The rapid advancement of computer-generated content, exemplified by products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, has ignited a veritable investment arms race within the technology sector. Universities, in turn, find themselves grappling with the momentous task of integrating these tools into their teaching and learning environments, catering to the evolving needs of students, instructors, and researchers alike. 

However, this phenomenon is not new to us. When the personal computer first became popular in the early 80s it was accompanied by rumors of widespread job displacement. Although, the past three decades have demonstrated that the true challenge lies not in the technology itself, but in the ability to adapt and harness its potential.  

Recognizing the urgency of this paradigm shift, Temple University Libraries has taken proactive steps to stay ahead of the curve. In a bid to initiate the much-needed discussion with faculty, the Libraries hosted a “Grand Challenges” Faculty Conversation on March 20, 2024. This forum brought together seven esteemed faculty members, who shared their insights on the use of AI within their respective industries and classrooms. 

As Dr. Christine Cleaver, associate professor in the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, aptly observed, “You are not going to lose your job to AI, rather you will lose your job to someone who knows how to use AI.” 

Dr. Cleaver underscores the critical importance of understanding the power of AI technologies and how they might best be used in our educational and professional landscapes.  

The panel was moderated by Associate Professor of Philosophy Brian Hutler from the College and Liberal Arts, and it consisted of:  

After the panel, three professors sat down with the Libraries to further discuss the hot topic: AI. 

AI in the Arts 

Abby Guido, associate professor in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture: Graphic and Interactive Design is optimistic about AI entering the design landscape. She explained that she is excited about this new tool and how it will likely minimize the time designers spend on tedious tasks that no one really enjoys doing because the tasks usually lack creativity.  

Guido reminisced about the early days of premade icons and when they first became popular in design, and she felt as if it was cheating to use someone else’s icon. She described that this is very similar to how people are reacting to AI in graphic design now, and that there will likely be an attitude shift in the coming years.  

“I had mentioned in my class this semester, let’s try to see what AI can do for us and honestly, it hasn’t been that much,” said Guido, “there’s still a long way for the visual side of AI to grow, but it’s going to happen fast. I think folks very quickly realize like having a tool doesn’t make you anything, right? It’s knowing how to use that tool.”

Although she admits that we don’t know what the jobs are going to look like for designers with this big of a technological change. Which is possibly the biggest change to technology that most of us will see in our lifetime. There is still a lot of gray area. 

“It means that our voices could be heard and explaining the power of creative work and the power of strong branding and being able to be on the level of the C-Suite position. We’ve been fighting for many years to show our value,” said Guido. 

AI in Management – Project Spark 

Dr. Christine Cleaver is also confident about the use of AI in her field, but she wants to remind students that AI can be helpful, but it can also be harmful.  

“This is not a perfection tool; this is a tool to assist you,” said Dr. Cleaver, “you can’t expect it to be perfect. It’s not going to be––humans aren’t perfect. This language model is also not perfect, but this gives you a starting point.”

Dr. Cleaver has started to use Project Spark in her classrooms which is an industry-specific generative AI tool that the Professional Convention Management Association created. 

She mentioned that this tool will streamline certain objectives for her students, such as:

“If you are a sophomore and you’re working on an operations plan for an event and you have to do a timeline, that may be something you’ve never done before, and this product assists you with putting that together so you can actually see a starting point. It’s very helpful and creates some synergy, you can foster more ideas, more collaboration, and more higher-level thinking,” said Dr. Cleaver. 

She mentioned that she is implementing reflections throughout the semester to ensure that her students are critically thinking about their use of AI and how it affects their work.  

“You need to remind the students this is not the cure. That’s why I want to put this in as a tool that they have to use all semester long, so that before they use this, they need to go through these following checkpoints so that it’s where it needs to be. I want to show the students how to use the tool in the most ethical manner,” said Dr. Cleaver.  

Communicating about AI 

Dr. Bruce Hardy, associate professor in the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication: Communication and Social Influence has mixed feelings when it comes to generative AI.  

“At least in the classroom, I can’t even imagine how much of a positive impact is going to have on our research on thinking through ways in which at least coming up with computations that we wouldn’t be able to do as human,” said Dr. Hardy, “so, I think as a tool for research and teaching, it’s going to be really important. But I know there’s a lot of concerns around other aspects, particularly like cheating.” 

Dr. Hardy underscores that many people don’t have a lot of knowledge of what AI is and most of their understanding of it comes from movies or content that they see on social media. He further went on to explain that there is a lack of equity when it comes to the actual use of AI. One must have a certain level of understanding to filter through the results similar to the analogous of the internet.  

Dr. Hardy gives an example of an app that uses AI technology to diagnose cancer earlier than doctors can. Some people who understand what AI is will see that app as a useful tool, whereas other communities who already have distrust in doctors, the media, and this kind of technology will widen that gap of distrust.  

“The thing that we have to remember is that it is still humans training machines and whatever those humans are doing that will show up in the outcome. That said, it’s a garbage-in garbage-out model. So if you put in garbage, you’re going to get garbage out,” explained Dr. Hardy, “I hope we can integrate it in ways that it really advances us and gives us more time to do other things. And hopefully by work at Temple, we can be at the cutting edge of making sure that there is equitable access to AI for everyone.”

Guest post by Will Dean Research and Data Services Librarian 

Sharing your research data in a data repository has many beneficial effects: advancing research, increasing knowledge, and helping other researchers and students learn. Data repositories make your work more accessible, preservable, and understandable for others in your field and beyond. Not to mention, that most major public and private funding agencies and many journals now require data sharing as a prerequisite for grant awards and publication.  

Temple researchers have access to four great data repository options to deposit, share, and preserve their data through Temple Libraries, including two we have joined in the past year. Read below to learn more about them, or check our guide to data sharing here. 

Repository & Library Guide	Type/ Focus	Size Limit	Offers Controlled Access	Allows Embargo
Dryad	Generalist	300 GB*	No	Only for  peer-review
QDR	Qualitative Data	20 GB*	Yes	Yes
ICPSR	Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary	30 GB*	Yes	Yes, for a year
TUScholarShare	Institutional	5 GB	No	Yes

Dryad 

QDR 

ICPSR 

TUScholarShare 

Guest post by Will Dean Research and Data Services Librarian 

Research Resources Day is coming to the Health Sciences Campus on Wednesday, April 17^th, 2024, from 1 pm to 3 pm, in the lobby of the Medical Education and Research Building (3500 N. Broad St.). The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), Temple Libraries, and Temple ITS are hosting this in-person event for all faculty, staff,  and grants administrators who work on and conduct research at Temple. For questions about Research Resources Day, please contact researchresources@temple.edu.

The event will start with remarks from Vice President for Research Josh Gladden, Dean of Libraries Joe Lucia, and Vice President for IT Larry Brandolph. 

Light refreshments will be provided. Register here.

Research Data Management – Our Research Data Services team can help you with you RDM-related questions and needs. 

Data Management Planning – Learn about Data Mangement Plans and the DMPTool. 

Data Sharing – Share your data with one of the Temple Libraries-supported data repositories, including our institutional repository, TUScholarShare. 

LabArchives and OSF – Organize and track your research project with these free electronic lab notebook and project managment platforms. 

ORCID – Get credit for your work, connect your publications and datasets, and more with a free ORCID. 

GIS & mapping – Get help with mapping and GIS data and tools from our specialist and liaison librarians. 

Publishing support – Find help with publishing your scholarly work, including finding journals, citation managers, poster printing, and more. 

Qualitative data support – Our qualitative data service can help you with collecting, finding, and sharing qualitative data. 

Evidence synthesis & systematic reviews service – Our librarians can help you learn about reviews, refine your searches, and design and carry out searches for those seeking to publish their reviews. 

Come visit the internationally acclaimed Grammar Table in front of Charles Library on March 19, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Ellen Jovin, author of the national bestseller Rebel with a Clause, will be there to answer your most pressing grammar questions, resolve roommate grammar disputes, and generally shoot the linguabreeze.

Want to take a mini grammar quiz? There will be (totally voluntary) quiz questions ready on the table for those who dare! 

Jovin has sparked curiosity around the nation with her Grammar table, from New York City to Utah she has settled tons of grammar debates, and she has an extensive digital footprint highlighting her table. Watch a short clip of Ellen on CBS Evening News below:

Guest post by Olivia Given Castello, Head of Business, Social Sciences, and Education 

We invite you to explore our new library guide to AI-powered research tools. This latest guide grew out of our guide to generative AI and chatbots and is intended to help Temple users navigate the landscape of emerging scholarly research tools that have AI features. 

You may have already encountered some examples of these tools such as Semantic Scholar, Elicit, JSTOR’s generative AI assistant, and more. The guide provides an overview and links to many types of AI-enabled tools available to support the research process. It highlights tools for literature searching and mapping, summarizing, working with data, writing code, and publishing. The focus is on tools that are free for Temple users or have a significant free usage option. 

This guide explores using popular chatbots for research, AI tools in library subscriptions, and offers guidance on assessing AI research tools. It also includes a reusable assessment rubric and assignment for instructors.  

We hope you will find this resource helpful in supporting your research and in teaching student researchers. 

Consider registering for the Libraries’ remaining AI workshops this semester to learn more: 

If you have any questions about AI research tools or need help, please don’t hesitate to contact us at asktulibrary@temple.edu. 

Throughout the year the Makerspace, located on the third floor of Charles Library, hosts a variety of workshops for makers of all skill levels. Recently, the Makerspace held a craft workshop for making valentines, cards, and other creative posters. Attendees came together with people of different disciplines and backgrounds and crafted together.

Below is a video highlighting a few moments of the workshop and what three individuals made during their time at the Makerspace.

Read about crafting activities, educational, and creative tools and offered in the Makerspace and review the upcoming workshops at the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio (LCDSS). To learn more about activities happening at the LCDSS, visit their website.

Don’t miss the next event!

Playing Together: Cooperating to Improve Gaming for Research and Education on Campus

Join us on February 27 from 2 to 4 in the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio for a chance to meet others on campus interested in using games for research, creative, and pedagogical purposes.  We’ll open with a brief discussion about why we are bringing everyone together and the resources available in the LCDSS.  With your help, we’ll scope out the short-term future of this group.  We will then break to play a variety of cooperative board and video games to get to know each other better and work some play into the meeting. 

The LCDSS is on the 3^rd floor of the Charles Library. Pizza and some beverages will be provided.

Register Here!

Guest Post by Julie Randolph, Head of Outreach and Instructional Services at Temple Law Library 

Roughly one out of every three working-age Americans has a criminal record. These records have lasting repercussions: most employers use criminal background checks, and a criminal record nearly halves the chance someone will receive a callback or job offer. Criminal convictions can also affect a person’s ability to find housing, vote, and receive mortgages or bank loans. As a result, people who have completed their sentences still find themselves held back by their criminal record. 

By removing convictions from an individual’s record, pardons provide a chance to surmount these obstacles. Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity started the Pardon Project in 2011 to help individuals with convictions receive pardons, a process simplified by the 2019 start of the Pennsylvania Board of Parole’s Expedited Review Program. Through the Pardon project, pardon coaches (individuals, including students, who have received a short training) can help people with convictions navigate the pardon process. 

Today the Pardon Project has expanded to dozens of Pennsylvania counties, and, since 2019, more than 80% of pardon applicants received a hearing, but many people still don’t know that pardons are available or how to start the pardon process. To highlight this important issue and how to get involved, on February 27, Charles Library will host a screening of the short documentary, Pardon Me, followed by a panel discussion. Further details of the event are below. 

Pardon Me is a documentary film by Philadelphia filmmaker Shuja Moore that shows how pardons offer the potential to live as full citizens and how they uplift entire communities. The film features the stories of two people going through the pardon process and includes interviews with key civic leaders. By showcasing the transformative potential of pardons, Pardon Me sheds light on the importance of addressing the long-lasting impacts of criminal records and the need for a final release from the criminal justice system.  Register here.

Join us for a film screening and panel discussion with:  

• Shuja Moore, Pardon Me director, producer  
• A PA pardon recipient  
• Associate Professor of Political Science, Nyron N. Crawford, Temple University College of Liberal Arts  
• Shelby Dolch, Temple Law student and past Systemic Justice Project participant 
• Tobey Oxholm, Director, The Pardon Project  
• Moderator: Shanda Sibley, Assistant Clinical Professor, Temple University Beasley School of Law; Director, Systemic Justice Clinic, Sheller Center for Social Justice 

Join the Pardon Project PA mailing list, volunteer, and learn how to help: https://pardonmepa.org/how-to-help/  

Co-sponsored by Temple University Libraries, Department of Criminal Justice, Department of Political Science, Temple University Public Policy Lab, Beasley School of Law, and Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity. 

Guest post by Will Dean, Research and Data Services Librarian 

Chase away the winter doldrums with data! Join Temple University Libraries for a week of educational and useful workshops and events. Our Research Data Services team is proud to present a week of virtual workshops and events that teach data skills as well as showcase the research and work of our academic community. 

Speakers will present on the use of data journalism to empower readers and the role of love in social science research. We will also cover varied topics like statistical analysis, choosing a repository to deposit your data, 3-D printing topographical maps, ethically sharing qualitative research data, and free data tools. Programs are open to everyone, and most of the in-person events will have a remote option. More information can be found on the schedule below and on this guide: https://guides.temple.edu/lovedataweek. 

Schedule of events:

Do you collect data in your research or classwork? This workshop will teach you about some of the data tools available to you at Temple. There are tools to help you with: 

• writing a data management plan 
• organizing your research project 
• collecting your data 
• analyzing your data 
• sharing and preserving your data 

Colin Evans, KLN ’21, came back to Klein in 2023 to mentor students working for the Logan Center and assist in its investigatory journalism. His work has ranged from reporting on schools to gun violence to homelessness, with bylines in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Billy Penn, and WHYY. He previously worked as the data reporter at LancasterOnline. In-person event registration is encouraged but not required. This event will also be streamed via Zoom. Please register to receive a link to attend remotely. 

This semester Temple University Libraries is launching an inspiring new series called A Time to Act: Responses to the Climate Crisis within and Beyond the University. This series will focus on various discussions about creating a sustainable and environmentally equitable university campus and community. Throughout the semester, we will cover topics related to climate action in the university and beyond, including Temple’s sustainability research agenda, and how we can translate climate scholarship for local impact.  

We will also discuss Temple’s physical plant, operations, and carbon future, as well as equity and community-focused planning strategies to build and strengthen climate justice and resilience in the Philadelphia region. This series is brought to you by Temple University Libraries, Temple’s Office of Sustainability, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, the Center for Sustainable for Communities, Tyler Climate Action Network, and the Department of Geography and Urban Studies.  

“The climate crisis is one of the fundamental realities of our time,” Dean of Libraries Joe Lucia said. “It requires the concerted engagement of people from many different fields and backgrounds to be effectively addressed. It is a key aspect of the library’s mission as a social connector to bring together experts and community members from across the university to share ideas and think through big challenges and big issues. We are very excited to be a partner in this important set of events that will become a continuing area of focus in our programming.” 

Further details of each event are listed below. 

Paul Robbins is the dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With decades of experience as a researcher and educator, Robbins specializes in the political entanglements of environmental conservation, wild species protection, and land management and control. His research has included investigations of the politics of forestry and wildlife conservation in rural India, elk management on the settled fringes of Yellowstone Park, consumer chemical risk behaviors in North America, mosquito management, and a multitude of other topics. A reception will be held afterwards with light refreshments served.  

Climate change is described in some quarters as a “crisis” and in others as a “hoax”, with a range of views in between. How can one square this with climate science, which should be more objective? This talk, led by Nadir Jeevanjee, will emphasize that there is a spectrum of climate science, ranging from well-established, “settled” science (such as global warming due to anthropogenic CO2) to highly uncertain frontier topics (such as various proposed “tipping points”). To properly interpret climate science, one must acknowledge the existence of this spectrum, and appropriately place climate and weather phenomena within it. 

Jeevanjee studies the physics of clouds, radiation, and climate, using a hierarchy of approaches ranging from pencil-and-paper theory to comprehensive computer simulations. He currently is a Research Physical Scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. This event will be co-sponsored by the Science, Technology, and Society network at Temple University.

Federal environmental and climate policy changes are intended to promote local and regional climate action, with a focus on equity and environmental justice. In this lecture, we will discuss if there is a need for more comprehensive and measurable strategies to ensure that cities and regions become truly equitable, environmentally just, and prepared for climate change. 

Featuring Chitra Kumar, Managing Director of the Climate and Energy Program from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Russell Zerbo, Advocate, Clean Air Council, and Associate Professor Christina Rosan, of Temple University’s Department of Geography and Urban Studies. This event will be co-sponsored by Geography and Urban Studies and the Center for Sustainable Communities. 

The labor–climate movement in the U.S. laid the groundwork for the Green New Deal by building a base within labor for supporting climate protection as a vehicle for good jobs. But as we confront the climate crisis and seek environmental justice, a “jobs vs. environment” discourse often pits workers against climate activists. How can we make a “just transition” moving away from fossil fuels, while also compensating for the human cost when jobs are lost or displaced? 

In his timely book, Clean Air and Good Jobs, Todd Vachon examines the labor–climate movement and demonstrates what can be envisioned and accomplished when climate justice is on labor’s agenda and unions work together with other social movements to formulate bold solutions to the climate crisis. In this lecture, Vachon profiles the workers and union leaders who have been waging a slow, but steadily growing revolution within their unions to make labor as a whole an active and progressive champion for both workers and the environment. 

See the full list of events and register here! 

Temple University Libraries has an exciting lineup of qualitative research-related workshops and events this semester! See the full list and register here.  

Staff members from the Libraries offer help with qualitative data, analysis, and QDA software and tools. Learn more about our support for qualitative research on the Libraries’ website.  Keep reading to learn more about the events we have planned this semester to bring together qualitative researchers at Temple. 

Join us for the keynote presentation of Love Data Week, with Temple University Department of Criminal Justice Associate Professor and qualitative researcher Dr. Jamie Fader. 

Most researchers learn from our earliest training about the importance of objectivity in our work. As scholars attempting to analyze the social justice movements of our time, however, we may also ask whether love may inform our research in meaningful ways. Dr. Fader will discuss the role of love (e.g., empathy, humanity, and connectedness) in qualitative social research and make the case that both validity and equity can be served by drawing on love as a research tool. To make the case love should be a component of our research toolkits, Dr. Fader will draw on her research on justice system-impacted Philadelphians.

Jamie Fader is a sociologist, book author, and ethnographer in Temple’s Department of Criminal Justice. Her research examines the lived experience of criminal legal system involvement, especially on members of vulnerable communities, such as adolescents, boys and men of color, and LGBTQ emerging adults. Her upcoming book On Shifting Ground: Constructing Manhood on the Margins was published by the University of California Press in December.  

This online workshop, presented by the Qualitative Data Repository Associate Director Dr. Sebastian Karcher, will address the ethical and logistical challenges of sharing qualitative research data. 

In 2022, the US government announced stringent requirements for data sharing for all recipients of federal grants. The requirements have been in place for National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants since early 2023 and have just been announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 2025. These new requirements pose challenges to qualitative research, where data has, in the past, rarely been shared. In this workshop, Dr. Karcher will discuss some of the ways to address the ethical and logistical challenges of sharing qualitative research data. Attendees will learn practical, hands-on strategies to facilitate both responsible research and data sharing spanning the entire course of research: research design, informed consent, documentation, and data publication.  

Sebastian Karcher is the Associate Director of the Qualitative Data Repository and Research Assistant Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University. His research focuses on research transparency, management, and curation of qualitative data and the intersection of digital technology and scholarship. The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) is a dedicated archive for sharing qualitative and multi-method research data and is hosted by the Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry, a unit of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Learn more about Temple’s QDR membership on the Libraries’ QDR guide.  

Join us for other online workshops on qualitative data analysis this semester, taught by members of Temple Libraries’ qualitative research support team: