Our university licensed enterprise access to Claude in April 2025, which placed new pressure on the library to be ready to address AI in Fall 2025. As unit leads, we wanted our staff to feel confident addressing GenAI in library instruction, so we undertook two separate approaches to building engagement with AI based on our groups’ working cultures and needs.
The STEM team took a discussion-based approach. Academic departments had adopted GenAI in different ways, and thus liaisons had uneven skill levels using AI tools. This encouraged us to consider an alternative to a group upskilling approach. Our goal was for liaisons to feel confident addressing AI questions from faculty or students on the spot in the classroom. Meetings centered around creating a graph that documented acceptable/unacceptable and effective/ineffective uses. Meeting topics included Northeastern’s AI policies, available AI tools, deep research modes, student attitudes towards AI, communication, and more.
The generalist group of online learning librarians took a competencies-based approach. The unit head developed an initial list of objectives addressing what the team should be able to do or speak about related to GenAI in the context of open workshops or tutorials, which was edited and collectively approved by the group. Our competencies outline focused on explaining how GenAI worked, why it was error-prone, evaluating its output, and using enterprise AI tools.
Both managers will share how their teams responded to these approaches, strategies for staying current with AI developments, and key lessons learned.
Open Zoom
