How to use the FlashFind AI Assist Tool
The FlashFind AI Assist tool is located in the top menu of our FlashFind discovery catalog. You must log in with your Stockton credentials to use this feature.
It is powered by Generative Artificial Intelligence. It allows you explore academic content by asking questions in natural language. The tool uses most of the content found in our catalog to identify five documents that can help answer your question. It then extracts the most relevant information from the description/abstracts of each source to write the answer. Above the answer, you’ll see the sources used to generate it along with in-line citations that let you clearly see which source was used to generate each part in the answer. Use these sources to delve deeper into the topic and to fact check the responses from the tool.
*Keep in mind that AI-generated answers should be verified for correctness, they may not always be accurate or up-to-date.
The FlashFind AI Assist tool is not a replacement for human expertise but uses artificial intelligence to automate otherwise time-consuming tasks. The tool is designed to make it easier to understand topics, their context, and resources published about it. Use the “view related results on your library search” button to find more documents relevant to your question. Click the AI-generated “related research questions” to explore topics similar to your question.
How are responses generated?
Your question is converted into a query that the search engine understands with the help of a Large Language Model (currently GPT 4o-mini). The search engine then identifies the most relevant documents in the index. It ranks them according to how well they can answer the question and, again with the help of the Large Language Model, creates an answer from the top 5 sources.
Due to the nature of Large Language Models, answers to the same question are not always the same. There may be more than one possible answer and different resources that are relevant. If you are not satisfied with your answers, use the “Try again” button.
How to formulate a good question
To make the most of the AI Assist, it's essential to ask clear and detailed questions about academic or scientific topics. Be as specific as possible and phrase your query in the form of a question. Example queries can be found on the starting screen.
Supported questions/instructions
The AI Assist allows you to specify resource types, and dates, for example if you are looking specifically for books or articles about a topic, or works from a certain date range. The AI Assist will use this information to filter the results accordingly. For example, you can ask for sources to only consist of peer reviewed titles (e.g. “what peer review articles talk about the influence of plastic waste on marine life“D). Available filters are Articles, Books, peer reviewed and a date range. In addition, if you ask in your query for example for “recent” or “the latest” material, the AI Assist will filter the results by what was published in the last 5 years. While the AI Assist will pick up those words directly from your query, you can also use the filter function on the lefthand side of the search boxes ( “What is your research question” box, “Ask your next research question”). The filter is sticky and will be applied to subsequent queries unless you delete it, either by changing the value in the filter dropdown, or by using the recycling bin on the right side of the screen.
Tip: If you want to rerun the same search as before - for example after you chose a filter - you can click into the “Ask your next research question” box and hit the “arrow up” key on your keyboard.
Share your thoughts
The FlashFind AI Assist tool is a work in progress. We encourage you to share your thoughts with us about what can be improved. Please use the thumbs up and down buttons underneath the answer to provide feedback.