AIIP Connections Blog – Page 2 – The Resource for Independent Info Pros

Doing Research with Government Documents

Because the U.S. Federal Government conducts and funds so much research and publishes a wealth of information, there are government documents on an astonishing array of subjects.

Real Information – Artificial Intelligence: Using AI in General

By Arthur Weiss

Editor’s note: This is part of a series covering what’s new and, more importantly, how infopreneurs can maximize the benefits of AI tools.

Over the last two years, AI has seemed to be taking over the world. Just looking at the most well-known generative AI product gives an idea. ChatGPT claims nearly 200 million visits per day with around 800 million weekly active users – roughly 10% of the world’s population. These numbers have doubled since February 2025, and ChatGPT now claims an 81% share of global traffic among AI chat tools. (See https://www.demandsage.com/chatgpt-statistics/ for more statistics.)

Thriving as a Solo Expert: 4 Counter-Intuitive Strategies You Haven’t Tried

By Marj Atkinson, MLS

Being an independent consultant can feel isolating, especially as technology and AI rapidly reshape our profession. Without the resources of large organizations, solo experts must develop a new form of strategic leverage. For Internet Librarian Connect 2025, I’m sharing firsthand insights on how solopreneurs build research support networks through community collaboration.

How Federal Buyers Find Small Business Vendors – And How You Can Be One of Them

By Christina Mortel

Editor’s Note: Getting Started in Government Contracting is part of a series on US government contracting (GovCon) opportunities at all government levels. A non-US entity may register in SAM.gov as a foreign entity.

If you are new to government contracting, one of the first questions you might have is: How do federal agencies find small business vendors?

Real Information – Artificial Intelligence: Prompting AI, Part 2

By Arthur Weiss

Editor’s note: This is part of a series covering what’s new and, more importantly, how infopreneurs can maximize the benefits of AI tools.

In the last post, I gave a guide to the basic principles of prompting – knowing your objective and recognizing how prompts can bias responses. This time, we explore best practices and a practical framework for effective prompting.

Grow Your Business with Online Courses: An illustration of Instructional Design for Infopreneurs

By Amy Ferguson

Trying to turn your expertise into a marketable online course? As information professionals who curate knowledge for a living, building and selling online courses is a natural next step for many of us. But without a plan, creating an online course can feel overwhelming. Where do you start?

That is where instructional design comes in.

What is Instructional Design?

Instructional design is the art and science of creating engaging, effective learning experiences. It involves understanding how people learn and structuring content to improve learning.

At its core, instructional design involves:

Defining the knowledge and skills learners should have acquired by the end of the course.
Creating learning materials that capture attention and encourage learning.
Assessing whether learners have achieved the intended goals.

Several instructional design models guide course development. ADDIE is one of these models. ADDIE stands for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate.

Market Your Business with a Capabilities Statement

By Christina Mortel

In my previous article on government contracting, I covered research basics on how to find the agencies that need your business products and services. Along with having research on hand, businesses need to develop a company capabilities statement. This document is required to work with local, state, and federal agencies and is helpful when working with private sector entities. The capability statement is a key component of your business development efforts. Let’s dive in.

Prompting AI (Part 1)–AIIP Series on Artificial Intelligence

By Arthur Weiss

Editor’s note: This is part of a series covering what’s new and, more importantly, how infopreneurs can maximize the benefits of AI tools.

On job sites, you’ll discover that there’s been a boom in job ads for “AI Prompt Engineers.” Some jobs pay well over $100,000 per year – but is “prompt engineering” actually so difficult?