The library has introduced a chatbot on certain pages on an exploratory basis. This chatbot searches certain Library-provided resources to answer questions. Currently a button allowing you to activate the chatbot is present on:

• the Ask Us page
• search results pages at this FAQ site
• this page, by clicking the button below:

  Try our chatbot (beta)

The chatbot will only provide information that it finds in the sources the Library has pointed it to. Those sources are:

• FAQs at this Library Answers site
• Library-related web pages from the college website
• the list of SCC Library databases
• Library personnel pages in the SCC employee directory.

The chatbot is offered as an alternative to searching those various web pages. Instead of providing a list of search results, the chatbot responds with full sentences, and will provide links to its sources.

If you ask the chatbot questions about how to do research, it will advise you to consult human librarians.

Note: the chat service provided via Ask a Librarian icons in OneSearch and the Library website is always staffed by human librarians.

What about privacy?

This interface is enabled by a large language model from OpenAI. When you use the chatbot, you are not interacting with OpenAI directly, as you would if you used ChatGPT on your computer or phone. Rather, OpenAI is being sent your text input via an intermediary, so none of the details of your identity, device, etc., are communicated to OpenAI. Instead these are handled by our library system provider, Clarivate, with whom the library contracts for secure and confidential use of all library data.

To monitor the use and effectiveness of the chatbot, the Library is logging the first few words that you enter, and the bot's entire response. We are also logging the timestamp of each chat interaction.