Investigating applications of Artificial Intelligence in university libraries of Pakistan: An empirical study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the university libraries of Pakistan. Following the explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach, this study was completed in two phases. In the first phase, quantitative data was collected from 237 university librarians from across Pakistan. In the second phase, 10 purposefully selected university librarians were interviewed. The results reveal that Pakistani university libraries are using limited AI-based library services including text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies, Google Assistant to search by voice command, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system for self-checkout, check-in, and security purposes, and intelligent data analysis for collection management. This study explored key factors that influence implementation of AI applications including highly integrated technological infrastructure, funding/cost associated with AI, collaboration between AI experts and professionals, and library users' feedback. The major identified challenges were the requirement of a highly networked and integrated environment, lack of budget, high cost of AI technologies, and lack of staff expertise. This study claims to implement the first comprehensive survey of AI applications in Pakistani university libraries at the national level. The research findings would support library and university administrators to integrate AI applications in libraries not only in Pakistan but also in other developing countries.