JSTOR Resources for Licensing Representatives

By incorporating generative AI features into the JSTOR platform, we aim to empower students, faculty, researchers, and librarians to deepen their research, comprehend complex content, and unearth new avenues for discovery. Please see Approaching generative AI together: A letter from Kevin Guthrie for a robust statement on our broad approach.

What it does:

The beta feature harnesses the power of generative AI to offer the following capabilities:

• Generate a summary with key points and arguments from the text itself, helping users quickly determine if an article is relevant to their research
• Suggest topics and show related content within the JSTOR corpus that is relevant to the text, enabling exploration of possible paths of inquiry
• Answer questions posed by users based only on the content of the document being viewed
• Search JSTOR in a new way with a semantic search-powered capability that works better for natural language queries than traditional keyword search
• Find more information in Gen AI platform updates:
  • Platform update: GenAI Beta (Aug 1, 2023)
  • Platform update: GenAI Beta Enhancements (Oct 19, 2023)
  • Platform Update: More GenAI Beta Enhancements (Oct 27, 2023)
  • Platform update: Introducing semantic search for beta users (Nov 13, 2023)

What it’s called:

We will not be introducing a formal name during the beta phase. User feedback and other learnings gathered during this phase will guide the development and naming of our final feature. As a placeholder for the beta phase, we will leverage descriptive labels (e.g. “JSTOR's AI research tool”) with potential to formally name or personify later.

We are starting with a “limited beta,” meaning only invited users will be able to use the research tool. This will allow us to carefully control the amount of users and our ability to respond to feedback we may get. Only users who are affiliated with participating institutions and are logged into their personal account will be invited to opt in. 

Timeline:

• August 14, 2023: begin to allow users to volunteer as beta testers; invite users to join the limited beta once we’re ready 
• August 28, 2023: invite first 50 users to try the beta tool
• Current: We will incrementally add more users to the beta while we monitor usage, engagement, and feedback. Based on these learnings, we will incrementally improve the tool.
• Future: Once we are comfortable with performance of the features and the feedback we are getting, we will decide to move on to an “open beta” 

Steps to request one-off user access to the research tool

One-off requests go to PAUS:

1. Request via email to support@jstor.org.
2. Please include email on the account or the username. NOTE: Please first confirm with the person that they have a JSTOR account affiliated with their email. If they don't, please ask them to set one up.

These are yours to pull from in answering questions from our community, and to share with participants as needed. You'll also find tips below on where and when each asset might be most helpful to you!

Core asset:

• Explore generative AI on JSTOR - on-platform landing page covering our strategic approach to generative AI, the purpose and function of the beta research tool, and the nuts and bolts of the beta program. Full, easily searchable copy is viewable here. This should answer most of your and participants' questions, though the assets below provide more detailed information!
• Best for... finding answers to questions you may receive; sharing with participants who are looking for more information

Other assets: Refer to and use the below for more detailed, nuanced, and/or thorough information and for participant meetings:

• Blog posts:
  • Approaching generative AI together: A letter from Kevin Guthrie  (Aug 14, 2023) - Speaks to our mission-driven approach to deploying new technologies to improve the learning and research experience for JSTOR users. Best for... understanding how our gen AI fits into our mission; sharing with participants who want to understand how we are approaching generative AI in more detail than the on-platform landing page provides.
  • Empowering research with generative AI on JSTOR (Nov 30, 2023) - Overview of the tool, what it does, and how it can be used, all in terms of the user problems it solves. Best for... understanding to user problems the tool aims to address; sharing with participants who want to understand what the tool does in more detail than the on-platform landing page provides.
• Video - Gen-AI Research Tool pt1 - Overview of tool - Brief video introduction to the generative AI tool's functionality. Best for... gaining a visual understanding of the tool's functionality; sharing with participants who are looking for a demo of the tool.
• Deck for Outreach with Talking points covering highlights from the above resources, for use in participant meetings. Best for... participant meetings.
• Demo script that can be used with participants. Best for... self-guided study AND participant meetings.