Wednesday, March 12, 2025
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1 - 2:30 pm ET
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- Understanding the underlying technology
- Prompting for language models
- Multimodal AI for education and accessibility
- Generating multimedia with AI
- AI tools for library research
Registration for this series requires a strong commitment to attending all five sessions, as each session builds upon the previous one. Participants are strongly advised to register only if they can attend the entire series. Each session will be recorded, with exclusive access to the recordings available for BLC members.
Session 2: Prompting for Language Models
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 1 - 2:30 pm ET
In this session, you’ll learn to craft effective prompts for your task and for the type of model you’re using. Then we’ll demonstrate how to build specialized chatbots (or custom GPTs). This will help you understand how different models come to have different “personalities” and capabilities. We’ll look at methods for prompting to avoid bias and to reduce incorrect responses. We’ll conclude by looking at some of the newer “reasoning” models, discussing what they are useful for, and how to prompt them effectively.
Subsequent Sessions:
Session 3: Multimodal AI for EducationWednesday, March 19, 2025, 1 - 2:30 pm ET
In this session we’ll cover the multimodal features of generative AI. You’ll learn about multimodal features like working with data, coding, language translation, generating transcripts, voice assistants, and computer vision. You’ll see examples of how these technologies are useful for education, especially for accessibility.
Session 4: Generating Multimedia with AI
Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 1 - 2:30 pm ET
In this tour of multimedia generative AI tools, you’ll be introduced to the underlying technology – how can images be created from just a text input? You’ll see demonstrations of tools for creating images, video, speech, and music. You’ll see examples of what these tools can generate. We’ll discuss the ethical issues around training data, and also the problem of deepfakes. Finally we’ll offer ideas for how to use these tools for educational purposes, with ethics in mind.
Session 5: AI Tools for Library Research
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 1 - 2:30 pm ET
In this session, you’ll learn how to use language models for library research, including idea generation, searching, summarizing, and studying. We’ll cover Perplexity, Claude, NotebookLM, and Elicit. You’ll learn the differences between semantic searching and keyword searching. We’ll look at some methods for evaluating AI tools that vendors may offer for purchase by libraries. We’ll also take a look at some open-source models and discuss what open-source means for generative AI. We’ll conclude by looking at some of the newer types of models, especially those that can do a series of steps at once to create a research paper, like Deep Research. What might this mean for the future of library research?
