AI assistants are increasingly embedded in tools and technologies that we use every day, and library information resources are no exception: Over the past two years there has been a rapid rise in AI assistants built into content management systems and familiar academic databases like Web of Science and ProQuest. While AI assistants in discovery tools are still considered an add-on to existing products, it is likely that these AI elements will eventually become an inseparable part of the product themselves.
The Mansfield Library does not currently subscribe to AI products for existing discovery tools. Faculty librarians continue to monitor the emergence of AI assistants developed for discovery tools that the library currently subscribes to, including meeting with vendors to view demos of AI products. At this time, the Mansfield Library Collections Development group has decided not to adopt new AI integrations linked to current library databases due to lingering concerns over usefulness, accuracy, and privacy. As such products evolve, additional details on the shape and scope of AI elements in library databases will be added to this page.