From an interview with Sarah Maginnis | Technology and Innovation Law Librarian, University of Washington
For Sarah Maginnis, AI is not about having technology do her work. It is about helping her do that work better.
With about a decade of experience as a law librarian and five years as a software developer, Sarah brings legal and technical expertise to her role. She uses Purple to support research, communication, decision-making, and everyday work—while keeping her own expertise and judgment at the center.
Making Complex Work Clearer
Sarah uses Purple to make specialized information easier to understand and communicate.
While updating a research guide for the Law Library website, she asked Purple to revise the material to an eighth-grade reading level (the recommended reading level for website usability). The goal was not to change the substance, but to make the language more accessible.
“AI is helpful to help me take out some of the legalese or that more complicated, complex language to make it a little bit easier to read.”
She uses Purple in similar ways to support her with email and meetings. It helps her get up to speed on long email threads, understand the purpose of an upcoming meeting, anticipate questions, and make her own emails clearer.
She says Purple has made her a “better e-mail communicator” by helping her be “more clear and straightforward.”
Moving Research Forward
Purple helps Sarah spend less time on routine research tasks and more time focused on analysis.
Research can produce large, text-heavy spreadsheets that need substantial cleanup. Sarah uses Purple to reorganize and improve the structure of that information as she works, rather than waiting until the end of a project.
“I’m able to quickly fix that and then continue on with the research as opposed to having to do a lot of data cleanup at the end.”
Sarah also uses Purple as another set of eyes. As part of a literature review, she developed an annotated bibliography and analyzed historical patterns and trends. After completing her own work, she asked Purple to look for additional patterns. Sarah had identified two trends. Purple surfaced a possible third.
“It was helpful for spotting a potential topic within that literature review that I just hadn’t picked up on.”
Purple added another perspective to Sarah’s work, surfacing a possibility for her to evaluate further.
Supporting Better Decisions and Shared Practices
Sarah has used Purple to help with her approach to collection management. When the Law Library needed to evaluate databases for possible renewal, she used Purple to compare database contents with the library’s mission, collection policies, and existing resources. The output identified duplication and unique content that could inform the decision.
The result, Sarah says, “saved me a ton of time.” But the decision remained with Sarah and her colleagues.
She sees similar opportunities for teams to save time by moving beyond individual experimentation with AI, identifying tasks people perform repeatedly, and developing shared prompts and workflows that everyone can improve over time. One example is a reusable Purple prompt the library uses to help create transcripts for videos to support digital accessibility.
Instead of everyone independently figuring out how to use AI for the same kinds of tasks, successful approaches can become shared resources.
Starting With the Work in Front of You
Sarah’s advice for people beginning to explore Purple is to build their general understanding of AI, understand both its capabilities and its limitations, then look at the work they already do.
“They are able to identify a workflow that they do on a daily basis where a tool like Purple would be incredibly helpful.”
Sarah’s experience offers a practical model: AI can make work more efficient, clearer, and sometimes more insightful, but professional expertise and judgment remain with the person doing the work.
Learn More and Get Started
- To try Purple now, go to purple.uw.edu.
- To learn more about the tool, refer to Purple – AI for All. This is your hub for everything Purple.