Generative AI Features in Major Databases & Platforms

Rutgers University Libraries purchases and subscribes to a wide variety of electronic resources to meet the needs of students, staff, and faculty. E-Resources platform providers are introducing generative AI tools built into their platforms that provide new ways to search and evaluate information. This guide helps you learn about generative AI features that are currently available in Rutgers' major databases and electronic resources platforms of broad interest to students, staff, and faculty.

To see all databases currently available to Rutgers University Libraries, please use our Databases List. You may also use QuickSearch.

If you have questions about Rutgers University Libraries' electronic resources, please contact the ERM queue, erm@rutgers.libanswers.com

• Many of these tools are beta releases or in development, and design and functionality may change over time. We will endeavor to update this guide as needed. We will also periodically evaluate this guide to determine whether its structure and scope are appropriate.
• AI tools do not replace traditional search methods, metadata, and evaluation techniques; they are offered alongside of them as a new way of gaining research insights. We invite you to try out the new AI-powered methods and determine how they will best fit into your research process.
• If an AI tool doesn't produce any results for your search query, try a different search method, such as the database's basic or advanced search. There may be resources available for your research topic that the AI tool was unable to find. AI tools have limitations, especially around sensitive topics (such as hate and bias, sex, violence, and self-harm) due to guardrails that attempt to prevent the generation of inaccurate or harmful responses. This means that some AI tools may not be useful for academic research in these areas.
• AI tools operate over a limited body of content (whether generating a summary of a single article or searching across a database). If that body of content doesn't contain material related to a topic (or only contains a limited amount of material related to a topic), an AI tool may not provide thorough information about that topic.
• AI-generated summaries can help you determine whether a resource is relevant to your research, but they may not be entirely accurate, and they are not a substitute for reading the full text of the resource. You should always read the full text of a resource before citing it or incorporating it into your research. If an AI tool cites a document, you should check that document to make sure it has been cited accurately and in an appropriate context.
• Please do not enter personal information into generative AI-powered tools, especially as some providers may review the queries you enter in order to determine whether they provided accurate responses.