This peer reviewed article gives a current overview of the job role and scope involved in being a school librarian. Drawing on experiences from the Covid-19 pandemic it highlights how invaluable librarians were in facilitating both teachers and pupils to navigate a new digital landscape. The impact they made during this time has helped their job evolve into digital enablers often co-teaching within schools to educate children on online tools. Their innovations have been highlighted showing impact within schools making them the perfect choice to deliver AI training in the future, embracing digital citizenship.  

A powerful message about commitment to ethics and inclusivity were discussed at length in this article. Advice to library services was provided on how to use this technology to enhance services but with the crucial message that ethical standards and equitable methodologies must be met every step of the way. It set out suggestions on how to implement AI technology and harness the power of AI. It also examined the topic of bridging the digital divide and expanding knowledge for users with inclusivity and accessibility at the heart of the article. More technical aspects were also covered including the ethical use of algorithms.  

The author is a lecturer at the college of Information and technology Education in Largos, Malaysia specialising in library and information science. 

This magazine article was published in the American Libraries Magazine on 25 June 2023, following a conference and exhibition in Chicago hosted by the American Library Association. It reported the discussions a panel of library professionals and experts had regarding how librarians can give pupils an increased understanding and foundation to work from with regard to AI; recognising that AI is a tool and not a source. Integration of AI into classrooms was also discussed along with the opportunities it can bring. It advised that for libraries to remain relevant they should not be dismissing this technology but embracing it through collective action. 

This magazine article explores the human experience contained within a library and asks some thought-provoking questions in relation to AI and the future of libraries. It acknowledges that AI is a revelation in this fast-moving technological era and acknowledges the benefits. Library professionals and readers are reminded that human interaction cannot be replaced by AI, and the relationships created by librarians with users will always be a core part of their job.  

The Author, Hallie Rich is the Editor-in-Chief at Library Journal and has recently been appointed as Policy Fellow for The American Library Association in their office of public policy and advocacy. She has experience working at national level with executive teams within libraries and has a genuine passion and interest in the impact libraries can make. 

Metrics for this article show that it has been viewed 52 times with 22 people citing this work in their academic articles and 16 cross referencing this work. Andrew Cox, the author, has a PHD in Information Science and has 92 published articles on academic databases.

The article is based on an exploratory literature review looking at AI from a strategic perspective rather than that of a technological point of view. It gives explanation of both negative and positive aspects including barriers that need to be overcome when working with AI. It has clear definitions for AI terms making it easy to understand and digest.  

This was one of the first articles found when completing search report. It provoked initial thoughts and ideas about librarianship in 2024. The journal article was written by Leo S Lo, a Dean at the University of New Mexico, USA and was found on The Science Direct website, a credible and trustworthy source of academic information.

The article puts forward the idea that librarianship in 2024 could be transformed through implementation of an AI programme to reskill staff with required skills and knowledge, demonstrating how current and topical the subject of AI is within librarianship.

Findings reported that AI literacy improved, and librarians felt empowered to integrate AI into their libraries with confidence.

This journal article was found on the Emerald Insight academic database and has been downloaded 606 times since publication in 2023.

It is an in-depth and detailed article informing readers of the definitions and key concepts around the technology involved with generative artificial intelligence explaining what natural language processing is and what GPT stands for, generative pretrained transformer. It provides valuable information about the technology behind AI.  

It follows on to discuss how librarians can work alongside AI to improve their work, ensuring both positive and negative aspects are considered. Responsibility and working ethically were reiterated throughout the article.

This study belongs to a special issue of New Trends in Educational Research for Sustainability: A Focus on preparing Teachers for the 21^st Century and is shown on MDPI Open Access Journals . It is an informative article aimed at preparing educators to implement the use of AI in the 21^st Century.

It explains that although AI has negative elements, including potential bias, the positives outweigh the negative and should be embraced. AI can bring many benefits to the classroom, inspire new dynamic ways of working, encourage collaborative and interactive learning and help pupils to solve problems and think critically. It provides opportunities to analyse the limitations present when using this technology to become more information literate.

This short Blog post was made on the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) website. The blog detailed how funding has been awarded to Robert Gordon University to fund a new initiative and project that will be created collaboratively with school librarians, teachers, and school pupils. The aim is to produce an educational toolkit on how to use AI responsibly. The toolkit and resources would be used in schools via workshops to educate pupils on academic integrity, improve their information literacy, encourage critical thinking while teaching pupils to use AI in a responsible manner. It will also help schools integrate AI into their curriculum.

This article explained what prompt engineering is and is written from the point of view of a library and information professional. The author, Mary Ellen Bates has over 15 years’ experience managing corporate information businesses and libraries and for the last thirty years has been producing high quality research. The article would resonate with librarians as the author appears to have a deep understanding of the job role and the qualities required to retrieve information successfully. Comparing the skill set of a good librarian to a good prompt engineer was discussed along with the subject of unconscious biases and unspoken assumptions, showing how valuable a librarian can be with their skills to ask the right questions and use their insight to get results.