Ethical AI and Librarianship
A Resource Guide
Introduction
This website hosts a resource guide on Ethical AI and Librarianship. Focusing on ethical implementations of AI in libraries, the guide includes X resources in 10 formats, including articles, videos, events, and courses/tutorials. The resources are published/updated between 2020 and 2024, created by authors and institutions internationally.
AI impacts how people retrieve, select, access, consume, and generate information. While the strengths of AI have been recognized, ethical concerns have sparked debates. Libraries, as information organizations that support various users, have been applying updated technology to user-centered services. Incorporating responsible AI that complies with ethical principles into library services is critical to the library communities.
Resources that explore approaches to optimize AI while reducing risks and preventing harm have increased rapidly. This guide compiles selective resources to assist information professionals navigate the fast-evolving development regarding AI applications, ethics principles and standards, ethical concerns, and the impacts of AI on library services.
The guide is expected to 1) assist libraires with making informed decisions on implementing ethical AI in library services, 2) advance librarians’ understanding of how AI and ethical issues may influence their work, and 3) inform library users on how AI and ethical concerns may shape their library experiences. 4) support library and information science (LIS) educators to include ethical AI in the curriculum, and 5) provide LIS students information on the current trends of AI and ethical concerns, and the influences on their career.
Acknowledgement
The project team would like to address our gratitude to the people and institutions that support this project.
We thank Charlene Chou, the head of knowledge access and resource management service department at New York University libraries, for her insights as an academic librarian and metadata expert. As a consultant of this project, Charlene points us to critical resources, and ensures that the resources in this guide are relevant to practitioners.
We appreciate the American Library Association (ALA) Carnegie-Whitney Grant for funding this project.
We would also like to thank the administrative and IT support of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
