CanadaEducation2021 – ongoing

University of Calgary

Library AI reference chatbot

Calgary library staff reported that their chatbot diverted 50% of live-chat questions

WorkingCompany's own claim

Problem

The library needed to support students during pandemic closures. Human-managed live chat remained a demand on reference staff.

Approach

The library implemented a commercial multilingual chatbot in 2021. It answered questions using library web content and operated around the clock. Staff described its later configuration as combining a language model with retrieval-augmented generation.

Results

50%questions deflected from human-managed live chat, according to library staffCompany's own claim[1]

1.5full-time-equivalent reference staff freed for higher-level tasks, according to library staffCompany's own claim[1]

Takeaway

Staff reported capacity freed for higher-level reference work. The figures described work reassignment rather than eliminated positions.

Sources

Works in Progress Webinar: Lessons learned from implementing an AI reference chatbot at the University of Calgary Library
OCLC Research20 Nov 2024Research paper or report

Source summaries

[1]OCLC Research20 Nov 2024

OCLC presented library employees' account of the deployed chatbot. They reported question deflection and reference capacity freed, without an independent measurement.

Full details are in the original sources.

Added 1 Nov 2026 · Updated 1 Nov 2026