Implementing a Chatbot on a Library Website
Abstract
A library’s website is a virtual point of contact for interacting with its patrons. Ensuring a library’s website has easily findable content is critical for providing access to library resources and highlighting services and events. One tool for assisting with content findability is a chatbot, a form of artificial intelligence software. In this case study, Lehman College’s Leonard Lief Library implemented Ivy, a proprietary educational software chatbot on its website, the first of its kind for an academic library. This chatbot functioned as a new tool that assisted users seeking information and provided insight to librarians about the kinds of topics students search for via the library website. This article provides the first detailed description in the literature of an implementation of a proprietary chatbot for an academic library.
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Most current chatbots in academic libraries have primarily conversational, summarization and on demand assistance roles.
“Unlike the primarily conversational, summarization and on demand assistance roles of most current chatbots in academic libraries (Ehrenpreis & DeLooper, 2022;Verma, 2023),”
From Using Agentic <scp>AI</scp> to Enhance the Quality of Academic Libraries’ Responses for Student Queries (2025) · cites this paper as Ehrenpreis & DeLooper, 2022
Ehrenpreis & DeLooper (2022) explore how their library prioritized privacy considerations in AI tools and services, through working with a chatbot vendor to adjust privacy settings.
“Additionally, Ehrenpreis & DeLooper (2022) explore how “their library prioritized privacy considerations in AI tools and services, through working with a chatbot vendor to adjust privacy settings” (as cited in Mannheimer et al., 2024, p. 23).”
From The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries (2025) · cites this paper as Ehrenpreis & DeLooper, 2022
The vendor agreed to avoid tracking users' IP addresses, but it took months and in the meantime patrons' IP addresses were still visible on transcripts.
“The vendor agreed to this, but it took months and, in the meantime, patrons' IP addresses were still visible on transcripts (p.136).”
From The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries (2025) · cites this paper as Ehrenpreis & DeLooper, 2022
AI privacy concerns conflict with the ALA's value of privacy as evidenced by the Ehrenpreis & DeLooper (2022) example in which Ivy was tracking its users' IP addresses.
“Also, AI privacy concerns conflict with the ALA's value of privacy as evidenced by the Ehrenpreis Ehrenpreis & DeLooper (2022) example in which Ivy was tracking its users' IP addresses (p.136).”
From The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries (2025) · cites this paper as Ehrenpreis & DeLooper, 2022
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- Authors
- Ehrenpreis, M., & DeLooper, J.
- Affiliations
- Lehman College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ehrenpreis, Michelle
- Venue
- Journal of Web Librarianship
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-04-03
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 120-142
- ISSN
- 1932-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1932-2917
- OpenAlex
- W4226334290
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 11.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Web Librarianship (publishedVersion)
- CUNY Academic Works (City University of New York) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web and Library Services
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
- Keywords
- chatbots, library websites, academic libraries, user search behavior, library user services
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