BPL’s metadata staff manages the descriptions that accompany digital items into the repository system. Those descriptions might be created from information on the items themselves, or they might be compiled from information supplied by whomever has custody of the materials. In the course of this work, the team uses a number of applications to facilitate data manipulation and remediation. These tools include, but are not limited to:

• Excel
• Google Sheets
• OpenRefine
• MarcEdit
• PowerShell
• VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
• Python

As use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools becomes more widespread, staff are exploring ways to safely incorporate their use into workflows. While generative AI is an emerging technology, forms of AI have been in use in libraries for some time now. For example, optical character recognition (OCR) technology is used routinely with digitized print materials. On-the-fly transcription to caption meetings or audio/visual materials is also widely used.

While the goal is to find new ways AI could be used to streamline certain metadata tasks, we will build on established best practices and maintain human oversight throughout. To start, we are prioritizing OCR enrichment and metadata enhancement, rather than content generation. Some tools we have been experimenting with are:

• OpenAI ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• Claude
• Perplexity

If we do begin to use AI for content generation, we will be transparent in how and when it is used.