PDA Event: AI Competencies for Library Workers

At the start of his term in June 2024, ACRL President Leo Lo established a task force to develop comprehensive AI competencies for library workers, aligning with the evolving needs of academic libraries. In this session, Dr. Lo and the co-chairs of the task force— Keven Jeffery and Jason Coleman—will present the most recent draft of the competencies, describe the processes used to create them, and discuss how they can be applied by library administrators, educators, faculty, and staff to help us and our patrons adapt to new ways of creating, consuming, analyzing, and describing information.

Presenters:

Jason Coleman is a professor and Academic Services Librarian for STEM at Kansas State University. In that role he provides instruction, research, and reference services to seven departments. Since the advent of ChatGPT, he has been focusing on the uses and implications of AI for document-based research and discovery.  He has presented on retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and literature mapping strategies and integrates these tools into his consultations and in-class presentations. In July 2024, he became co-chair of ACRL's AI Competencies for Library Workers Task Force. He holds a Master of Library Science from Emporia State University and bachelor's degrees in psychology and biology.

Keven Jeffery is a tenured faculty member at San Diego State University, where he holds the rank of Librarian. His responsibilities include investigating and implementing emerging digital technologies and applications for the University Library. Keven will present his work to develop a home-grown Gen AI discovery assistant at the ER&L 20th Annual Library Conference in March, 2025. In July 2024, he became co-chair of ACRL's AI Competencies for Library Workers Task Force. He holds a Master of Library & Information Science, and a bachelor degree in Anthropology from The University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Leo Lo is the Dean and Professor of the College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences at the University of New Mexico. His work focuses on advancing AI literacy and developing training programs for library and higher education professionals. As President of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), Dr. Lo established a national task force to create a set of essential AI competencies for library workers and launched an AI Discussion Group to facilitate broader professional engagement. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Artificial Intelligence for Business from the University of Oxford and earned a doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a M.S. in Information Studies from Florida State University.

Register to attend.

Hosted by CARLI