AI Search Assistant Overview
AI Search Assistant is an embedded, AI-powered tool designed to help users search the library’s catalog and electronic resources. Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), it processes natural language research questions to retrieve relevant library sources and provide brief summaries.
What Can AI Search Assistant Do?
- Searches only the library’s licensed electronic content.
- Provides brief summaries and recommends sources from the library’s collection.
- Ensures compliance with license terms—users don’t need to worry about restrictions because all allowed content is already included in the RAG knowledge base.
- Employs OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 Mini AI model
- Direct link to AI Assistant (login with AU credentials required)
What Cannot AI Search Assistant do?
- Think as well as you.
- Choose the only perfect 5 articles for your research
- Critically evaluate each source. (That is up to you.)
Important:
- Due to contract and licensing restrictions, AI Search Assistant does not allow materials that are not explicitly marked Open Access (OA) to be downloaded and then uploaded to any AI tool or Large Language Model (LLM). For details on usage restrictions, see this FAQ. For instructions on filtering for Open Access, see this FAQ.
- Isn't this considered "Fair Use" under copyright law?
- Our contracts and licenses with vendors govern what is permitted. Contracts and licenses prohibit downloading and uploading covered articles to AI tools. Open Access articles are excepted.
Content Limitations
While many publishers are working to make their content available, the following providers are not currently included:
- DataCite
- Elsevier
- JSTOR
- Condé Nast
Additional features:
- Search all content types or limit results to:
- Books
- Journal articles
- Peer-reviewed content
- Apply filters by:
- Publication date
- Online availability
Filters can be applied through:
- Traditional filter menus
- Directly in the search prompt (e.g., “Show only peer-reviewed articles published after 2020”).
