"Det har förändrat allt, men också ingenting alls" : Lärosätesbibliotekarier och generativ AI – en studie om en profession i ständig utveckling

Sammanfattning

Introduction. The aim of this thesis is to study how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) affect work in academic libraries and consequently how it affects the profession of academic librarians. This area of research is of interest due to the current lack of structure around GAI use in higher education. Considering the academic librarians’ mission to mediate information literacy, the topic of GAI is of particular interest in relation to the profession. Method. The empirical material was collected through interviews with six academic librarians, as well as observations of five online lectures about AI conducted by academic librarians. Interview transcripts and fieldnotes from the observations make up the data that was subsequently analyzed. Analysis. A qualitative thematic analysis was carried out to interpret the material. Andrew Abbotts theory of professions was used to help decipher the data, while the abductive nature of the analysis also opened for potential findings outside the initial theoretical framework. Results. GAI affects academic libraries and the professional role of librarians through the emergence of new work tasks, however common strategies for how GAI should be implemented are lacking. Librarians’ work with GAI is often driven by individual initiatives. External factors, such as how other professions view GAI, affect how librarians work. The respondents do not express any widespread concern that GAI will replace their work, rather, the results indicate that the opposite is true. Conclusion. Academic librarians are undergoing yet another shift, not unlike how previous technological developments have affected the profession. GAI is starting to take up more of their time, however the work is occasionally slowed down due to lack of time and guidelines. Better communication, more collaboration and further training are crucial, and the time for these efforts is now. This is a two year master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.