Semarang (03/23) – The Library Science Study Program, Faculty of Humanities (FIB), Diponegoro University (Undip) held a guest lecture on Wednesday (8/3/2023) from 9-11 am virtually via Zoom Meeting. The topic of this guest lecture was “The Future of Libraries and Librarians in the ChatGPT (Artificial Intelligence) Era. This activity is mandatory for Library Science students at Faculty of Humanities (FIB), Diponegoro University (Undip) who are currently in their fourth semester. Nevertheless, the guest lecture participants remained enthusiastic about participating in the activity. When the moderator, Nur’aini Perdani SP., M.A., opened the Question & Answer session, three participants asked questions to the speaker simultaneously. Furthermore, when the Master of Ceremony, Luthfi Nurhayati, asked for the participants’ impressions of the event, they expressed positive feedback through the chat box, such as “exciting,”, “great,”, “very useful”, and so on.
This guest lecture invited Ida Fajar M.A., Ph.D., a lecturer at the Information and Library Management Master’s Program, Media and Cultural Studies Study Program, Graduate School, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), as the speaker. The topic discussed was “ChatGPT and Libraries: The role of libraries in the era of disruptive information technology”. He provided an overview of the utilization of ChatGPT in libraries as part of reference services. ChatGPT can be used by libraries as an additional reference source when providing reference services to users. It is also related to the implementation of the metaverse in libraries, which can provide more attractive services such as book displays, Machinima (videos shot in a virtual environment), virtual conferences, and others.
In addition, Ida Fajar M.A., Ph.D., spoke about the current trend of libraries, which is to produce information to document knowledge. The produced information can be used as a repository that is not limited to written works but also recordings, such as photo and video repositories, and others. In producing information, libraries can involve the community as contributors.
Currently, libraries in Indonesia are still underdeveloped, as they are limited to simple automation, such as cataloging, basic digital libraries, and following various administrative procedures, and some things are left out, such as reference collections. As a result, libraries are slowly being abandoned by users. Therefore, librarians need to be adaptive to the development of information technology and have a futuristic mindset to develop libraries, so that libraries remain relevant in the future.
Conducting this guest lecture is hoped that it can ignite the enthusiasm of Diponegoro University’s Library Science students to continue learning and developing futuristic thinking. Furthermore, students can be encouraged to research the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in libraries as a form of contribution to library development and the fulfillment of one of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education, which is research.
