The UCR Library is experimenting with an innovative research tool that offers users a new way of viewing and discovering information.  

Artificial intelligence-powered research has landed at UC Riverside with the library’s adoption of Yewno Discover. The new research tool aims to help users perform meaningful research in a short amount of time.  

How does Yewno Discover work? Enter a concept into Yewno Discover and users will see a knowledge map. The primary concept searched for appears as a prominent node in the center of the map and is surrounded by smaller nodes representing connected (or secondary) concepts. These secondary concepts appear due to Yewno Discover’s built-in AI that ingests and scans information from sources like Wikipedia to deliver related concepts that may aid the user in their research.  

Once a primary or secondary node is selected, the user will be able to read a brief overview of the concept, view additional information on related concepts, and access documents on the concept, such as articles and books, that take a user directly to the relevant parts of the text.  

For certain users, what may have taken hours of searching using traditional methods might just take a single research session on Yewno Discover.  

“People think and learn differently,” explained Michele Potter, the UCR Library’s Collection Strategist for STEM. “With Yewno Discover, the idea is to offer people a new way to see and use information.” 

Potter has been working with Yewno Discover to refine and optimize the research platform to better serve the needs of the UCR community. She hopes to receive feedback from UCR users on what they enjoy about the tool and suggestions for improvement.  

Unlike other research engines, Yewno Discover’s emphasis is on exploration. While some may prefer conventional research methods, Yewno Discover’s unique way of allowing users to engage with information can be valuable for the more inquisitive.  

While using the tool, if a user notices a secondary concept they are not aware of, or the user is simply curious about what these concepts have in common, users can “generate a relationship” between a primary and secondary concept to see what the two selected concepts have in common.  

“Yewno Discover is particularly useful to use when trying to understand relationships between concepts,” Potter said. "It's a way of exploring a concept that's very holistic. Maybe you won’t learn in a linear fashion, but at the end of the day, you're probably going to have a pretty thorough understanding of the concept you searched for.” 

UCR students, faculty, and researchers can try out this innovative discovery tool right from the search bar at library.ucr.edu. Type in a concept and the user can connect to Yewno Discover along with UC Library Search, WorldCat Discovery, and other research resources. Users can also visit discover.yewno.com. 

If you want to learn more about Yewno Discover, read the library’s Yewno Discover Guide.