CLG are pleased to showcase our first quarterly wrap up, of our events held from September to December 2025. We hope you enjoy reading in this new format.
September - Parker Library Visit
In September our event was a wonderful tour of the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge led by Tuija Ainonen, Sub-Librarian and Special Collections Librarian.
We heard about the life of Matthew Parker who was an undergraduate, then a Fellow and eventually the Master of Corpus Christi in the sixteenth century. Later, as Archbishop of Canterbury, he oversaw the establishment of the Church of England. He collected a great number of books (many of which he annotated) and built an extensive library of medieval manuscripts and early printed books which he bequeathed to his College.
We were also able to explore the Parker Library’s fascinating exhibition all about Making Medieval Manuscripts. There were beautiful examples from the collections which illustrated the process, including preparing the parchment, writing, illuminating and binding.
We were all blown away by the incredible history of the Library and thoroughly enjoyed Tuija’s engaging talk which brought it all to life. Seeing the manuscripts on display was a real privilege. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear more about a significant Cambridge collection, and to learn more about how these unique objects were made and have been preserved for centuries.
Contributed by Natalie Kent
October - AI and Information Literacy and Visit to Murray Edwards Library
AGM and talk; Between Books and Chatbots: Empowering Academic Librarians to Lead AI Literacy Conversations by Alberto Garcia at Murray Edwards College.
In October, the CLG met for their Annual General Meeting, and for a talk on AI, before taking a well-deserved trip to a local pub.
The AGM covered several points of importance, including the number of current members and the state of accounts, as well as reminders to complete the members survey (which has been emailed to CLG members), and to stay up to date with CLG news by checking our website, LinkedIn and Bluesky. The current committee was re-elected, and updated members on upcoming events, such as the Christmas meal on the 18th December, and the Twelfth Night celebration in January.
The event then moved onto Alberto Garcia’s talk, titled ‘Between Books and Chatbots: Empowering Academic Librarians to Lead AI Literacy Conversations.’ He outlined the development of AI in recent years, from the focus on large language models in 2023, to Chat GPT-4 passing the bar exam. Two opposing views of how generative AI can influence higher education have emerged during this time: A dystopian one signalling the end of homework, online exams and the death of the take home essay; and a more utopian vision where literature reviews can be completed in minutes, long texts can be paraphrased almost immediately and repetitive tasks are delegated to AI.
For several years, universities did not implement an AI policy, but now almost every institution has one, including Cambridge. To counter rapid development, withholding wonderment at every new update can be a useful tool, along with a focus on bringing AI back to its central function. In other words, function, rather than novelty, should be the deciding factor for whether AI should be used, and how useful it is when applied.
Academic libraries are uniquely placed to meet the challenge of generative AI education, as we have handled our own existential crises before: the issues of automation in the 1940s, and the Googleification of information in the 1990s are two prominent examples of librarians rising to meet the challenge of new technology changing the profession. Furthermore, academic libraries occupy a unique liminal status. Librarians help with education, but we are not always seen as teachers, or as qualified in the books we handle. Others see librarians as occupying a pastoral role. However, librarians have aided with information literacy since the 1970s, and AI literacy is a new aspect of that skill. AI users still need to question bias and source authority from information we come across. Many students are now using AI to aid with their university work, and believe that they will need to use it further after leaving education. Librarians need to be in the room where conversations happen about AI in education.
The CLG participated in a scenarios activity, where we ranked different instances of using AI on a scale of helping or hindering learning. Context was very important for each situation, and there was a wide variety of answers between groups. Garcia has used similar methods in college teaching, and on his course on AI Literacy and the CILN Framework, which he will likely be repeating for library staff in future.
Contributed by Erin Hutton
