Association of Research Libraries

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) will engage stakeholders by socializing a set of Artificial Intelligence (AI) future scenarios for research libraries and the research environment. Scenario planning is a strategy-related methodology that examine long-term assumptions and explore uncertain landscapes of future environments. This project builds on a joint ARL and Coalition for Networked Information project which has already developed 4 scenarios. Leveraging these recently prepared scenarios, ARL will develop a series for educational and outreach events to assist senior leaders across the country to help all research libraries and archives be more proactive about an AI-influenced future. They will host a 2-day national forum, develop and publish an AI Scenario Planning Toolkit, and host four workshops to train library leaders in how to deploy the toolkit within their own contexts. This project will engage library leaders to ensure that academic libraries nationwide remain relevant and critical for our communities in the next decade and beyond.