Document Type

Workshop

Version

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Other Version(s)

Final PowerPoint and Zine (Handout)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Publication Date

1-2026

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement

Presentation/Workshop for the MLGSCA & NCNMLG Joint Meeting, January 17-18, 2026.

Abstract: Librarians and library staff are increasingly called on to support faculty, clinicians, and students in navigating large-language-model generative AI tools (e.g. Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT). Yet many of these systems default to generic, bland, and even hallucinated responses that overlook the nuance of clinical inquiry, the expertise of the user, or the tone appropriate for academic and healthcare settings.

This session introduces three strategies—priming, pre-prompting, and iterative questioning—to allow users to guide AI tools toward more useful, context-aware output. Through hands-on work and guided exercises, attendees will shape AI responses by clarifying intent, foregrounding professional expertise, and pre-prompting for tone and cultural alignment. This session includes individual and collaborative practice, as well as time to debrief and compare AI tools.

All are welcome, but this session is designed for beginning to intermediate users who want to move beyond passive prompting and start engaging AI as a responsive partner. By the end, participants will be able to design system instructions to prime an AI tool to respond in a way that suits them, formulate pre-prompts that define a given task, and create purposeful prompts that reflect their values and expectations, potentially making AI a more effective tool in their day-to-day work.

Notes

PowerPoint presentation from the event.

Hand-lettered 8 page Zine.  Search "how to fold an 8 page zine' if you need instructions to turn scan into a booklet.

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