Hello everyone,
We’re pleased to announce the release of the *October 2025 issue* of
ARLIS?NA *Multimedia & Technology Review*s:
https://multimediatechnologyreviews.arlisna.hcommons.org/1192/october-2025/
This issue explores the evolving role of AI tools in art librarianship and
art history, highlighting innovative applications and critical perspectives
from professionals in the field. From AI-driven authentication of artworks
and automated transcription of historical documents to intelligent research
assistants and citation analysis tools, our reviewers delve into the
transformative potential of AI in visual culture and information practices.
We invite you to explore the current reviews by following the DOI links
provided and join the conversation on how technology continues to shape the
future of art and cultural heritage. You can also browse the full archive
of our reviews on the ARLIS/NA Commons CORE Repository.
<https://works.hcommons.org/collections/multimedia-amp-technology-reviews-editors/records?q=&l=list&p=1&s=10&sort=newest>
A heartfelt thank you to our reviewers for their thoughtful contributions,
and to Virginia Kerr for her editorial support in preparing this issue.
On behalf of the Multimedia & Technology Reviews Editorial Team:
Matthew Garklavs
Abigail Walker
Karina Wratschko
Art RecognitionReviewed by: Jack Mulvaney
Art Recognition <https://art-recognition.com/> is an AI driven solution for
appraising the authenticity of artworks to an industry standard. Responding
to the proliferation of forged assets, art experts have become adept with
techniques that assess an artwork from a position of proximity, from x-ray
analysis to the ability of a trained human eye to determine inconsistency.
Art Recognition’s website offers consistent artwork appraisal and analysis
as a guarantee, via the convenience of only needing to submit a digital
image, with certifiable results delivered within as little as 7 days.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/xdqp1-wsg49
EBSCO’s AI Insights and Natural Language Search (NLS)Reviewed by: Jung Soo
Bae
As academic research continues to evolve in the age of artificial
intelligence, new tools are emerging to support more efficient and
intuitive information discovery. ‘AI Insights
<https://www.ebsco.com/artificial-intelligence/products/ai-insights>‘
and ‘Natural
Language Search (NLS)
<https://www.ebsco.com/artificial-intelligence/products/natural-language-search>‘
are two AI-enhanced features introduced on EBSCO’s platforms to streamline
the research process and improve the overall user experience. Both are
configurable, add-on features available to subscribers of EBSCO Discovery
Service and EBSCOhost databases. This review evaluates the effectiveness of
these tools in real-world research contexts, focusing on their accuracy,
usability, and transparency. To provide practical insights, test searches
were conducted in EBSCOhost subscription databases such as *Art &
Architecture Source, *using sample research questions drawn from actual
reference interactions.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/67bn1-hg972
JSTOR AI Research ToolReviewed by: Roberto Vargas
First released in August of 2023, Ithaka’s AI Research Tool on the JSTOR
platform is the vendor’s first implementation of a Large Language Models
(LLM) on its collections. As of the writing of this review, the tool works
with articles, book chapters, and research reports. This review of the tool
will consider its functionality, the way it delivers content, its purpose,
and the documentation Ithaka provides to help people utilize this tool.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/qgvd1-6at58
OpenAI Whisper: Automatic Speech RecognitionReviewed by: Hayley Curtis
OpenAI’s Whisper <https://openai.com/index/whisper/> is a free, open-source
speech recognition model that automatically generates captions and
transcripts for audio and video files. Whisper is publicly available to
download and use from GitHub <https://github.com/openai/whisper>, so once
downloaded, it can be run locally with command line prompts or in scripting
languages like Python. Whisper provides a range of different processing
models with varying levels of speed, accuracy, and required processing
power from hardware.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/kb2fq-wew88
ProQuest Research AssistantReviewed by: Jenna Rinalducci
The ProQuest Research Assistant
<https://support.proquest.com/s/article/ProQuest-Research-Assistant-FAQs?language=en_US>
offers
a suite of tools that attempt to streamline the research process. These
tools are intended to help with search strategy and document analysis.
ProQuest launched a beta version in ProQuest One Literature in 2024 and is
now available in ProQuest Central as of early 2025.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/x18cz-fev62
SciteReviewed by: Kimberlie Sullivan
Scite <http://scite.ai/> is a citation analysis and discovery tool that
seeks to improve the transparency, reliability, and interpretability of
research, developing a system that not only evaluates the quantity but also
synthesizes the impact of citations, setting it apart from legacy citation
databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. The platform’s distinguishing
feature is its “Smart Citations” function, which adds context to scholarly
references. Instead of simply indicating that an article has been cited,
Scite categorizes the citation as supporting, mentioning, or contrasting.
The system draws on the surrounding text of each citation—usually the
preceding, current, and following sentences—to show whether a work is
affirmed, critiqued, or cited neutrally. This added layer of context helps
users quickly assess an article’s role within the scholarly conversation,
making it easier to identify influential studies, trace debates, and
evaluate the credibility of cited claims.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/nqakk-e4r26
The Living MuseumReviewed by: Liang-Chun Wu
The Living Museum <https://www.livingmuseum.app/explore> is an experimental
user interface designed to engage museum visitors and people at home with a
selection of 1.2 million artifacts from the British Museum’s digital
collections in an interactive format. This independent project is not
affiliated with the British Museum. Its infinite canvas interface centers
on two features: a natural language conversational chatbot and a curating
function. By reorganizing existing information into a conversational
format, the interface offers an accessible and engaging entry point into
the collections, encouraging audiences to explore objects in a more dynamic
and proactive way. Positioned as an experimental initiative, it focuses on
broad public engagement rather than providing original scholarly arguments
or aiming for formal academic recognition.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/kg9ah-k3835
TranskribusReviewed by: Hannah L. Jacobs
Transkribus <https://www.transkribus.org/> is a web-based platform
supporting transcription of historical documents for researchers, students,
and communities. The platform is part of a suite of tools developed by
read-coop <https://readcoop.org/> to support the digitization workflow from
scanning <https://www.transkribus.org/scanning> through to transcription
and sharing <https://www.transkribus.org/sites>. Trankribus’ automated
transcription, with manual editing abilities, handles both handwritten and
printed documents through processes known as handwritten text recognition
(HTR) and optical character recognition (OCR). To support a range of mostly
Western languages, scripts, and penmanship styles, Trankribus offers free
and paid models and enables its users to train their own custom models.
This last feature sets it apart from other historically-oriented HTR and
OCR tools. An API <https://www.transkribus.org/metagrapho> is available for
developers wanting to integrate Transkribus into their own environments.
See full review at: https://doi.org/10.17613/241k0-m4g28
--
_____________________________________________________________
*Matthew Garklavs* | Electronic Resources Librarian, Assistant Professor
Pronouns: He/Him/His
<https://pratt.libcal.com/appointments?u=74286>
Schedule an appointment with me on Zoom
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