As the university finalizes the new strategic plan, the William H. Hannon Library has developed an Interim Implementation Plan for the 2026-27 academic year. The following are the AI initiatives taken from the library’s interim plan:
Goal 1: Enrich and transform the student experience.
- Action item: Design, deliver, and assess a year-long series of AI-focused programs, workshops, and external communications that position the library as a campus leader in conversations around AI, especially related to information literacy, research practices, and scholarly communication.
Goal 2: Advance collaborative efforts to promote more open, equitable, accessible, and sustainable models of scholarly communication and digital pedagogies.
- Action Item: Project CORA, a free, open-access repository of information literacy teaching materials, is undergoing a major platform enhancement this year to expand its focus on emerging literacies, particularly AI and algorithmic literacy. The resource enables educators worldwide to share, adapt, and discover peer-created assignments that help students critically engage with AI and algorithmic systems.
Goal 3: Create and maintain efficient, innovative systems that support discovery, access, and sharing of library resources.
- Action item: Primo New Discover Experience (NDE) launch in summer 2027, including evaluation of AI tools within it.
- Action item: Create a rubric as a decision tree to evaluate embedded research assistants within the library databases.
Goal 7: Strengthen the library’s organizational effectiveness.
- Action item: Communities of practice launch, in a smaller, phased way - AI, library instruction, cataloging.
- Action item: Develop policies/guidelines around AI use internally in the library.