Libraries & Digital Learning – Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut

Student Learning with AI at Trinity

October 23, 2025 / rberanis

College isn’t just about memorizing facts, it’s about learning to ask better questions, consider different viewpoints, and connect ideas in new ways. Now that artificial intelligence is becoming part of how we learn and explore, understanding it is more important than ever.

AI tools can give us information quickly and even inspire new ideas or help organize what we discover. However, these tools are not perfect. Sometimes AI creates information that sounds right but is actually false. It can reflect hidden biases, and often doesn’t show where its information comes from. That means we need to use these tools carefully and thoughtfully, relying on our own thinking and judgment.

Being ready to use AI responsibly means understanding what it can do and where it falls short. At Trinity, that means learning to check AI’s responses against trusted academic sources and thinking about ethical concerns like transparency and credit. Some classes may limit AI use to protect academic honesty, while others might encourage it as a helpful brainstorming partner. When you’re not sure, it’s always good to ask your instructors, librarians, or advisors – they’re here to support you.

AI should be a tool that helps us think more deeply, not a shortcut that replaces careful work. AI can bring in different perspectives and help spark new ideas, but it’s important to keep going back to original sources and to trust your own thinking. Being thoughtful and paying attention to details is still what good research is all about.

Libraries & Digital Learning is here to support this journey. We offer resources, workshops, and expert help to guide students and faculty in using AI tools responsibly. As AI continues to evolve, so will our approaches. Staying open, cautious, and curious will help us make the most of AI’s potential for learning and discovery… without losing sight of the deeper value of research.

Here are some helpful resources and events, created and curated by Trinity staff, to help guide your learning:

📚 Self-Paced Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence Course
Learn at your own pace through our new Moodle course:
👉 Fundamentals of AI Course

🤖 AI Resource Center
Explore strategies, tools, and examples of AI use in teaching, learning, and research through our guide:
👉 Artificial Intelligence Resource Center

🔮 AI Séance — October 31, 3–5 PM, LITC 182
Do you ever wish you could ask a historical (or fictional) figure what the past was like? On Halloween, join us for a digital séance to do just that. Using only laptops (bring your own or use ours) and AI, we’ll commune with the dead—aka generative AI technology—to ask burning questions and test whether AI can truly teach us about history (or anything at all). This hands-on, slightly haunted workshop invites curiosity, skepticism, and maybe a little courage. Costumes optional—but curiosity required.

More Than Just a Display, Celebrating the Freedom to Read

October 7, 2025 / rberanis

Banned Books Week is here, and this year we’re taking it to the next level. The library team has put together a big, bold display and a full week of events to celebrate the freedom to read and to explore stories that have been challenged, banned, or restricted in schools and libraries around the world.

You’ll find the display in the library all month long, packed with books that have sparked debate and conversation—from classics like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, & Slaughterhouse-Five, to newer titles like The Hate U Give, Fun Home, Gender Queer, and Harry Potter. Some books include a short note explaining why it was banned or challenged, and we think you’ll be surprised by some of the reasons. The goal isn’t just to show what’s been censored, but to celebrate why these stories matter and why access to all voices is worth protecting.

Throughout the week, we’re also hosting a series of events for anyone who wants to get involved, learn something new, or just have some fun. On Monday, October 6, drop by the Cave Patio for an all-day read-out of 1984. You can listen, or grab the mic and read a few lines of one of the most famous banned books of all time. On Tuesday, stop by Level A for Blind Date with a Banned Book—pick a mystery book wrapped in paper, check it out, and take home a surprise story. On Wednesday, come to the A Level Gallery for the opening of Celebrate People’s History, a poster exhibit honoring social justice movements and the people who made them happen.

The week wraps up on Thursday, October 9, with a visit from Emily Drabinski, librarian, professor, and past president of the American Library Association. She’ll give a talk called “Beyond Book Bans: Building Power for the World We Want” (with lunch provided!), followed by a hands-on zine-making workshop in the afternoon and a reception to close out the day.

All events are free and open to everyone, and you’re welcome to drop in for any part that interests you. Whether you stop by the display, read a banned book, make a zine, or just join a conversation, you’ll be part of a campus-wide celebration of curiosity, creativity, and the freedom to read.

Summer Fun: Find Your Next Adventure in the Library

June 10, 2025 / rberanis

Summer on campus has a rhythm of its own… slower mornings, golden afternoons, and a little more room to breathe between responsibilities. Whether you’re here for research, working a campus job, or just passing through the library on a quiet day, we invite you to discover our Summer Fun book display, thoughtfully curated to spark joy, creativity, and gentle reflection.

This display is designed for anyone seeking inspiration—whether you’re looking to unwind with mindful wellness practices, explore new creative hobbies, or simply enjoy stories that celebrate self-discovery and personal growth. You’ll find books that encourage you to slow down, nurture your mental health, and embrace the power of community and self-care.

Artists and makers will discover guides to drawing, painting, collage, pottery, and fiber arts – perfect for experimenting with new techniques or finding your creative flow. For those interested in hands-on activities, there are resources for baking, cooking, and exploring global cuisines, as well as books that celebrate the therapeutic joy of making and sharing food.

We’ve also included books that support self-reflection, journaling, and mindfulness, offering prompts and perspectives to help you connect with yourself and others. Whether you’re interested in personal development, body positivity, or finding strength in community, you’ll find stories and advice that resonate with you.

And for those who love to tinker, invent, or learn new skills, there are books on makerspaces, technology, and DIY projects – inviting you to build, create, and play.

This display isn’t about required reading – it’s about choosing something that sparks your curiosity or simply makes you feel good. Come browse, borrow, and maybe discover a new favorite. The display will be up all summer long in the leisure reading area.

As always, feel free to reach out if you’d like personalized recommendations – we’re here to help you find a book that matches your summer mood.

Wishing you a season of rest, delight, and unexpected discoveries.
☀️📖✨

AI-Based Library Research Tools

January 16, 2025 / Amy Harrell

There are many AI-based tools under constant development that can help you locate, understand, and/or summarize research literature. A non-exhaustive list would include: Semantic Scholar, Elicit, Research Rabbit, Perplexity, Consensus, and Scite. They vary in the types of sources they index and the format of their search results, but they commonly attempt to summarize and distill large and complex amounts of information for you.

They each have their pros and cons, but can they replace JSTOR or your favorite library database? Not yet. Here are a few tools to look at more closely – they all draw on Semantic Scholar’s corpus of sources, but they present content in very different ways.

Semantic Scholar: In existence for a few years already, Semantic Scholar partners with publishers in STEM and social sciences to access scholarly content. When you type in a search, the results will look similar to Google Scholar, with the exception of the TLDR article summary. Click “Expand” at the end of the summary and you can read the article’s abstract. If you click on the article title you can follow the citation network for the paper: its references, citations, and “related papers.” The drawback appears to be its search algorithm, which does not always understand your search string or question. Nevertheless, you can potentially discover different sources than if you use Google Scholar alone.

Elicit: Elicit borrows Semantic Scholar’s corpus of literature and puts an entirely different user interface and searching algorithm on top of it. Elicit built a strong user following on its model involving the “Top 4” papers and a TLDR summary. But as of Fall 2025 Elicit now generates a detailed, synthesized report for you, which can take several minutes. The report includes an abstract and detailed analyses of each of the sources used for the report.

Research Rabbit: Research Rabbit also borrows content from Semantic Scholar. It is primarily a citation mapper, rather than a search engine, and works best if you “feed” it a few papers first. For this task, it can sync with Zotero and upload collections or folders. From there, explore references, citations, and “similar work.” Confirmation bias is a risk, of course, but nevertheless and it can be revealing to “go down a rabbit hole,” as it were, as you uncover the scholarly communication thread.

Overall, literature research stands to greatly benefit from AI-based tools, especially when you are navigating citation networks, uncovering buried sources, and exploring research topics. But don’t remove your JSTOR bookmark yet.

[Updated 10/8/2025]

Trinity now has access to the Hartford Courant website

November 11, 2024 / Amy Harrell

Trinity users can now access the entire Hartford Courant website for free. Just go to https://courseguides.trincoll.edu/courantsite and select “Anonymous Access 24h” from the welcome page.

To access the Courant historical archive and read articles published from 1764 – 1998, go to https://courseguides.trincoll.edu/couranthist

Color Our Collections 2024 – Calling all creators!

October 22, 2024 / Joelle Thomas

#ColorOurCollections is an initiative from the New York Academy of Medicine to transform library, museum, and archival collections into free coloring pages. Trinity College Library & Information Technology Services participates in this initiative by publishing an annual coloring book featuring a mix of scans of our archival material and student-submitted artwork. Our digital repository hosts PDF versions of our previous coloring books.

Our theme this year is Touch Grass: Experience the Natural World. In honor of the library’s new seed library and our status as an arboretum, we’re celebrating the natural world at Trinity and beyond. This can include depictions of flora, fauna, landscapes, or any other part of nature.

Feeling inspired? All Trinity students are invited to participate by submitting their original artwork for inclusion in this year’s coloring books. See the guidelines below for details. If you have any questions, please direct them to trinitywellness@trincoll.edu.

We’re also hosting an event called Pumpkins and Pencils tomorrow, October 23, from 4:15-5:15pm in room 182 of the library. Drop by for a chance to work on your coloring book submissions and enjoy some sweet treats!

To enter the contest, be sure to submit your artwork in coloring book style to trinitywellness@trincoll.edu by NOVEMBER 15, 2024.