Siri, Alexa, and Other Digital Assistants: The Librarian’s Quick Guide

Apple has Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana. Learn how you can use a popular technology to improve library services, increase their efficiency, and excel in your career.

Digital assistants such as Alexa and Siri can play music, podcasts, audiobooks, and the radio; answer questions; provide factual information; tell stories; and even control devices in your home. What can they do for you in your library?

This concise, practical guide will help you to understand the basics of voice computing platforms and appreciate its relevance to you as a librarian, outlining specific applications for this technology in the library. Discussions of potential applications will inspire you to include voice computing in your library services and events and give you the tools you need to do so. You’ll also find a list of the best sources on voice computing. In short, you will find everything you need to know about this important and growing technology and how you can use it in your library.

Demystifies a powerful and popular new technology and how it works

Explains how to put voice computing and digital assistants to use in your library

Addresses privacy and ethical concerns that may be raised when implementing this technology