Rethinking Digital Scholarship: Integrating Innovation, AI, and Evolving Research Practices

Presentation from the Library 2035 Mini-Conference. As we approach the next decade, libraries are poised to undergo significant transformations driven by evolving research practices, emerging technologies, and shifting societal needs. Given this, advocating for the library's engagement in the research enterprise becomes increasingly critical. This session will explore how we can design forward-thinking digital scholarship services and models from the ground up, leveraging the lessons learned by others while envisioning novel solutions to help us rethink and innovate our approach to enhancing research encompassing digital publishing, data visualization, the digital humanities, data science, and data analysis. The presenters will highlight the University of Central Florida Libraries' current model, trends from other academic libraries, paths to identifying key partners across your campus, strategies for collaboration, and potential models and future plans to consider. Participants will have the opportunity to share their service models that respond to current and future needs, integrating emerging technologies like AI, and conducting meaningful assessments to measure impact and effectiveness. Together we will learn about both successes and missteps in the field, we can craft a department that not only serves our campus community effectively but also sets a benchmark for others to follow.