When University of South Carolina Libraries’ Applied AI Specialist Vandana Srivastava saw how quickly demand for her AI workshops was growing among USC faculty, students and staff, she realized her capacity to lead those workshops effectively would be limited unless she could find a new way to host them. So Srivastava applied for – and won – a National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) award that will both significantly enhance her ability to teach larger groups effectively and improve the learning experience for workshop participants.
The award gives Srivastava and her fellow members of the Libraries’ Digital Research Services team access to the Vocareum platform, a virtual learning environment that facilitates hands-on learning and individuated instruction for groups of up to 20 people at a time.
That, says Srivastava, means her workshops can now be better optimized toward the most effective methods for mastering large language model development, machine learning, text mining and other AI-related topics. “People grasp the capabilities of these tools most effectively when they can go in and play around with them,” she explains. “But before we had Vocareum, the process of granting access to each student was so cumbersome that it inhibited their ability to move between modules and explore the way we want them to.”
The platform also makes it easy for Srivastava to see what each participant is doing throughout the session and to connect with participants individually to offer input or instruction as needed, so that the learning experience is more individuated and customized.
“Hands-on workshops are absolutely the most effective way to provide AI training,” Srivastava says. “Now we’re able to offer that experience much more seamlessly and to provide it to more people at once.”
The expanded capacity is helpful, since demand for some of Srivastava’s workshops has increased by 100% over the past year. “There is clearly interest in and demand for AI tools at USC, and that interest is very cross-disciplinary,” Srivastava notes. “We are excited to be able to offer more, and more inclusive, programming on AI, with support for people in the social sciences and humanities as well as for those in STEM fields. In the abstract, people can find things like text mining hard to understand, but when you give them case studies, they can see how it applies to their research. And if they become interested enough to take the next steps and learn how to program with Python or R, we can help with that as well.”
“I am extremely grateful to Vandana for applying for the NAIRR award and very glad that she received it,“ says University Libraries Dean David Banush. “Vandana is doing outstanding work advancing AI skills and applications, and this new tool will help her expand her outreach effectively and efficiently."
NAIRR awards provide researchers and educators with computational, data and training resources that advance AI research and research that employs AI. Initially established in 2024, NAIRR is housed within the National Science Foundation and partners with 13 other governmental agencies and 28 nongovernmental partners to build foundational AI capabilities.
“Earning NAIRR support establishes our library as a leader in AI research and puts us in a conversation with other libraries at the forefront of this work,” Srivastava says. “And having resources like these in the libraries is especially valuable, because it makes them available to the whole university.”
USC Columbia faculty and students who are interested in learning more about how AI can support their research can find a workshops schedule here or can reach out to Srivastava any time at vandana@email.sc.edu.