ACC Libraries and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

"Artificial Intelligence & AI & Machine Learning" by mikemacmarketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0

While the concept of artificial intelligence, or AI, has been around for more than a century, it's a particularly hot topic these days with interest spreading to all fields including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), art, business, health & medicine, law, and beyond.

ACC Library Services uses AI in a number of ways to support the college's mission as well as assist you in finding and accessing all sorts of great information. In fact, ACC librarians have been utilizing and providing assistance with various AI tools since the mid-1980s. Of course, nowadays a key area for AI use in Library Services is via the many online article and information databases we provide for your use. Some of our most heavily utilized electronic research tools are the more than 60 EBSCOhost databases available including Academic Search Complete, in addition to our many Gale databases such as Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints. Each of these resources employs several AI features including:

• Autocomplete: this occurs when the database predicts words while you're typing in the search box and it's an excellent way to discover available information related to your search. To see this in action, just start typing a search in any EBSCO or Gale database
• Boolean Logic: you may already be familiar with this type of AI as Boolean or propositional logic offers better precision and control of your searches via usage of the limiters AND, OR, or NOT
• Concept Maps: these are a visual, interactive way to explore search topics. A good example of this is the Gale Topic Finder, which creates a clickable concept map that will take you directly to articles on a number of given topics related to your search
• Limiters: these tools provide you with the opportunity to limit your search results to a specific type of information you select. Just some of the ways you can utilize limiters to gain more precise search results include limiting your search results to full text or scholarly/peer reviewed publications. You can locate and access these features near the top of any Gale database search results screen or on the side of any EBSCOhost search results screen

To see more AI tools and learn about the many advantages they can provide to you while using our online databases, just click the Help link whenever you're doing your research (hint: the Help link is located at the top of the screen in EBSCO and the bottom of the screen when using Gale resources).

As AI continues to grow and evolve, we'll witness many impactful benefits that it brings to our library resources and services. There's currently a lot happening as regards AI and the rate of change is often stunning; nevertheless, while it's difficult to predict which aspects of AI will grow and improve and at what rate, Library Services will continue to keep in mind not only the tremendous help AI can provide, but the importance of ensuring that any potential AI biases are recognized in order to support equity and inclusion.