Continuing Education Archives

What does it mean for our society if AI becomes capable and adaptable as a median human? In this session, participants will learn effective strategies for discussing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and high‑risk AI topics and gain practical guidance on leading AI safety workshops for their communities.

Take a deeper dive into AI by learning how LLMs work, what AI can and cannot do, and how library staff can help patrons make educated decisions about AI use.

Explore issues like bias, misinformation, and surveillance while reflecting on how these risks already appear in work and daily life.

Dr. Brandy McNeil discusses the key ethical and operational considerations in AI use; translating library values into actionable AI principles; communicating policies effecitvely to staff and the public; and addressing bias, transparency, and accountability in AI tools.

Generative AI is reshaping the publishing industry, from an upsurge in “AI slop” to the rise of AI-narrated, human-authored materials. Given how central our collections are to the library’s mission, these industry developments demand our attention. In this session, we’ll examine AI’s impact on our collections and explore strategies for how libraries can respond. 

Learning Outcomes: 

• Attendees will identify generative AI's impact on the publishing industry. 

• Attendees will identify generative AI's impact on library collections. 

Presented by Bree Kirsch, Director of the Schewe Library, Illinois College

How is generative AI changing library services, and how can librarians keep up? This session explores the impact of AI on libraries and offers practical guidance on detecting and evaluating AI-generated content. Based on Dr. Kara Kennedy’s AI Literacy Framework, participants will learn key concepts in AI literacy and gain tools to recognize AI-generated images, video, and audio.

As AI and emerging technologies continue to reshape the information landscape, libraries should embrace experimentation to navigate uncertainty and drive innovation. Using techniques from startups and rapidly evolving tech companies, this program explores how experimentation can lead to evidence-based decisions and transformative initiatives. Through interactive activities, you’ll learn how to cultivate curiosity and innovation within traditional library constraints.

This session explores the opportunities and challenges generative AI brings to libraries, balancing its potential benefits—accessibility, efficiency, staff support, and innovation—with concerns about copyright, privacy, environmental impact, job displacement, and its effect on human creativity.

This session explores practical, learner-centered approaches to teaching digital skills in spaces without dedicated computers. Learn how to use discussion-based classes, smartphone-friendly topics, and adaptable class formats to offer impactful instruction and build your community’s digital confidence—no lab required.

It’s often said “you don’t know what you don’t know” and when it comes to managing the technology in your library, that can be a daily frustration! But the truth is that anyone, regardless of their technology knowledge and comfort, can understand the essentials enough to have a handle on library technology resources such as your broadband connection, WiFi, computers and digital services.

Join Illinois Heartland Library System’s school membership coordinator Leah Gregory and Reaching Across Illinois Library System’s member engagement specialist Jessica Silva as they take you on a deep dive into using the new state databases in school libraries.

Mark McCarthy, Lead Accessibility Engineer and IT Accessibility Liaison at the University of Illinois, gave expert advice on the specific challenges and concerns brought by attendees.

This webinar provides a beginner-friendly overview of how artificial intelligent tools interpret pictures and sound to generate new images, video, and voices.

Details/Watch

Copyright, Text Mining, and AI

This webinar provides an overview of the legal considerations for researchers, creatives, and professionals navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of AI. Participants will learn about ownership, fair use, and legal obligations when using copyrighted material to build AI tools and when incorporating AI into their work. Also discussed is how AI is shaping the academic publishing landscape, particularly its impact on text mining for research purposes. 

In this tour of multimedia generative AI tools, viewers are introduced to the underlying technology – how can images be created from just a text input? You’ll see demonstrations of tools for creating images, video, speech, and music, and see examples of what these tools can generate. Also discussed are the ethical issues around training data, and the problem of “deepfakes.” Finally, ideas for how to use these tools for educational purposes are offered.