AskAway Blog

Generative AI Literacy at UVic Libraries – Adding Scripts to Libraryh3lp to encourage conversations about Generative AI

Submitted by Jaclyn Fong on

By Tina Bebbington and Christian Schmidt, UVic Libraries

UVic Libraries has embraced AI Literacy as a core competency for all librarians and library staff, and are working towards this goal across several platforms, including the creation of an AI Literacy Task Force in 2023. The AI Literacy Task Group have created a variety of tools to support the development of AI literacy in reference and instruction that are sharable, adaptable and promoted across campus.

AskAway Tips: Student Edition

Submitted by Cristen Polley on

By Ishvani Hans, UBC AskAway Student Librarian

I’ve been working as an AskAway student librarian for over a year now. Having engaged with a diverse range of patrons and addressing their queries, I have identified recurring themes of problems. If you’re new to AskAway, you may find these tips helpful.

Welcome back to AskAway!

Submitted by Sydney Brogden on

Welcome Back!

We hope you enjoyed your summer and are feeling ready for the exciting fall term ahead. In this post, try out the Refresher Quiz to help you stay sharp then check out the rest of the blog post below to learn about updates for the new term and reminders about the supports and resources available to AskAway Service Providers.

Reflection on the 2023 North American Virtual Reference Online Conference (NAVROC)

Submitted by Sydney Brogden on

The North American Virtual Reference Online Conference (NAVROC) took place from February 21-23, 2023. For those who were unable to attend or would like to revisit a session, recordings will be available on the conference website soon.  

The keynote presentation and theme for the conference was Wholehearted Libraries: Meeting the Needs of Community, from Dr. Michael Stephens of the School of Information at San Jose State University. This theme translated into the great variety of sessions presented over the three half days. Sessions covered a wide range of topics, some of which are directly applicable to AskAway while others are more relevant in the broader virtual reference environment.  

In Celebration of the New AskAway Chat Tag: Open Education

Submitted by Cristen Polley on

The new Open Education tag allows us to track those questions when a service provider explains or provides access to Open Access, Open Education, or Open Textbook resources. This includes questions about no-cost textbook options, for example a student looking for an older version of a textbook from the library. In celebration of this new tag, Elizabeth Padilla (BCIT) shares the B.C. Open Collection and her role in developing the new home for the collection.

Update: Recommended Citation Guides and Websites

Submitted by Sydney Brogden on

In this post, find out about recent updates to the Recommended Citation Guides and Websites. Many thanks to Elizabeth Fernandes (Liaison Librarian at University Canada West), Shannon Moist (Head of Reference Services at Douglas College) and Tina Bebbington (Humanities Librarian at the University of Victoria) for their work on this update!

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