By Genevieve Robinson  (Managing Director of Marketing, IGI Global Scientific Publishing) and Nick Newcomer  (Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, IGI Global Scientific Publishing) and Tracy Elliott  (Library Dean, Florida Gulf Coast University) and Rachel Erb  (Director of E-Resources, Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC)) and Russell Michalak  (Director of Library and Archives, Goldey-Beacom College)

Column Editors:  Melany Carrasco  (e-Collections Specialist, IGI Global Scientific Publishing) and Savannah Pecknold  (Communication Coordinator of Open Science Publishing, IGI Global Scientific Publishing) 

Against the Grain V38#4

Column Editors’ Note:  In July 2026, at an IGI Global Scientific Publishing webinar, a new tool was showcased, and librarians served as panelists to discuss it.  Tracy, Rachel, and Russel provided insightful feedback about how they anticipate this tool and others like it will change libraries.  This article serves as a summary to that event and brings in some sources for additional context about how librarians are viewing this change. — MC

The advancement of technologies has continued to disrupt libraries’ policies and procedures.  Today, there are researchers young enough that they may only know of a card catalog as a library relic due to the ubiquitous adoption of computers used to track and manage a library’s collection.  The impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had on libraries has been swift, and the problems it causes are largely still unsolved.  These issues are compounded by declining budgets, shrinking staff size, and increased expectations of library staff. 

So how are librarians tackling the daunting task of continuing to support researchers in their search for publications that are peer-reviewed, relevant to their topics, and current?  Modern researchers are turning to AI chat bots that can extract data from just about any source, often without properly citing or verifying the sources.  Researchers are fed a variety of information that ranges from quality to complete misinformation or even hallucinations.  Librarians are now being stripped of valuable usage data about their patrons’ interests, creating what has been labeled the “zero-click environment.”  The teams at IGI Global Scientific Publishing asked the question, “What if we built a better tool?”

“I think everybody realizes that…researchers, just average individuals on the web, librarians — everybody is engaging with content differently now.  And it’s obviously through the AI tools, whether it be Gemini, ChatGPT, or Copilot.” — Nick Newcomer, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, IGI Global Scientific Publishing

We know that searchability and the way people interact and engage with content is completely different now than it was five years ago.  With the introduction of widely available AI tools, obtaining authentic research has become even more difficult for librarians, researchers, and students.  Librarians have historically been the protective gatekeepers, guiding researchers to content obtained from quality sources, but the use of these online tools completely bypasses many of the guides they have in place. 

“I can tell you for the most part, our faculty and students haven’t been using our databases.  They have been using Google Scholar or just Google, and clicking on DOI links.” — Tracy Elliott, Library Dean, Florida Gulf Coast University, United States

Discovery systems are built to intentionally silo content exploration to available and vetted resources.  However, many in the AI sphere are critical of “data silos,” blaming them for the 95% fail rate of enterprise GenAI initiatives.¹  Nevertheless, these critiques cannot truly be applied to data that exists within a research content repository, as they are more applicable to proprietary company policies, procedures, etc.  Research content that has already been vetted by a librarian as quality, non-duplicated, and valuable preserves the AI search tool’s functionality, especially if it is built specifically for the purpose of conducting research.  This is why when the teams at IGI Global Scientific Publishing set out to create a tool that is both user-friendly and supports librarians, we pursued a siloed environment for the tool despite the critiques. 

“…What we tried to do with our tool, knowing that we have such a rich base of content within our eBook collection and within our open access journal articles, we wanted to develop a tool that mimics [the major AI tools].  It was how our tool is mimicking them and the way they react with the natural language models, but it’s siloed within our actual content, meaning the more content that the library subscribes to, or that [they] take ownership of, the more the tool is going to respond to prompts.  Again, it’s a closed system, so we’re not training on anything outside of what IGI Global Scientific Publishing offers.” — Nick Newcomer, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, IGI Global Scientific Publishing

This new AI Assistant Research Tool was designed to automatically adjust its responses to the user’s level, whether they are a beginner at research or an advanced academician with a very specific need.  Using natural language, the tool guides users directly to the content, and it can shift focus based on follow-up prompts that clarify the search, such as a request for sources that provide multiple perspectives or contradictory evidence.  Each search result will provide direct links to the content within the library’s resources of IGI Global Scientific Publishing book and journal content, and it is trained to avoid drafting extensive summaries of the text.  Each click into the reference links supports COUNTER reporting for the library’s data collection.  This element was key for tackling the issue of the zero-click environment that most AI search tools create. 

“COUNTER has developed a metric for these AI tools that are embedded in our content providers’ platforms.  However, most publishers have not adopted it yet.” — Rachel Erb, Director of E-Resources, Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC), United States  

In June of 2026, COUNTER released an update to their Best Practice on Generative and Agentic AI usage² metrics, which sets forward a path for publishers, libraries, and AI tool developers to capture even more data from AI users.  IGI Global Scientific Publishing is working to continually update our tool with this guidance to ensure that library customers can effectively make decisions about their content development.

“I think the hardest part is getting every single electronic resources person, the people who are dealing with licensing at higher education institutions to become familiar with language that they might not yet be familiar with, language which wouldn’t have been in contracts not too long ago.” — Russell Michalak, Director of Library and Archives, Goldey-Beacom College, United States

With all of the complications that AI has brought to libraries, we knew that the AI Assistant Research Tool from IGI Global Scientific Publishing needed to be something that librarians could easily implement, control, and afford.  Therefore, the launch of the tool was integrated into all existing eBook Collection customers’ access through our hosting platform.  With the guidance of librarians, we also implemented the ability to independently toggle the tool on or off, depending on the institution’s policies and preparedness. 

Conclusion

In the age of AI, sometimes you need to “fight fire with fire” and think creatively to find a solution that supports all parties involved. Thanks to publisher-library collaboration, this will continue to be a tool that aids libraries and supports the access of librarian-vetted research content. 

Column Editor’s End Note:  For more information on the AI Assistant Research Tool, visit our newsroom (www.igi-global.com/newsroom/archive/mitigating-ripple-effects-using-academic/6812/.  For questions or assistance with our eBook collections contact eresources@igi-global.com.  

Endnotes

1. https://devrev.ai/blog/break-data-silos-to-make-AI-work

2. https://www.countermetrics.org/code-of-practice/best-practice/bp-ai/