for embedding list sections. Academic staff also appreciated the system’s versatility in reference styles and its integration with reference management tools.
“Talis Aspire is fantastic and seems a lot more streamlined with Canvas.”
Feedback from academic staff
Talis Aspire has exceeded expectations for enhancing internal workflows and improving the resource acquisition process. Library staff have benefited from features like the Review process, which streamlined work assignment and reduced reliance on spreadsheets.
“The Consultants are very knowledgeable of the whole system and how it has been implemented at many different institutions. We were lucky that our consultant was a trained librarian prior to working for Technology from Sage, so had a good knowledge of how the system operated practically and logistically within library workflows.”
Jenna Meek, Assistant Librarian – Resource Lists, Glasgow School of Art
Moving forward, GSA plans to gather student feedback and pilot academic-led list editing. Training materials will support this hybrid approach, combining self-management by academics with library staff oversight.
GSA is also exploring Talis Aspire’s potential for student partnerships and co-creation of resource lists, supporting broader academic initiatives.
Discover how Talis Aspire can transform your resource list management. If you’d like to learn more or request a demo, get in touch.
Congratulations to our Library of the Month, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam! January 21, 2025Each month we select a Library of the Month to honor libraries who have been using our library technologies in interesting and innovative ways, from creating well-curated reading lists with Talis Aspire to encouraging uptake of the Lean Library browser extension amongst their students. We’re also appreciating the intensive work of librarians in curating these technologies and improving learning outcomes for their students.
The winning library will be awarded a prize to share amongst their team or a donation to a charity of their choice as a way for us to say thank you.
Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam is a large university with 9 faculties, more than 150 bachelor’s programs, pre-master and master programs with 31,761 students, of which 19,736 are Bachelor students and 12,025 are Master students. The university’s motto is: Don’t just become something, become someone. Since its founding in 1880, VU has stood for scientific and values-driven education, research and valorization.
We’ve awarded them our Library of the Month Award for January, as the library team are committed to supporting their students find the research they need at the right time, directly in patron workflows. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are great advocates of both Lean Library and Talis Aspire and presented a session on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) at the inaugural Tech from Sage Insight Conference in 2023.
We asked Cees van Gent, Head of Department, Educational Support, University Library (Afdelingshoofd, Onderwijsondersteuning Universiteitsbibliotheek) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to tell us more about the university library and what winning Library of the Month meant to them:
“Winning this award is a confirmation of our mission to support our academic staff and students in finding and using the content/learning materials they need for their research, lectures, and studies.
We try to support our end users where and when needed by providing them tools like Lean Library that can bring our services into the user’s workflow. We work together with parties such as Technology from Sage to develop and deliver this.
More information about how we work with Technology from Sage is to be found in this case study.”
Discover our previous winners below:
Could your library be next?
Join us next month to see who’s won.
Improved Research Integrity with Lean Library’s Latest Upgrade January 20, 2025At Technology from Sage, we’re constantly innovating to redefine and amplify the academic library’s role in advancing teaching, learning, and research. We’ve significantly upgraded our Lean Library browser extension, which prioritizes research integrity.
Lean Library has always been focused on embedding your library’s resources into your patrons’ online workflow, making research seamless and efficient. Our partnership with Scite has already empowered students and researchers with valuable citation insights, showing how academic articles are cited—whether supporting, contrasting, or neutral. But research demands more, especially in the age of GenAI…
Image 1: How the Scite Smart Citations feature works with Lean Library to show how a scientific paper has been cited.
With this new update, Lean Library’s integration with Scite now goes one step further, pulling retractions and editorial notices directly into the Scite widget on the Lean Library browser extension. As researchers browse academic articles, they can instantly see whether an article has been retracted or flagged with an editorial notice, in addition to its citation context.
“Historically, it has been very challenging to tell if a paper has been supported, challenged, or even retracted. Scite was started to solve these challenges. Through our partnership with Lean Library, students and researchers can now easily access articles anywhere online and can be sure they are not missing any critical notices, such as a retraction. We’re thrilled to be working with Lean Library helping millions of researchers and students do better work.”
Josh Nicholson, PhD, Chief Strategy Officer at Research Solutions and co-founder of Scite
In the fast-paced world of academic publishing, maintaining trust and rigor in research is paramount. In 2023, the number of journal retractions surpassed 10,000 for the first time. Retraction data ensures that researchers can avoid relying on outdated or questionable studies, while editorial notices provide context about the quality or reliability of a publication.
The upgraded Lean Library extension displays this new layer of information automatically on academic websites where a DOI is discoverable. Whether you’re examining journal articles, preprints, or research papers on your favorite academic platform, you’ll have an at-a-glance view of:
Image 2: How the Lean Library Scite feature Smart Citations works to at-a-glance citation notices and context when a researcher is searching via Google or Google Scholar.
This update enhances not only the experience for students and researchers but also the impact libraries have in fostering academic success. With this comprehensive citation and retraction data, libraries can:
Lean Library is designed to bring your library to where your patrons work, study, and research. With the latest Scite integration, the academic library is central to the research journey—while ensuring research integrity is never compromised.
Image 3: How the Lean Library Scite feature quickly identifies articles that have been officially retracted.
Let us show you how we can transform your library’s impact on campus and beyond.
Learn more about Lean Library and our latest features at technologyfromsage.com or reach out to schedule a demo today.
Lean Library Case Study: University of Hertfordshire January 6, 2025
University of Hertfordshire has two vibrant and welcoming Learning Resource Centres, which are the beating heart of their urban campus in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Their academic and research collections are digital-first and complemented by a growing collection of fiction and well-being print titles.
With 35,000 students from over 110 countries, and more than 700 career-focused degree options, University of Hertfordshire chose Lean Library to ensure that their students and researchers can easily access the wealth of resources available to them.
What challenges was your library facing before using Lean Library?
“Traditionally we’ve always encouraged students to go directly to the online library to search. However, there’s been a definite shift where students aren’t doing that as much anymore. There are additional tools available now that they can use, and no matter how often we said, “Start here,” they would still choose their own methods.
We noticed a trend, and I don’t think it’s unique to our institution, where the use of library electronic resources was declining. I suspected this wasn’t because students weren’t using content, but rather because some of it was Open Access, meaning they no longer needed to go through the online library to access it. However, when they needed something that wasn’t Open Access, the question became: how were they finding it?
It became about bringing the library to where the user was, facilitating their processes. It became about “let’s make this as easy for them as possible”.
It sounds like bringing the library to patrons was what you were hoping to achieve with Lean Library?
“I guess it was also about raising brand awareness: “We are paying for these resources, this is your library, this is us helping you. We need to make sure that you understand we’re facilitating this process.” The fact that we could colour-code the extension to link to our existing branding—all of those things are really helpful, because it is the library paying for these subscriptions. Each time it pops up, it’s communicating that message to the end user that this is us doing our job—you might not be on campus; you could be anywhere in the world, but this is still us doing our job.
One more thing, it’s also about risk management. There’s the risk if you don’t provide easy routes to access things legally, then potentially people may decide to do things via routes that increase risk to the institution—things that open you up to a cybersecurity risk. It was also part of a risk management strategy: let’s make this as easy as possible so they don’t try and do something that opens their own device to risk or an institutional device to risk.”
University of Hertfordshire have used Lean Library Assist messages to communicate personalized messages to patrons via the Lean Library browser extension when they visit specific websites. The below Assist message lets patrons know they have access to a particular site via their library. This means that University of Hertfordshire’s library branding is displayed in patron’s workflows, marketing the library and increasing awareness with students.
What made Lean Library stand out to you as part of the solution to the challenges we’ve discussed?
“We compared tools, and I advocated strongly for Lean Library. One, it was the branding element—let’s sell ourselves as having this. The second thing is that it builds into other features should we wish to get Lean Library Futures. My thought was if we got this then we could build on it later, if we can demonstrate that there’s a need and it’s working.”
You have fantastic usage results with almost 4,500 engaged users in one month—that’s an increase of over 2,000%. How have you promoted Lean Library to students, and what advice would you give to an institution picking up Lean Library for the first time?
“It’s a multifaceted way of spreading the word. One of the things I think we managed really well was making it easy for people to send out comms—we wrote the copy for them and said “Here you go, this is what Lean Library’s about!” We had emails directly to academics, and added a prompt to download Lean Library to the virtual learning environment that we could then add to any research module, library learning module, or programme page.
At the start of the academic year, we always update the programme page with a welcome from the library team, but now they also have a ‘Download Lean Library’ feature as well. That’s on every single programme in the institution, just to raise awareness.
We talked to our library and computing services staff, making sure every single member of staff would know what Lean Library is when someone comes to talk to them. They could also start downloading it themselves.
We wanted to show that if we gave this to students on a specific programme, we would see a direct link to interlibrary loans. Due of privacy restrictions however, we can’t see too much data. Working with IT colleagues we could show an increase in interlibrary loans from Lean Library during our pilot phase. This helped to demonstrate the value of Lean Library to our colleagues.”
“We asked the academic engagement team: “If you’re teaching, please mention it. Here’s a slide with a video, etc.” We tried to make it as easy for people as possible. We also started to promote it through our direct comms with researchers and added it to their pages on our institutional intranet. This is where researchers go, rather than students.
We also promoted Lean Library at staff-facing events—amazingly, one researcher came back to me and said, “This is making my grant writing so much easier!” I could then put that into all my comms, and she said I could use her name, so that was helpful. That really got buy-in because it was somebody recognisable saying, “this is amazing.”
Then there’s stuff that went out in the all-staff comms. Anything that mentioned research, we would get Lean Library mentioned. It was constantly repeating the message, putting it in lots of places for different members of our student and staff community.”
University of Hertfordshire had on average 4,673 engaged users in November 2024 (pictured on the bar chart below). Back in August 2024, they had an average of 206 engaged users. This shows an increase of over 2,000% from August to November, after a period of heavy Lean Library promotion by University of Hertfordshire.
Have you seen a difference in the way your patrons interact with library collections and services since implementing and rolling out Lean Library?
“We’ve become a bit obsessed with looking at data! We have a dashboard that draws lots of data about interlibrary loans, and we could see that since the start of term our interlibrary loans have gone up 48%. Now not all of those are from Lean Library, but we could see that roughly 19% of our interlibrary loans were coming from Lean Library via an auto-populate route, which represents the highest proportion of all the different routes through which they could have requested an interlibrary loan. That was a really good thing to be able to say, “Hey, this is working!”
We’ve also been looking to see how many searches in PubMed are happening because it’s a free database and we encourage students to use it, and we teach them how to use it. I like to see after I’ve taught a session on PubMed that the number of Lean Library searches goes up. You can definitely see an increase when someone has introduced Lean Library at a session, and so you can see the message is definitely getting through.”
In 2024, University of Hertfordshire library connected students to resources almost 9,000 times via Lean Library via the below routes:
This has saved their patrons just over 2,700 hours in 2024, making accessing the research they need an easier and quicker process. Just over 900 of those hours were from October and November 2024 after heavy promotion efforts for Lean Library from University of Hertfordshire.
Find out more about Lean Library.
If you’d like to hear more or receive a product demo, get in touch.
Future-proofing the library: Auburn University adopts Lean Library to enhance library discovery December 18, 2024Auburn University Libraries has partnered with Technology from Sage to implement Lean Library at their institution to enhance library discovery and streamline access to information resources. This adoption aligns with their commitment to providing exceptional student-centered experiences, supporting impactful research and creative scholarship by faculty, and fostering a culture of excellence and innovation in support of Auburn University’s Strategic Plan 2035: Grounded & Groundbreaking.
Lean Library, an app that sits on the patron’s browser, integrates library collections and services into patrons’ everyday online activities. This seamless integration not only increases the visibility and usage of library resources, but also enhances patrons’ productivity by saving them time and effort in accessing necessary research materials. By bringing the library directly to where patrons are, whether on Google Scholar, PubMed, or other academic sites, Lean Library will ensure that Auburn’s researchers can easily access the wealth of resources available to them.
This partnership marks a new chapter in Auburn University’s ongoing efforts to enhance library discovery and support the academic success of its community. By leveraging Lean Library, Auburn is poised to further its mission of inspiring, innovating, and transforming the future of higher education.
Find out more about Lean Library.
If you’d like to hear more or receive a product demo, get in touch.
Bringing Special Collections to Students: A Case Study from Samford University December 17, 2024
We collaborated with Samford University and AM on a poster case study exploring how Samford are using Lean Library and Quartex together to seamlessly integrate digital and physical resources into student workflows, maximizing engagement of library-subscribed resources.
Contributors:
Samford University has uncovered a bigger need to promote their rich special collections and drive more students to the library.
Libraries put in a considerable amount of time, money and effort developing special collections, but in today’s digital landscape, they can struggle to increase visibility and usage.
Patrons don’t always start their research at the library, and often must step outside their workflows to access library content.
Special collections are still very much viewed as physical collections, and as a result, patrons aren’t aware they can find them in the online digital library space.
“Samford University’s archives hold a distinctive collection of materials that document the history of Alabama with a particular focus on the state’s religious heritage. Significant time, effort, and financial support has been dedicated to the preservation and digitization of these materials by the university. These collections serve not only Samford students and faculty, but also attract researchers globally who are engaged in the study of the American South. The proactive efforts of archivist and digitizing these resources serve as a form of pre-emptive research assistance, which is only successful if materials are discoverable and accessible.”
Carla Waddell, M.L.I.S., Chair, Reference and Research Services, Government Documents Librarian
“Quartex provided us an opportunity to bring all our digital collections to one location online and at the same time, highlight unique and important materials found in Samford’s Special Collection.”
Jennifer Taylor, MLIS, DAS, Chair of University Archives and Special Collection, University Archivist, Samford Library
Accessibility
With Quartex’s platform, Samford ensure that the wide scope of resources available at the library are accessible to students by:
Usage of features that lead students to library-owned resources:
Using Lean Library and Quartex together has helped Samford library in two ways:
1. Using Quartex to present Samford’s digitized collections has meant that Samford is making rare or fragile materials freely available online to provide equal opportunities to users regardless of location or ability.
Using Lean Library has enabled Samford students to more easily access library resources and digital collections (Quartex), making them even more discoverable in student workflows. This has been via personalized Assist messages, content features and enhanced Google Scholar search which directs students to library-subscribed materials and collections even when they begin their search outside of the library.
2. By using learning technology, Samford has been able to share resources with other institutions via AlabamaMosaic.org and the Atla Digital Library. This shows how technology can contribute to longer-term strategies to promote cross-institutional collaboration and increased availability of primary sources to a wider pool of students.
“Lean Library and Quartex provide opportunities for more discoverability and accessibility in a digital research heavy environment for patrons. The unique resources held within Samford University’s Special Collection are highlighted demonstrating Samford’s place as a source for Baptist, Alabama, religion, and local history resources.”
Jennifer Taylor, MLIS, DAS, Chair of University Archives and Special Collection, University Archivist, Samford Library
Read MoreWant to see Lean Library in action? Request a demo now!
Each month we select a Library of the Month to honor libraries who have been using our library technologies in interesting and innovative ways, from creating well-curated reading lists with Talis Aspire to encouraging uptake of the Lean Library browser extension amongst their students. We’re also appreciating the intensive work of librarians in curating these technologies and improving learning outcomes for their students.
The winning library will be awarded a prize to share amongst their team or a donation to a charity of their choice as a way for us to say thank you.
Samford University, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools.
We’ve awarded them our Library of the Month Award for December, as the library team are incredibly passionate about student success and user needs and are strong advocates of Lean Library. Since rolling out Lean Library to students in August 2024, they have highlighted library-purchased content and enhanced resource discoverability by meeting users where they search, increasing the value of their digital collections.
We asked Carla Waddell, M.L.I.S., Chair, Reference and Research Services, Government Documents Librarian and Jennifer Taylor, Chair of Special Collection and University Archives at Samford University to tell us more about the university library and what winning Library of the Month meant to them:
“Samford University is a private, Christian institution with a 183-year history of excellence rooted in its mission and in efforts to continually expand educational opportunities and experiences for its students. Samford University Library serves both the undergraduate and graduate populations as well as all faculty and staff at Samford. Recognized for our outstanding customer service, the University Library proactively supports our stakeholders and collaborators by providing resources and services in a welcoming physical and online environment.
As part of these goals, Samford University Library implemented Lean Library in August 2024, to highlight purchased content and enhance resource discoverability by meeting users where they search. This tool empowers us to serve our community more effectively while promoting responsible stewardship of library and university resources. Being Technology from Sage’s Library of the Month recognizes our efforts to match our resources with our users’ needs and our commitment to constantly improving our services. We are honored to be Technology from Sage’s Library of the Month!“
Discover our previous winners below:
Could your library be next?
Join us next month to see who’s won.
Print or Digital? Both have their Place in Library Collections December 10, 2024Technology from Sage’s Library Patron Consultant, Matthew Weldon, shares his thoughts on the wealth of accessible resources currently available to researchers and the need for affordable course materials.
I vividly remember, just a few weeks into my first year of university and working on my first proper assignment, standing in the library opposite a fearsome bookshelf stacked with everything from contemporary textbooks to leatherbound hardbacks from decades prior. I realized that this bookshelf held more information than I’d ever be able to get through. And there were at least a dozen of those bookshelves on that floor. And there were at least a dozen such floors in the library. And that’s just one library.
Often when people talk about why they love books and libraries, they mention the smell of the books or the texture of the sepia paper. For me it’s the scale of libraries, the way they’re visibly brimming with stuff to lose yourself in, that gives libraries their particular allure.
There is a lot of misinformation about the way eBooks and online articles have supplanted the more tangible things we love about libraries, and the dwindling importance of the physical collection. Claims which are inaccurate! There are plenty of reasons that physical collections remain relevant to the academic library today. In a blog post for Times Higher Education[1], Caroline Ball highlights that online resources essentially only exist for as long as publishers allow them to, and that access can simply disappear for a number of reasons – a publisher going out of business for example, or a library’s subscription lapsing and their access being removed, or anything in between. A physical book meanwhile can live on the shelf essentially indefinitely, a permanent addition to a library’s accumulated knowledge, with a one-off cost – empowering librarians to act confidently as long-term custodians of knowledge for patrons.
As for students, data from several studies seem to suggest they don’t want to have to choose between either a physical or digital collection – they want both. It’s far easier to carry an ePUB file to and from campus on your phone than it is to cram a textbook into your pocket, and digital resources can be easily customized to meet individual accessibility needs. Research from a 2023 Course Materials Survey from Illinois on student perspectives[2] found that if cost were no object 40% of students would choose print resources, compared to 20% preferring digital.
But there’s some evidence to suggest that student comprehension is higher when reading from physical rather than digital texts. I know from my own experience that, when I have a serious piece of research to do, I find it far easier to extract key information when I have a printed copy of a resource in front of me and a bundle of post-it notes. Plus, you can’t download Instagram or TikTok on a book – so you’re less likely to get sidetracked!
And as accessible as digital resources can be, Caroline Ball also emphasizes that physical resources have an important access and accessibility role for many too. Digital-only resources require some sort of equipment to read them, whether that’s a phone, tablet, or laptop. They also require an internet connection to download them, and potentially a constant internet connection for DRM purposes. These are not guaranteed and, by assuming they are, digital-only provision might exacerbate educational inequalities. Physical conditions like eye strain and screen fatigue are common accessibility concerns and physical resources can be important for those individuals affected.
So, it’s not that physical is better than digital or vice versa – it’s that they have different affordances, and both have a place in the library collection. Fortunately, Ithaka S+R’s most recent Library Survey[3] seems to suggest that, although many see an increasing role for digital resources, physical collections are not going anywhere – just 9% of respondents reported believing that digital collections would make hardcopy books obsolete in the next five years. And in the ACRL’s recently released report “The State of U.S. Academic Libraries” [4], they flagged that just under half of the reported collections were physical. The perceived importance of physical collections therefore remains high, but according to that same study circulation rates for physical items have dropped to their lowest level in a decade. To address the falling use of essential resources, we’ve taken steps to support libraries in bringing their print collections into the patron workflow.
With the new Print Alternatives feature, Lean Library will flag physical items in the collection to patrons researching online. Patrons will now be able to see whether a physical version of a resource is available and on the shelves in the library without leaving the site they are on, enhancing the patron experience and increasing the circulation of your valuable print resources. It’s just one of the ways we aim to help libraries maximize their return on investment of their collections and bring the entirety of the library into the patron workflow.
If you’d like to find out more about how Lean Library’s new Print Alternatives feature can maximize usage and impact of library collections, Request a demo now!
[1] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/printed-page-remains-essential-scholars-and-students
AI in Libraries: December Edition December 2, 2024The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly impacting higher education, compelling college professors to adapt to new teaching methodologies and address emerging challenges. Institutions like Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are proactively introducing AI resources to integrate this technology into their academic frameworks. This integration aims to enhance educational experiences and equip students with essential skills for an AI-driven world.
However, the incorporation of AI in academia presents challenges, including concerns about academic integrity and the potential for AI-generated content to undermine traditional learning assessments. Educators are tasked with developing strategies to effectively utilise AI tools while preserving the quality and authenticity of education. This involves rethinking assessment methods, fostering critical thinking, and ensuring that AI serves as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, human instruction. The ongoing dialogue among educators, students, and administrators is crucial in navigating this evolving landscape and harnessing AI’s potential to enrich higher education.
A recent survey by Clarivate, involving more than 1,500 librarians worldwide, highlights a growing interest in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance library operations. The findings reveal that 60% of libraries are actively evaluating or planning for AI integration. Many librarians view AI as a promising tool to automate routine tasks, such as cataloging and administrative functions, with 42% identifying these areas as key opportunities. This shift toward AI reflects a broader interest in leveraging technology to improve efficiency, support student learning, and enhance research capabilities.
However, significant challenges accompany this optimism. Budget constraints were cited by 47% of respondents, while over half (52%) reported a lack of AI expertise within their institutions. Additionally, concerns about security, privacy, and research integrity remain critical barriers to implementation. These findings emphasize the need for upskilling library staff, investing in resources, and developing ethical frameworks to address potential risks. Despite these hurdles, libraries remain committed to exploring AI’s potential to transform their services while maintaining their core values of accessibility and trustworthiness.
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly impacting higher education, compelling college professors to adapt to new teaching methodologies and address emerging challenges. Institutions like Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are proactively introducing AI resources to integrate this technology into their academic frameworks. This integration aims to enhance educational experiences and equip students with essential skills for an AI-driven world.
However, the incorporation of AI in academia presents challenges, including concerns about academic integrity and the potential for AI-generated content to undermine traditional learning assessments. Educators are tasked with developing strategies to effectively utilise AI tools while preserving the quality and authenticity of education. This involves rethinking assessment methods, fostering critical thinking, and ensuring that AI serves as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, human instruction. The ongoing dialogue among educators, students, and administrators is crucial in navigating this evolving landscape and harnessing AI’s potential to enrich higher education.
At Technology from Sage we believe that the right technology can remove barriers to knowledge. We recently launched an AI in Libraries feature to round-up the latest AI developments for academic librarians.
Read on for December’s edition, collated by Rajeh Shaikh, Product Manager at Sage.
Virginia Tech’s University Libraries, in partnership with the University of California, Riverside, has secured a $115,398 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to establish a Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Incubator Program. The initiative aims to train librarians in the practical use of GenAI tools to enhance library services. Through workshops and hands-on projects, participants will learn how to apply AI in areas like literacy programs, collection management, preservation, and research support. This program seeks to empower librarians with the skills needed to adapt to technological advancements and better serve their communities.
In addition to skill development, the program focuses on fostering ethical and responsible AI practices within the library profession. Participants will be equipped to address challenges such as privacy concerns, data security, and equitable access to AI technologies. By preparing librarians to lead AI integration efforts, the program highlights Virginia Tech’s dedication to innovation while ensuring that libraries maintain their impact in the evolving digital landscape.
A recent survey by Clarivate, involving more than 1,500 librarians worldwide, highlights a growing interest in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance library operations. The findings reveal that 60% of libraries are actively evaluating or planning for AI integration. Many librarians view AI as a promising tool to automate routine tasks, such as cataloging and administrative functions, with 42% identifying these areas as key opportunities. This shift toward AI reflects a broader interest in leveraging technology to improve efficiency, support student learning, and enhance research capabilities.
However, significant challenges accompany this optimism. Budget constraints were cited by 47% of respondents, while over half (52%) reported a lack of AI expertise within their institutions. Additionally, concerns about security, privacy, and research integrity remain critical barriers to implementation. These findings emphasize the need for upskilling library staff, investing in resources, and developing ethical frameworks to address potential risks. Despite these hurdles, libraries remain committed to exploring AI’s potential to transform their services while maintaining their core values of accessibility and trustworthiness.
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly impacting higher education, compelling college professors to adapt to new teaching methodologies and address emerging challenges. Institutions like Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are proactively introducing AI resources to integrate this technology into their academic frameworks. This integration aims to enhance educational experiences and equip students with essential skills for an AI-driven world.
However, the incorporation of AI in academia presents challenges, including concerns about academic integrity and the potential for AI-generated content to undermine traditional learning assessments. Educators are tasked with developing strategies to effectively utilise AI tools while preserving the quality and authenticity of education. This involves rethinking assessment methods, fostering critical thinking, and ensuring that AI serves as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, human instruction. The ongoing dialogue among educators, students, and administrators is crucial in navigating this evolving landscape and harnessing AI’s potential to enrich higher education.
Affordable, Accessible Resources for Students: Insights on Unlocking Stress-Free Research November 27, 2024
We recently hosted a roundtable discussion with Ben Kaube, Co-founder, Cassyni, Katy Troeschel, Technology and Entrepreneurship Librarian, The Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University and Matthew Weldon, Library Patron Consultant, Technology from Sage.
Students and researchers are stressed: 52% of students worry about the availability of content, 32% worry about how to access all content of value, and 30% worry about how to know if content exists at all (OpenAthens, 2023).
The panel discussed how student habits for finding digital content have changed since the pandemic and digital solutions that provide students with relevant, affordable resources at the point of need.
Ben shared his journey from a physics PhD at Imperial College London to co-founding Cassyni, a platform designed to make research seminars more accessible. He highlighted the importance of digitizing seminars to provide researchers and students with valuable resources that were previously unavailable.
Matthew discussed his work on Technology from Sage’s series of whitepapers, Librarian Futures, exploring the future of academic libraries and the evolving relationship between librarians and students. He emphasized the need for libraries to adapt to digital natives’ preferences and the importance of making library resources more visible and accessible.
Katy brought a unique perspective from her experience as a public librarian in Baltimore and her current role at Johns Hopkins Library. She stressed the importance of an equitable and informed approach to library services, especially in diverse communities.
Read on for the key insights that came from the roundtable discussion…
Q: What are the benefits of having students and researchers be more present and author research resources like seminars?
Ben demonstrated how Cassyni is making research seminars discoverable and accessible through AI-enhanced tools. By indexing seminars from universities worldwide and providing features like AI-powered outlines and full-text search, Cassyni helps researchers and students navigate and utilize these resources effectively.
“There’s something really nice about getting the content in this sort of multimodal video form rather than in the traditional journal article.”
Ben, Cassyni
“Seminars really inspires students and helps them see how this can be applied in real life … and other career pathways as well.”
Katy, Johns Hopkins University
“Just having a face and a voice associated with something gives it a sense of community and belonging.”
Matthew, Technology from Sage
Q: How have student habits continued to change since the pandemic, and how have new student expectations also changed as a consequence?
Matthew presented data from the Librarian Futures series of reports, revealing a significant gap between librarians’ perceptions and students’ actual use of library resources. He noted that while students often start their research with Google, they may not fully appreciate the library’s role in providing valuable resources. This highlights the need for libraries to better communicate their offerings and integrate them into students’ preferred research methods.
“People do have different learning styles and intake information in different ways.”
Katy, Johns Hopkins University
“Thinking about that digital experience and the way that you come across this content and trying to make it more discoverable and accessible. Using things like AI to help you make it feel a bit less scary … there’s a really bright future for those sorts of tools.”
Ben, Cassyni
Q: What strategies can library teams adopt to make resources more accessible and affordable for students and researchers? How can the library help students discover content that they might not even know exists?
Katie shared practical strategies for libraries to support students, including expanding digital offerings, promoting open access resources, and meeting students where they are—both physically and digitally. She highlighted the importance of flexibility and adapting to students’ needs, whether through in-person consultations or digital content.
“Rather than try to find ways to coax them over to the library and to change their habits, we acknowledge that their habits have changed and we figure out how we can bring the library to them.”
Matthew, Technology from Sage
Q: How can AI be used to enhance the scholarly conversation rather than replace any individuals in the process? What lessons can we learn from this?
The panel discussed the role of AI in making scholarly content more accessible. Ben explained how AI is used to enhance the discoverability of research seminars, making it easier for students to find relevant information. However, he also cautioned about the limitations and biases of AI, emphasizing the need for human oversight.
“Without AI, probably the Cassyni product wouldn’t be possible. You really need AI to be able to do that sort of thing at scale. There’s an important responsibility there, understanding of the limitations, and in some processes, you might need a human in the loop.”
Ben, Cassyni
“As a librarian, it’s a great tool and it uses a lot of the skills that we’ve had to learn, like doing a reference interview.”
Katy, Johns Hopkins University
“Some students are not using AI because they don’t have clear institutional guidance on what is acceptable use and what isn’t.”
Matthew, Technology from Sage
Q: What cost-effective strategies can libraries implement to maintain or even enhance access to quality resources?
Katy discussed that it’s important to understand what the library is trying to accomplish and ensure that resources align with these goals and to continuously learn and talk to other experts to understand their struggles and solutions. She suggested the library can conduct surveys and observations to understand what students need and prefer, ensuring that resources and spaces are tailored to their requirements.
“Flexibility is really important, being customer-centric and providing value.”
Katy, Johns Hopkins University
Ben said libraries can think creatively about resources; considering new types of resources, such as research seminars, that can fill gaps and provide valuable content, making students aware of available resources and integrate them into tools and platforms that students already use.
“It’s probably a good time to be thinking creatively about resources and supporting new modalities to these types of content. It’s not just about making do with a budget that is decreasing, but also about discovering the content and making sure students know what’s out there.”
Ben, Cassyni
The webinar underscored the critical role of libraries in supporting academic research and the need for continuous adaptation to meet the evolving needs of students and researchers. By leveraging digital tools, promoting accessible resources, and maintaining a student-centric approach, libraries can continue to be invaluable allies in the academic journey.
For more insights and resources, be sure to check out the Librarian Futures reports and explore the innovative tools offered by Cassyni.
If you’d like to find out more about how Lean Library can help your institution ensure stress-free researching for students, Request a demo now!
