Public Services Committee Meeting: December 6, 2023

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Jennifer Lau-Bond (Harper College), Ashley McMullin (DePaul University) co-chair, Gretchen Schneider (Oakton College), Kimberly Shotick (Northern Illinois University), Arlie Sims (Columbia College Chicago) co-chair, Lesley Wolfgang (Saint John's College of Nursing)

Members absent: Steve Brantley (Eastern Illinois University), Beth Hultman (Elgin Community College), Simone Williams (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

CARLI Staff attending: Denise Green, Elizabeth Clarage

Decisions

• Minutes of November approved with corrections.
• Draft goal for the survey: “understand the current landscape of AI utilization in academic libraries, including programs and services offered by libraries, challenges around AI (including ethical considerations and needs), and future aspirations.”
• Also add something about the role of the library in AI to the goal

Tasks Assigned

• Minutes taken by Jennifer Lau-Bond.
• Arlie and Ashley will draft a survey for committee to review before the next meeting. Others interested in working on this should let them know.
• Elizabeth will send out a poll about the next meeting, whether it should be Jan 3 or 17, 2024.

Announcements

• Member Announcements:
  • Arlie Sims (Columbia College Chicago): Library services continue despite the part-time faculty strike at Columbia. The Library will be extending their hours in December after the semester is over.
• CARLI Announcements:
  • Please review CARLI calendar of events. One in particular to note is CARLI Instruction Committee Virtual Discussion about building relationships with faculty and staff on Thursday, December 7 at 1pm. A lot of new programming has been announced from the Professional Development Alliance and other CARLI programming.
  • The initial Archives Task Force is working hard; look for more information in CARLI newsletter.
  • Upcoming OER Workshops  will come out in the CARLI newsletter. There will be an Open Pedagogy Workshop in March 2024.
  • CARLI Alma / Primto VE Open Office Hours will be on December 14 at 2pm. There will be 4 short presentations from CARLI libraries on Alma / Primo VE. Gretchen Schneider will be presenting.

Discussion

• The Committee is continuing to explore the academic library’s role regarding generative artificial intelligence in colleges and universities.
  • The Committee will do a survey of CARLI members, but we are undecided about what to do with those results. One possibility is a panel or program based on responses.
  • Discussed timeline for the year:
    • Decided to work backwards, making the assumption that we will end the year with a program of some sort.
      • Proposed timeline: Finalize survey in January, distribute survey in February, close survey in March, analyze results in March and April, hold a program in June.
    • Concerns with timing:
      • What would be the optimal time for the survey to get the most responses?
      • Many faculty librarians do not return until mid or late January so it may not be an optimal time to distribute the survey.
      • Also, many faculty librarians are not available through all of May. Mid-June might be a good option for a program.
      • Need to avoid ALA Annual at the end of June.
      • Perhaps a future Doodle poll could let committee members vote on options for a program date.
  • It was suggested the panel program be simply a reporting of our findings rather than trying to find speakers.
  • Decided the survey should be broader to get an overall picture of the landscape. This will allow the committee to decide on a direction for a program based on the results. Proposed goal for the survey:
    • “understand the current landscape of AI utilization in academic libraries, including programs and services offered by libraries, challenges around AI (including ethical considerations and needs), and future aspirations.”
      • It was suggested we add something about the role of the library in AI.
• The Committee discussed the timing of January’s meeting and decided to send a poll to committee members to determine if January 3 or January 17 worked the best for members.

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

A poll is being sent out to determine the next meeting date: Jan 3 or Jan 17. The meeting will be held at 2-3pm on one of those dates.

Committee Meetings:
January 3, 2024, 2:00 - 3:00, Minutes: Gretchen Schneider
February 7, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00, Minutes: Kimberly Shotick
March 6, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00, Minutes: Arlie Sims
April 3, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00, Minutes: Simone Williams
May 1, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00, Minutes: Lesley Wolfgang
June 5, 2024, 2:00 – 3:00, Minutes: to be determined

Deadlines: