The Libraries are excited to introduce a new AI-driven way to explore scholarly sources using LibrarySearch. Research Assistant allows you to ask research questions in your own words, rather than relying on traditional keyword searching.

The tool constructs an advanced search across over 5 billion records in a unified database of vetted, reliable academic materials, then returns citations for five relevant sources and provides a brief overview of these sources based on their abstracts. Additionally, it offers suggestions for related research questions. You can also view the complete search results generated by Research Assistant in LibrarySearch.

Research Assistant enables you to discover content beyond St. Thomas collections. Items not immediately available locally can be requested through our interlibrary loan service.

As with any experimental tool, there are limitations. Research Assistant is not able to retrieve sources from local collections, like physical books owned by St. Thomas. It also excludes news content and material from certain providers, including JSTOR and Elsevier.

To make the most of Research Assistant, try asking detailed, specific questions about academic topics, like the ones displayed on the starting screen.

We hope you find this new tool helpful! We welcome you to share your feedback through a brief survey.