Montana State University Library has introduced a new resource to help libraries address the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence. The toolkit, called “Viewfinder: A toolkit for values-driven AI in libraries and archives,” is available for free online and aims to support librarians, researchers, and others as they consider adopting AI tools in their institutions.
“I’m so excited about this tool our team has developed,” said Sara Mannheimer, associate professor with the MSU Library and project leader. “It’s been really great to see the data and research come together.”
Mannheimer explained that while artificial intelligence can improve library services, such as making materials more accessible, it also raises ethical questions. More than three years ago, she and her colleagues began developing a project to address these concerns.
The research team includes Jason Clark, Doralyn Rossmann, and Scott Young from the MSU Library; Bonnie Sheehey from the MSU Department of History and Philosophy; Hannah Scates Kettler from Iowa State University; Yasmeen Shorish from James Madison University; and Natalie Bond from the University of Montana. Their work was supported by a $250,000 grant over three years from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant is connected to the MSU Center for Science, Technology, Ethics and Society.
“We see AI as this potentially transformative technology for libraries,” Mannheimer said in a 2022 news story about the team’s work. “AI can provide services that users love – services that can make the library better – but we want to use AI in a way that is careful and with an eye toward potential harms so that those harms can be minimized.”
Mannheimer said their motivation came when they started using machine learning for tasks like summarizing articles or creating metadata. She noted that while these uses were common at the time, they raised important questions about how library values differ from those of corporations or technology developers.
“In libraries we have a very specific set of values and practices that have been longstanding; we really value patron privacy and intellectual freedom,” Mannheimer said. “These are different values than corporations have, and someone developing AI technology would have different values than someone in a library. So, we were looking to use machine learning algorithms but from a librarian’s perspective.”
The team began by reviewing existing research on machine learning in libraries and analyzing available tools for ethical decision-making. They found there was a need for resources specifically supporting ethical choices during AI projects.
“We saw that there was a need for a tool to support ethical decision-making as you’re working through an AI project,” Mannheimer said.
They then held workshops with librarians, administrators, and students to identify which values matter most when facing various AI scenarios. This input helped shape Viewfinder’s content: sample scenarios encourage users to think through issues like privacy or fiscal responsibility when considering new technologies.
“People can use this tool individually or as part of a team working on implementing an AI project,” Mannheimer said. “It helps think through potential stakeholder values and accommodate those if possible. It’s more about balancing and encouraging conversations than having a right or wrong answer.”
Doralyn Rossmann, dean of the MSU Library, commented on future plans: “As a next step, we will be working with libraries and archives to use Viewfinder in their everyday work,” Rossmann said. “It’s important to consider challenging questions at the beginning of AI projects, rather than as an afterthought, and this tool will help with that.”
Mannheimer emphasized libraries’ role as trusted institutions: “Libraries are often the first to practically implement technologies, and libraries are reliant on technologies for a lot of the services we provide,” she said. “As new technologies come through, it’s our responsibility to understand them and integrate them so we can have the best services possible and keep up to date. Because of our longstanding values and position as a trusted institution, it’s important to think very carefully about how these technologies affect our information landscape and our users.”
“We have some power to decide how we use technologies in our lives,” Mannheimer added. “Viewfinder is one way to actualize that power.”
Montana State University operates four campuses across Montana along with Extension offices statewide (source). The university focuses on collaboration with communities while providing hands-on research opportunities for students (source). As Montana’s land-grant institution based in Bozeman (source), MSU emphasizes educational access alongside its classification as having very high research activity (source).
