Daluang: Journal of Library and Information Science
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): Article in Press

Use of generative artificial intelligence in medical libraries: A scoping review

Antonio Carlos Picalho (Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago University Hospital)
Mateus Rebouças Nascimento (Federal University of Rondonópolis)
Luciane Maria Fadel (Federal University of Santa Catarina)



Article Info

Publish Date
13 Aug 2026

Abstract

Purpose. This study aims to map how health and medical libraries have used GenAI to support library services. Methodology. Scoping review following PRISMA-ScR. Searches were conducted between 2020 and 2025 in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, LISTA, Academic Search Premier, Ovid, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, and Google Scholar. Of 250 records, 106 remained after deduplication to screening in Rayyan, blinded, by two reviewers. Results and discussion. We included 11 studies: 7 primary and 4 secondary/methods. Among primaries, 5 directly used GPT-family models (GPT-4/ChatGPT/GPT-4o or Perplexity layered on GPT-4) to: answer clinical questions, support search-strategy design, trial library tasks, and integrate source-linked answers in a national portal. One survey assessed intention to adopt generative chatbots; one case described a rule-based chatbot. GenAI accelerates workflows and extends services but requires human verification, transparency about limitations, privacy policies, and staff training (including prompt engineering). LLM-generated search strategies showed variability and underperformed human designs. Conclusions. In its current state, GenAI works best as a copilot useful for drafting, triage, and initial sense-making, while librarians remain essential for high-precision tasks (performance), quality control (reliability), and governance.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

daluang

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Library & Information Science Social Sciences

Description

Focus: library and information science Scope: > Digital Library and Repositories. > Documentation System. > Information and Media Preservation. > Information Policy. > Information Services. > Library and information technology. > Library Management. > Media and Information Literacy. > Organization ...