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Librarians

Supporting Better Search Habits in the Age of AI

Ellen Ovenden, MSc | Mar 14, 2026
Ellen Ovenden, MSc | Mar 14 2026

AI is changing how students begin research, judge a source’s relevance, and decide when they’re “done” researching a topic.

Library instruction can adapt by teaching AI search literacy alongside existing research and information literacy skills, helping students move from fast answers to stronger source choices and clearer research habits. 

How Search Habits are Changing
  • ▪️ In the UK, student AI use rose from 66% in 2024 to 92% in 2025.1
  • ▪️ Only 29% of UK students say their institution encourages AI use.1 
  • ▪️ 54% of students globally use AI at least weekly, suggesting routine behavior rather than occasional experimentation.2

These figures suggest a clear mismatch: use is already high, but institutional guidance is not. Many students need help not only with evaluating sources, but with understanding when AI is useful, when it’s risky, and how it fits into a credible research workflow.

As AI tools become a common starting point for research, librarians play an increasingly important role in helping students find their way to credible sources.

How Librarian Instruction can Adapt
  • ▪️ Teach effective prompt framing.
    Show students how prompt wording shapes what AI surfaces, omits, or oversimplifies. The right language choices can also improve later database searching.
  • ▪️ Teach accurate source tracing.
    If a student gets an answer from AI, the next step should be to ask where it came from, what kind of source supports it, and whether it can be verified in library tools.
  • ▪️ Teach appropriate tool choice.
    Some tasks benefit from AI-supported brainstorming or explanation (e.g., narrowing a broad topic, generating keywords, or getting a plain-language overview), while others require structured database searching, cited scholarship, and careful source comparison (e.g., finding peer-reviewed studies, tracing original evidence, or building a reference list).
  • ▪️ Teach comparison, not only use.
    Ask students to compare an AI-generated answer with a database result or identify what evidence is missing from an AI summary.
  • ▪️ Build onto existing instructional frameworks.
    AI does not need to sit outside library teaching. It can be integrated into search, evaluation, and academic integrity guidance, much like shared learning support across courses.

The Next Step

Librarians can reduce confusion by making AI use discussable, teachable, and tied to research quality. For a closer look at how academic libraries are responding, explore JoVE’s webinar, The Pulse of AI in Academic Libraries. The session covers how AI is reshaping library services and discovery, ways to build AI capability and confidence, and practical examples including Ask JoVE.

The Pulse of AI in Academic Libraries

 

  1. Freeman, J. (2025). Student Generative AI Survey 2025 (Policy Note 61). Higher Education Policy Institute & Kortext. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/HEPI-Kortext-Student-Generative-AI-Survey-2025.pdf
  2. Digital Education Council. (2024, August 7). Key results from DEC Global AI Student Survey 2024. https://www.digitaleducationcouncil.com/post/what-students-want-key-results-from-dec-global-ai-student-survey-2024  

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