This guide was originally produced by the U-M Library GenAI Instruction Team, which was charged from May 2024 to June 2025 to develop resources and strategies to support University of Michigan library employees who are providing instruction and consultation related to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). It is maintained on an ongoing basis.
The GenAI Instruction Team began its work in May 2024 by assessing the needs of U-M library employees for support with respect to instruction and consultation about generative AI (GenAI). Based on this assessment and a review of literature in artificial intelligence literacy, we produced a set of learning objectives to guide our subsequent work. The learning objectives described core competencies we identified as important to providing instruction about GenAI. We used these objectives as a base from which to design resources to meet expressed needs for support in the U-M Library. We developed resources iteratively, seeking frequent feedback from within and outside our design team.
The GenAI Team and its work are intended to support GenAI instruction in the Library broadly, rather than to endorse, promote, or discourage the use of GenAI. We know a variety of perspectives, concerns, and hopes exist on campus about GenAI and want to ensure library instructors are prepared to address and support our constituencies accordingly.
The GenAI Team considers its outputs as “works in progress” and is oriented towards iterative improvement and revision to better meet our instructors’ needs.
The primary goal of the GenAI Instruction Team is to help library instructors design their own instruction sessions and produce their own learning resources that are appropriate to their instruction. While our resources may be directly useful in instruction to students or other end-user audiences, their primary purpose is for the education of library instructors.