A study of Croatian public libraries: Challenges and opportunities in embracing artificial intelligence.

Todaro, Alyssa

Vrana, R. (2025). A study of Croatian public libraries: Challenges and opportunities in embracing artificial intelligence. Public Library Quarterly (New York, N.Y.), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2025.2458378 

This article is an exploration of the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Croatian public libraries and the librarians' awareness of AI technology as it relates to the future of library science. The researches found that most implementation of AI technology focuses on the enhancement of existing library operations and services with limited original concepts/solutions using AI technology. 

It's interesting to learn about the implementation of AI in international libraries and consider how the challenges they are facing are similar and different to those of libraries in the United States. The research results provide insight into how librarians are currently implementing AI, what areas of librarianship could benefit from AI, and the perceived benefits of AI. This article is helpful when considering the broad scope of AI applications in the library and what potential barriers might exist to successful application.

Amazon searches and the future of AI in libraries

 Hi All--

There is an interesting report by two of Amazon's researchers about how it ranks its searches. This study was conducted by Daria Sorokina and Erick Cantu-Paz. Daria went to Lomonosov Moscow State University for her master's degree and then to Cornell University for her PhD. Erick went to Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México for his bachelor's degree and then to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for his PhD. They both worked for Amazon--A9, which developed Amazon's search engines for all of its sites--when the report was written and published the report for an international conference where it was reviewed.

Amazon's report is specifically about how Amazon ranks its products in search results to be relevant to customers. Amazon trains its searches. This means that it focuses on how consumers react to its results and modifies them to be popular with them. The researchers' methodology was to record consumer reactions--purchases--and then, through several models, produce more relevant results. An additional method was to count searches to see whether the relevant search, the purchase, happened with relatively few searches.

Search engines can be quite complicated because they must be the store clerk and the store all at once. That means that they must guess what the customer wants and so must be able to interpret language and cues from the customer. Thus, search engines must use natural language processing (NLP) to judge whether, for instance, a customer wanted a "casual dress" as in something a girl might wear and not dress shoes. Search engine calibration was done partly beforehand and also live through customer responses and data analysis. There were, apparently, discrepancies between what consumers wanted at the top of the page and what consumers bought.

This is applicable to public library technology use because we use search engines all the time and, increasingly, AI. By training searches and correctly interpreting prompts, we can redirect to the right book, for instance. Thus, NLP is very important for automated understanding of when people do not know which book they want. AI is a major improvement on more traditional Google-like keyword searches but can often misunderstand major changes in prompts--it's an inductive machine, primarily--and hallucinates. Time will tell whether further improvements will fix this.

--Nicholas Bullen

References

Cantu-Paz, E. & Daria, S. (2016). Amazon search: the joy of ranking products. SIGIR.  http://doi.org/10.1145/2911451.2926725

Blog Post - Collection Development Techniques Gathered from a Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection

Rosie Ramos

Zaghmouri, L. (2023). The First of Its Kind: Collection Development Techniques for the Vasche Library’s Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection. Collection Management, 48(1), 48–55. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1080/01462679.2022.2099331

Summary:

In The First of Its Kind: Collection Development Techniques for the Vasche Library’s Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection, Lena Zaghmouri examines how California State University’s Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection developed and expanded a uniquely specialized circulating collection in Modern Assyrian Studies, which is rare and unique. Motivated by a donor’s $50,000 endowment and a broader initiative to support an emerging academic program, the project sought to fill a significant gap in library collections, where most Assyrian-related materials focus on the ancient world rather than contemporary Assyrian communities, histories, and cultures.

Zaghmouri highlights the collaborative and innovative methods required to build a collection in a field with limited, often difficult-to-acquire materials.Their primary strategy involved systematically searching the Online Public Access Catalogues of major research universities such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard, and Princeton in an effort to locate titles not currently held by the Vasche Library.

The article underscores how collecting for marginalized or low-publication fields requires strategies beyond conventional acquisitions workflows. The team’s work revealed that the existing collection already held most commonly available titles, making community outreach, author contact, exploration of self-published works, and partnerships with small and local presses which are essential for future growth. Zaghmouri argues that these nontraditional methods not only support collection development but also strengthen the library’s relationships with local Assyrian communities and scholars, ensuring that the collection remains relevant, comprehensive, and culturally responsive.

Evaluation:

I really enjoyed reading this article because I think it highlighted some important aspects of collection management that I am interested in practicing at some point in my career. I really appreciated the team's approach to collection development with an application of practices specifically catered to working with smaller communities. I also appreciated how Zaghmouri addressed the criticism academic libraries receive as being elitist institutions while also outlining different ways that librarians and library staff can work on bringing down the barriers affecting different marginalized communities. 

Brewster Kahle on the History of the Internet Archive

Photo of Kahle via Wikipedia

Folsom, Jake.

Swisher, K. (2017, March 8). Full transcript: Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle on Recode Decode [podcast transcript]. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2017/3/8/14843408/transcript-internet-archive-founder-    brewster-kahle-wayback-machine-recode-decode

This reading was an episode of the podcast Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, in which Swisher interviews Brewster Kahle founder of the Internet Archive (IA), covering his career, the archive, as well as industry trends and outlook. 

Kahle and Swisher had known each other professionally for some time at the time of recording, and they seem to be sympathetic with one anothers' positions on several issues surrounding tech and information science, leading to a congenial and freewheeling conversation. I came to the episode as a listener of Swisher's podcasts, and found her conversational style to be a natural fit with this interview. As it happens, I actually found the interview through an information search for interviews with Kahle after working on a project about the Internet Archive during r my metadata course.

I found Kahle's work so interesting within the context of this course, because the IA is a great example of a resource available to any library with computers as an addition to its collection. Librarians who recommend its services are also contributing to the connection development within their institutions.

Kahle is an interesting and idiosyncratic thinker, describing 501(c)(3) organizations as great American innovations and a kind of "secular church." Kahle is also an interesting and relevant figure for his prescient recognition of trends in society and economy (he is talking about OpenAI in this podcast from all the way back in 2017!) 

Over Thanksgiving weekend, a family member recommended Ian McEwan's "What We Can Know" to me, and what she told me about the book had unmistakable thematic parallels to Kahle's work, and in particular his oft-cited analogy between the Library of Alexandria, and the risk of disappearing digital items, and the importance of an archive to preserve them. As McEwan's book tops year-end lists for 2025, we can see Kahle's ideas remain relevant and captivating to readers and thinkers.

Toddling Toward Technology Computer Use By Very Young Children

Dizon, Haidee 

Hinchliff, G. (2008). Toddling toward technology computer use by very young children. Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 6(3), 47-50.

The article provides an interesting perspective on the young children’s early use of computers and technology. Because of the changing technology landscape, technology will continue to be a major part of young children’s learning and developmental growth. While some parents may be hesitant to introduce computers to their young child, the article shares that libraries can be sources of community support on digital media use and education. This can stem from simple creation of products, coloring, or reading digital stories. In fact, there are educational programs that offer parents tips on how to guide website and educational computer use (i.e. Mediatech Foundation, PBIS, and ALSC). Lastly, recent students have also noted school readiness in Head Start programs that discovered that preschoolers, who used developmentally appropriate education sites for fifteen to twenty minutes, demonstrated positive results on school readiness and cognitive tests (Hinchliff, 2008). With these ideas in mind, introducing technology to young students demonstrates several benefits when they advance in their academic careers. Students learn to use technology for demonstrating their knowledge and skills, while reinforcing literacy skills in different formats and materials.   

Overall, the article serves as a supportive resource on introducing computers and digital resources for parents. It discusses how children will be able to learn and engage in reading through diverse formats. It is also an engaging article that poses questions for some skeptics about the  early use of technology and young children. During my preschool teaching years, I also experienced doubts because I noticed that more children had increased screen time, which limited social interactions. I did not entirely support iPads and other screens to infants and toddlers because these devices did not allow students to engage with others meaningfully. And because of the critical early childhood education years when young students need to develop language skills and interact with others, these devices pose challenges for families on how it should be used appropriately. In this way, I did not understand why we should have a lot of screen time and technology present for young children. However, after reviewing this article, I started to realize that it is acceptable to introduce technology early because young students will continue to experience changes in the technological landscape. More importantly, it is adapting to the technology and understanding the educational programs that are available for teachers and students. As future librarians, we are valuable resources for families and teachers on educational technology and how it could be incorporated within school curriculum and literacy. Ultimately, young students will benefit from the computer programs that practice content materials and showcase learning in diverse media.    

 

Blog Post_ Community Collaboration In Ethnomusicology Archives: Ethical Considerations For Collections Management

Posted by: Martin, Melissa

Citation: VanCour, S & Vallier, J. (2021). Community collaboration in ethnomusicology archives:

    Ethical considerations for collections management. ARSC Journal. 52(1). https://link-gale-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/apps/doc/A663758128/AONE?u=csusj&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=2407f723

Summary

This article addresses two collections – Melville Jacobs Collection and Crocodile Café Collection. The idea of addressing these specific collections is to evaluate the “nature and ethics of collection ownership and access” and “reimagined traditional principles of collection stewardship, embracing a collaborative, community-oriented approach as the cornerstone for ethical management of recorded sound collections in contemporary ethnomusicology archives” (VanCour & Vallier, 2021).  

The Melville Jacobs collection consists of 96 Edison and Ediphone cylinders and over 100 varies disc sizes of other materials (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). They document music, language, and stories from Snohomish, Tulalip, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, and Duwamish peoples (VanCour & Vallier, 2021).  The materials also document other Pacific Northwest communities, like the Cowlitz of Oregon, Semiahmoo of British Columbia, and Carcross/Tagish First Nation of the Yukon (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). They are developing an free open-sourced content management system that follows an ethically grounded access model called Mukurtu, with collaboration with local tribal communities (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). This helps remove colonial barriers and acknowledges the tribal communities having ownership of their songs and stories that were recorded by Jacobs and empowering to define the level of access granted to their heritage materials (VanCour & Vallier, 2021).

The Crocodile Café Collection consists of 3,000 hours of live music from 2002 to 2007 (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). The bands on the recordings were Mudhoney, Everclear, Modest Mouse, Harvey Danger, and Death Cab for Cutie (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). Performers never gave informed consent of the recordings which leads to copyright and ethical issues of the collection (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). They created an ethically grounded access model by contacting stakeholders and user groups (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). This allowed them to take a portion of the recording and make them widely available to users (VanCour & Vallier, 2021). VanCour and Vallier concluded the importance of community collaboration on ethical management of a specific collection.

Opinion

This article does a great job at holding a conversation about ethical management within special collection. This ethically grounded access model helps replace the colonial model which was previously enforced in the institutions. VanCour and Vallier (2021) summaries colonial model as “researchers from settler nations traveling to record or extract ‘primitive’ sounds from ‘non-Western’ cultures; upon returning to their home institutions in Europe or North America, they then published their findings and deposited their field recordings into archives to be mined for further academic and financial gain.” The new model continues to work with the communities after the recordings were acquired. The institution does own the recordings and has copyright of the recording. However, it is vital to have community collaboration, with the communities who were recorded, about the level of accessibility certain materials may have in the collection. Collection management is broader than growing, maintaining, or shrinking a collection. There is an ethical element to special collections. Librarians and archivist must be aware of ethical implications when they are managing their collection.