Enhancing Research Efficiency: Integrating GenAI in Academic Research with Institutional Approved or Licensed Tools

The rapid emergence of generative AI (GenAI) has greatly impacted the academic research landscape, offering both challenges and opportunities. A course director at the Faculty of Dentistry University of Toronto piloted an AI-focused initiative. Students were asked to submit two versions of an essay on a research topic: one written by themselves and another generated by AI simply using Microsoft copilot with only minor directions. A librarian was invited to the in-class seminar discussions to gather insights into students’ AI experiences and perceived challenges. Based on these findings, recognizing a growing need for students to understand and effectively integrate GenAI tools into their research process, we designed a workshop to promote additional institutional licensed tools such as Scopus AI, Web of Science Research Assistant among others. In addition, we show students some practical strategies for leveraging AI tools throughout various research stages. By promoting those tools, our objective is to empower our students to develop critical evaluation skills, use those AI tools more efficiently and improve productivity. Ultimately, it will lead to improved research outcomes. This will also guide course directors in their future implementation of AI components in their respective programs. The workshop was scheduled for early 2025. A post-workshop survey will assess the effectiveness of this approach and guide future AI-related library instructional sessions. This poster presentation will share some key findings from the classroom assignment, the development and content of the workshop, and the anticipated results. Through this case study, we aim to contribute actionable insights for academic libraries navigating the continuous and changing landscape of AI and research.