Northern illinois university, in partnership with old dominion university and the university of north texas, will research whether library-archived university records, made accessible through…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Northern Illinois University $1.235 million on September 1, 2026, under the National Leadership Grants program (CFDA 45.312) to research whether library-archived university records made accessible through specialized AI agents can improve the accuracy and trustworthiness of student academic advising support.

Northern Illinois University, in partnership with Old Dominion University and the University of North Texas, will develop an open-source toolkit that uses specialized artificial intelligence agents to provide library-led student advising grounded in archived university records. The project will evaluate the toolkit's effectiveness through a controlled study across the three campuses and curate a "University DNA" archive of governance and policy records to support long-term access and reuse. Work brings together librarians, academic advisors, and artificial intelligence researchers across the three institutions.

Performance occurs in DeKalb, Illinois, with a period of performance ending August 31, 2028. The award is classified as a Project Grant.

Northern illinois university, in partnership with old dominion university and the university of north texas, will research whether library-archived university records, made accessible through specialized AI agents, can improve the accuracy and trustworthiness of student academic advising support. This research project is based on a specialized artificial intelligence architecture grounded in library curated university archives. Working with librarians, academic advisors, and artificial intelligence researchers across three institutions, the project will develop an open-source toolkit that uses specialized artificial intelligence agents to provide library-led student advising grounded in archived university records; evaluate its effectiveness through a controlled study across three campuses; and curate a "university DNA" archive of governance and policy records to support long term access and reuse.