NASIG 2026

A discussion of the University of North Texas Libraries review of various workflows and processes related to Electronic Resources and changes implemented to make them more efficient.

Changes and innovations in libraries are almost ubiquitous. What happens when you have a say in specific changes and innovations? In the presentation “You, Me, and Productivity,” Jackie Blanton-Watkins of Kennesaw State University will discuss leveling up into an Assistant Director position and rethinking productivity to make sure the team is doing work with impact, both across the library and across campus. Blanton-Watkins recognizes that she is an individual contributor, a project manager, and team leader, and figuring out how to manage all this work dropped her down a rabbithole about Personal Knowledge Management (PKM). PKM has helped cut through the noise, prioritize and manage the information you keep to release the cognitive load and be truly productive and accomplish awesome things.

In “Keep it 100 at the SEA: Navigating the Choppy Waters of Departmental Change,” Michelle Colquitt of Clemson University will outline the rebuilding efforts for both the Metadata Services and Acquisitions Departments after a period of extreme attrition due to retirements and other personnel departures. Colquitt will relate changes and rebuilding of both departments through a critical lens assessing change management in accordance with both the Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians and Print Serials Management, specifically in the domains of Effective Communication and Supervision and Management. Topics discussed in this portion of the session will include: change management, succession planning, process and procedure documentation, peer support and mentoring, and team building exercises.

Libraries have long grappled with the complexities of legacy metadata, particularly in serials and government documents, where inconsistent practices, evolving cataloging standards, and repeated system migrations create persistent data quality problems. Tasks once viewed as too time-consuming or difficult to tackle at scale are becoming increasingly manageable with the rise of practical, library-focused applications of artificial intelligence. This session presents two case studies from the University of Toronto Libraries that demonstrate how AI can transform long-standing metadata challenges into transparent, replicable, and sustainable workflows. The first case study highlights an initiative that uses ChatGPT and Alma Cloud Apps to generate and standardize serials item-level metadata. Through AI-driven methods, the project automates the retrospective itemization of holdings, creating more accurate and consistent records. It also demonstrates how generative AI can support both the creation of item-level metadata and the regeneration of serial summary holdings. The second case study illustrates how AI-generated Python scripts can remediate government document metadata at scale by clustering similar bibliographic records and programmatically selecting higher-quality OCLC replacements to enhance discovery and overall record quality. Together, these projects show how generative AI, guided by librarian oversight and supported by robust APIs, can amplify human expertise and make long-standing legacy data challenges newly solvable.