Prompt Engineering for Academic Librarian: Implications and Applications of Prompt Engineering in Academic Librarianship

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed research and scholarly communication ecosystems. More and more instructors and researchers have started using generative AI chatbots to help with their academic teaching and research. Prompt engineering is the process of creating and refining inputs for generative AI chatbots to generate desired responses. Known for teaching users to refine academic database keyword searching and promoting critical thinking, academic librarians are well-positioned to use prompt engineering techniques to support academic research, teaching, and learning. This paper provides reviews about the implications and applications of prompt engineering for academic librarians and how they can use prompt engineering to support their work.