Title: Search is Evolving – Are the Searchers?: The Impact of AI with Marydee Ojala
Description: When generative AI sucked all the oxygen out of the room with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, information professionals wondered, among other things, what that meant for search. The answer is still not entirely clear. Transforming searchers into prompt engineers is one approach. GenAI is proving useful for brainstorming, summarizing, writing, researching, and even creating entire reports—all of which require a different mindset and search techniques. At the same time, older search strategies are not discarded. We still use and teach web searching. Our subscription databases still require Boolean search aptitude. Plus, concerns arise about misinformation, ethical use of AI, environmental degradation, and training set data.
Information professionals need to understand when to use traditional search versus prompt engineering, how to weigh concerns about misinformation and ethics, and how to guide users toward the most appropriate tool for their particular research goal, which is the purpose of this session.
Outcomes:
- Understand how the evolution of search technologies affects libraries, librarians, and library users
- Gain search skills for doing research and teaching about diverse approaches to searching
- Evaluate the tradeoffs—both practical and ethical—between traditional and AI-assisted search methods and emphasize the need for critical thinking.
When: Wednesday, March 4th at 10am – 11am PDT on Zoom
Registration closed
Cost: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, which enables us to offer these events free of charge.
Who should attend: All library workers
Presenter bio: Marydee Ojala is the Editor-in-Chief of Knowledge Management World magazine, plans programs for international library and information technology conferences, and writes extensively about research topics. Having worked in corporate, academic and public libraries, she brings a broad perspective to issues facing today’s information professional. She has taught at three different library schools and her experience as an independent researcher and owner of her own research and writing company gives her hands-on knowledge of online research tools. A long-time observer of the global information industry, she believes in the importance of libraries and librarians to create positive change. Marydee is an active member of the Special Libraries Association (SLA), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP). Her undergraduate degree is from Brown University and her MLS was earned at the University of Pittsburgh.