Abstract
Teaching librarians across sectors who wish to reconsider their approach to Information Literacy practice in light of the influence of generative AI.
Abstract
What happens when search disappears? Or when students turn to generative AI instead of databases, and citations become endangered? This workshop invites librarians to imagine a post-search future, collaboratively and speculatively rethinking Information Literacy in a world where information is generated, not retrieved.
Generative AI has proved to be a pervasive and inescapable influence across society in the past three years. Educational institutions must adopt a proactive and informed stance in response, preparing learners to critically consume produce and engage with information. This involves the critical integration of AI tools and outputs in the areas of teaching, learning and assessment. Librarians who develop and deliver Information Literacy programmes play a crucial role in this arena, as they are versed in existing frameworks outlining key areas of competency relevant to generative AI, for example, search, critical evaluation, and ethical approaches to information. Information Literacy frameworks are mirrored in higher education sector policy and position statements which emphasise ‘fostering critical discourse, ethical awareness, and adaptive curricula that prepare students for an AI-augmented future (Carden and Freeman, 2025).
Through discussion, critical analysis and design, workshop participants will engage with new pedagogies that challenge the status quo (Dunne and Raby, 2013) and reimagine the librarian’s role deploying traditional frameworks (Secker and Coonan, 2011) in light of generative AI. Through a speculative scenario followed by a series of provocations presented via ‘Future Literacies cards’, participants will develop emerging competencies to support adaptable and fresh approaches to teaching.
This workshop centres on the student and learner of 2030, a cohort described as the most talented, enterprising, and diverse yet (Imperial College London, 2025). These students will bring high aspirations, global outlooks, and lived experiences that challenge traditional academic pathways. Meeting these students’ needs requires rethinking how Information and Digital Literacy support their academic work, career readiness, and global citizenship.
In my dual role as Senior Teaching Fellow for Library Services and Lead AI Futurist in Education at Imperial, I’m tasked with anticipating where policy, strategy, and guidance must evolve to meet future learners’ needs, and reshaping existing frameworks that prepare the university for what comes next (Imperial College London Library Services, 2025).
The workshop offers a collaborative space to share my work at the intersection of Information Literacy (IL) and AI Literacy (AIL), while drawing on the insights and expertise of LILAC delegates to shape an evolving vision for the university, or educational space, of the future. ‘Librarian as Futurist’ can be experienced by all participants through the activities in this workshop.
References
Carden, G. and Freeman, J. (eds.) (2025). AI and the Future of Universities. HEPI Report 193. Oxford: Higher Education Policy Institute. Available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AI-and-the-Future-of-Universities.pdf [Accessed 16 Oct. 2025].
Dunne, A. and Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. London: MIT Press.
Fernandes Blanco, D. Digital learning designer. Personal communication. 22nd October 2025.
Hackl, V., Mueller, A. and Sailer, M. (2025). The AI Literacy Heptagon: A Structured Approach to AI Literacy in Higher Education. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18900 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2025]
Imperial College London (2025). Imperial class of 2030. Available at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/strategy/enabling-talent/class-of-2030/ [Accessed 4 November 2025]
Imperial College London Library Services (2025). Information and digital literacy. Available at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/library/learning-support/information-and-digital-literacy--/ [Accessed 4 November 2025]
Nahar, N., et al. (2025). Cultivating AI Literacy in Higher Education students: A Four-Step Conceptual Framework. In Artificial Intelligence in Education: 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Palermo, Italy, July 22–26, 2025, Proceedings, Part III (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 15879, pp. 16–29). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98420-4_2
Secker, J. and Coonan, E. (2011). A new curriculum for information literacy: Executive summary. [pdf] Cambridge: Arcadia Project, University of Cambridge. Available at: [Accessed 6 Oct. 2025].
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I acknowledge the use of Microsoft Copilot (https://copilot.microsoft.com/) to generate an initial list of ideas for this proposal, and an initial workshop outline, including the Future Literacies cards, which I refined and expanded on.
