Chat GPT FAQ

Chat GPT FAQ

In January, I put together a document to share with my department at the Univ. of Arizona Libraries (Student Learning and Engagement): Chat GPT FAQ.

It’s a work in progress – and I welcome your comments.

There are so many interesting questions about what these new tools means for education!  So I’m learning everything I can about this topic and planning a webinar for librarians.

Feel free to share the FAQ with others!

Webinar coming soon!

On May 17th I’ll be offering a webinar via the American Library Association: AI Literacy: Using ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Tools in Instruction.

It will focus on the importance of AI literacy for librarians – so we can help our users develop that same literacy.

You’ll learn why understanding AI tools (like ChatGPT) is a necessary part of information literacy and something library staff should be learning about now.

I’ll post more about the webinar soon – after ALA has announced it on their website.

Information Literacy Tutorials for Undergraduates

Information Literacy Tutorials for Undergraduates

You can adapt and reuse these tutorials.

In January of 2019 I took a position as e-learning developer at the University of Arizona Libraries. I enjoy this work because I get to collaborate with my colleagues to create tutorials. I also enjoy learning to use new software tools for creating them.

The first tutorials we developed were aimed at undergrads to help them develop basic information literacy skills. They are based on concepts from ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy.

My colleague Yvonne Mery, is an expert instructional design librarian. She was the visionary behind these tutorials and I helped bring them to life. She came up with the learning goals, wrote the scripts, created the practice sections, and gave feedback on my work throughout the process. I created the videos, recorded the voice-overs, and designed the tutorial websites and PDF assignments.

Tutorials landing page

Each of these tutorials has 4 sections:

  • Watch
  • Think
  • Practice
  • Do

The Watch section contains a short, animated video that introduces the topic. The Think section is a quiz to help the student review what they learned in the video. The Practice section is a hands-on exercise that offers a chance to practice the concepts. Finally, the Do section is an optional assignment that can be used in a classroom setting and submitted to the instructor.

We used the following tools:

  • Vyond – for creating animated videos
  • Vimeo – for hosting the videos
  • Articulate Rise – for the website that presents the entire tutorial and for creating the quizzes
  • Sidecar Learning – for the practice section
  • Google Forms and Adobe Acrobat DC – for the assignments

Want to borrow these tutorials for your students?

All of these tutorials are open for use by anyone. We used a Creative Commons license so you can adapt and share your own versions of these with your students.

Would you like to try one of these tutorials for yourself? Start with How Do I Evaluate Online Information? or How Do I Create a Search Strategy?

Many University of Arizona instructors used these tutorials by embedding them in our learning management system, D2L. That way they could give students grades for completing them as part of their courses.

We’ll have more assessment results later, but for now you can read comments from our students on the effectiveness of these tutorials.

Making Library Services Accessible: online tutorial

Making Library Services Accessible: online tutorial

Does your library staff feel confident about serving people with all types of disabilities?

It’s an important topic for all staff to know about , and it can be difficult to keep everyone up to date.

To help with that, I’ve created an informative and enjoyable online tutorial that you staff can complete in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Part 1: Making Library Services Accessible

This part is for any library staff member. It will help your staff:

  • Understand the different types of disabilities.
  • Feel empathy for people with disabilities.
  • Know why it’s important to make services accessible.
  • Learn how to provide help effectively.

 

Part 2: Making Library Websites Accessible

This part is for library staff who are responsible for websites and online services. It will help your staff:

 

  • Understand the WCAG principles.
  • Become familiar with the top priority accessibility guidelines.
  • Know how to use accessibility checkers and understand the results.
  • Become familiar with specialized tools for making writing clear, captioning videos, choosing accessible color combinations, and more.
  • Know how to learn more about specific accessibility topics.

Nicole’s accessibility tutorials for library staff are current, comprehensive, and relevant.

Our staff who complete this tutorial understand the importance of accessibility, feel empathy for people with disabilities, and know how to provide help effectively!

Samantha Everett

King County Library System, WA

Making Library Services Accessible

What’s included, how it’s delivered, pricing, and more.

Power Searching the Internet: The Librarian’s Quick Guide

Power Searching the Internet: The Librarian’s Quick Guide

Here’s what one reader said about my book, Power Searching the Internet.

This was a fast, practical read that packed a major punch.

It’s immediately useful for something I’ve always thought of as asymmetrical searching – not databases, but search engines and social media, managing Internet tools that react to you and your activity. Our patrons really need this info. Alas, it’s already going out of date – it gives some advice about Google+ (RIP) that is a shadow of things to come. Half of this stuff could be out in a year as Google and Facebook and the rest constantly morph into new, not necessarily better iterations. Meanwhile, though, tools like GScholar have stayed pretty stable.

This is also good foundational knowledge – if you know how it works now, a little change (or, in Twitter’s case, another goddamn overhaul) won’t completely throw you. Well worth $35!

Anna Gooding-Call

Freelance writer and public librarian

I always appreciate when people take the time to review a book of mine! Learn more about the book below.

Table of contents

1. Using Google Effectively

  • Special Features
  • Advanced Search Features
  • Personalization
  • Privacy of Your Google Data
  • Other Privacy Tools

2. Using Other Google Sites Effectively

  • Google News
  • Google Translate
  • Google Books
  • Google Scholar
  • Google Maps

3. Multimedia Searching

  • Google Image Search
  • Finding Images with Licenses That Allow Reuse
  • Reverse Image Search
  • Searching for Videos on Google
  • YouTube Filters
  • Vimeo Search

4. Social Media Searching

  • Twitter Search
  • Facebook as a Search Engine
  • Instagram Search
  • Pinterest Search

5. Finding Old Websites

  • Using the Wayback Machine from Internet Archive
  • Using Google’s Cache

6. Data, Statistics, Comparisons

  • Using Wolfram Alpha

7. Conclusion

  • Things to Remember
  • Resources—Learning More

Become a power searcher

What’s your tech personality?

What’s your tech personality?

When it comes to new technologies, are you mainly a visionary or an implementer? Find out by taking this quiz. Tell us your results in the comments!

This quiz helps to frame the discussion in the online course, Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies. Learn more and sign up now — the course is filling up fast!

Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies

“Outstanding course filled with excellent ideas, resources, and hands-on practice!”
— Laurel Reinhardt, Technology services librarian, Madison County Public Libraries

4 week course begins Jan. 7, 2019

New Book: Siri, Alexa, and Other Digital Assistants: The Librarian’s Quick Guide

New Book: Siri, Alexa, and Other Digital Assistants: The Librarian’s Quick Guide

Are you curious about Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and other types of voice computing?

If you have an Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod you might think that these are only for home use. But actually, libraries are experimenting with ways to use voice computing (by creating skills, loaning smart speakers, offering workshops, and more).

  • Understand the basics of this technology.
  • Learn how libraries are experimenting with voice computing.
  • Get inspired to experiment in your library.

My new book is now available!

Siri, Alexa, and Other Digital Assistants: The Librarian’s Quick Guide
Table of Contents

1. What is Voice-First Computing?

  • Introduction
  • Definitions
  • Platforms Overview
    – Voice Assistants on Other Devices
  • Typical Tasks
  • Third-Pary Skills
  • Statistics
  • Advantages of Voice Computing

2. Hardware and Skills

  • Hardware
    – Smart Speakers
    – Smart Home Devices
    – TV Devices
    – Home Robots
    – Voice Computing in Cars
    – Hearables
  • Comparing Platforms
  • Creating Skills
    – Alexa Skill Development
    – Google Action Development
    – Is It Possible to Monetize a Skill?
    – Creating Skills for Libraries

3. Real-World Uses

  • Hands-Free Situations
  • Workplace Uses
  • Benefits for the Elderly
  • Benefits for People with Disabilities
    – Uses for the Blind and Vision Impaired
    – Voice Control Helps People with Mobility Impairments
    – What about People with Speech Impairments?
  • Use in Libraries
    – School Libraries and Classrooms
    – Public Libraries
    – Academic Libraries

4. Privacy and Ethical Concerns

  • The Privacy of Your Voice Data
    – How to Control Your Voice Data
    – Block Incoming Voice Calls
    – Disable Voice Purchases
    – Privacy Recommendations for Design of Voice Interfaces
  • Children and Voice Assistants
    – Ethical Concerns
    – Recognizing the Speech of Young Children
    – Voice Computing for Children Is Here to Stay
  • Sexism in Voice Computing
  • What Librarians Need to Know

5. The Future of Voice Computing

  • A Primary Way of Using Computers
  • Advances in Speech Recognition and Natural Language Processing
  • Possible Uses in Libraries

Notes
Resources
Index

Get the book, and let me know what you think! Is your library experimenting with voice computing?

Siri, Alexa, and Other Digital Assistants

The Librarian’s Quick Guide