Several Library Faculty and Administrators presented at the 66th Biennial Conference of the North Carolina Library Association Conference held on October 14-17 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston Salem, NC. The conference Theme was Books and Beyond, Navigating New Frontiers.
Griffin Anderson and Stephanie Bennett presented a poster, "Analyzing Marketing strategies for AI Products by Leading Library Vendors.”
The poster analyzed how major library vendors market their emerging AI products—such as natural-language search tools, content synthesis features, and research aids—by comparing strategies, language, and promised user experiences across multiple case examples. It also examined the implications of this marketing for library collection management, helping librarians better evaluate AI tools and make informed, forward-looking decisions. The poster also presented research on the marketing strategies employed by leading library vendors to promote their new AI products.
Molly Keener and Hu Womack, Wake Forest University presented, “From End to Beginning: Building a Library Support Program for Graduate Students."
The presentation shared how a Wake Forest University library expanded its graduate student support from basic help with electronic thesis and dissertation submissions to a comprehensive, campus-wide outreach model spanning students’ entire academic journey. Through boot camps, workshops, a new liaison librarian role, and improved study spaces, the library developed a scalable, customizable framework for meeting graduate students’ diverse needs.
Sue Polanka and Breanne Crumpton presented, “Exploring Library Spaces Through a Student Lens.
The presentation focused on having the Student Library Advisory Board helping to design the Hickory Library, some insights from the Boone Campus Student Survey, and working with the interior design classes. We discussed how these engagement opportunities were created, what we learned from students about our spaces, and how we've used the feedback to start making changes and to inform our upcoming Master Plan.
Laura Langberg and Miles Britton, RCOE, presented, “Using the Internet to Contextualize Information Literacy for First Year Students.”
This presentation described a redesigned information-literacy lesson for first-year writing courses that begins with the open web—students’ most familiar information environment—before introducing library databases, helping students better understand search processes and the organization of information. Through multiple pilot iterations, student feedback, and instructor collaboration, the approach has evolved to improve relevance, integrate topics like algorithms, social media, and AI, and reposition librarians as experts in how information is structured across platforms.
Logo for the 2025 NCLA Conference which features a rocket ship and the conference theme, Books and Beyond, Navigating New Frontiers
