You can access the FSU Libraries Homepage at www.lib.fsu.edu. On the homepage there is a search engine bar labeled "OneSearch." To the bottom right of the bar, you can access the AI Research Assistant by clicking the hyperlink titled "Beta AI Research Assistant."
When in the OneSearch catalog interface, there is a banner at the top of the page with different search and material request features. You can access the Research Assistant by navigating to the left side of these tabs, and clicking on the tab labeled "Research Assistant."
The Research Assistant Widget appears after you have already run a catalog search. It is a blue and purple banner that will appear to the right side of the screen.
You can access the Research Assistant in any of the ways described above, or you can go to this link, and use your FSU ID credentials to log in. Once you have logged in, you will see the landing page of the Research Assistant.
1. The landing page already has example questions below the prompt bar. You can experiment first by clicking on one of these example questions. For this guide, let's click on the "How can we improve diversity in Clinical Trials?" question.
2. On the results page, you'll see that the AI Research Assistant has identified five relevant sources from the library catalogs related to your query. The tool provides an overview of these sources along with proper citations.
Important Note:
The overview presents information about the selected sources, but does not constitute a comprehensive summary of the most relevant literature on your topic. Also, the results may vary when the same query is repeated, as the AI selects from available resources in dynamic ways. The overview should not be used directly in literature reviews or academic work without further verification and analysis. For a thorough search, you should supplement these results by searching specialized article databases and other academic resources to ensure you've identified the most current and relevant scholarship in your field. The Research Assistant serves as a starting point to help you understand key sources and themes.
3. Clicking on an article will provide you with the article abstract and access options. Some articles will allow you to download a PDF, and others will link to the full text. The AI Research Assistant creates a unique search string for each query, and you can access this string by clicking on the "View more results from your library search" box.
4. The search string will automatically appear in the top search bar of the OneSearch mode. You can refine the results by availability (i.e., Peer-reviewed journals, or Held by library), resource type (e.g., Articles), or date (e.g., 2000 - 2025). After refining the search results to your specifications, click "Save query" to save the search string.
5. Your saved queries can be accessed by clicking on the pin icon that is located near the top right of the screen and navigating to the "Saved Searches" tab. You can also copy and paste this search string into an Excel Spreadsheet or Word Document for personal record, and use it to search library databases. Contact your subject librarian if you need help with interpreting or modifying the AI-generated Boolean queries for database searching.
6. From the starting page of your research question, explore the "Related Research Questions" box at the bottom. This feature is useful for developing existing research topics or brainstorming new ones.
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