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Journal Of Korean Biblia Society for Library and Information Science

  • P-ISSN1229-2435
  • E-ISSN2799-4767
  • KCI

ISSN : 1229-2435

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Vol.37 No.1

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Advancing Digital Reference Services through a Hybrid RAG-Based Model: Integrating the “Ask a Librarian” Knowledge Base with Generative AI

Journal Of Korean Biblia Society for Library and Information Science / Journal Of Korean Biblia Society for Library and Information Science, (P)1229-2435; (E)2799-4767
2026, v.37 no.1, pp.287-310
https://doi.org/10.14699//kbiblia.2026.37.1.287
jeonghoon Lim
Sun Tae Kim
Lim, j., & Kim, S. T. (2026). Advancing Digital Reference Services through a Hybrid RAG-Based Model: Integrating the “Ask a Librarian” Knowledge Base with Generative AI. , 37(1), 287-310, https://doi.org/10.14699//kbiblia.2026.37.1.287

Abstract

This study aims to experimentally analyze the performance of a hybrid search system that combines keyword-based and vector-based retrieval, utilizing the Knowledge Information Database accumulated through the National Library of Korea’s “Ask a Librarian” collaborative digital reference service. The dataset consists of 5,898 question-answer records from the Knowledge Information Database, categorized according to the ten main classes of the Korean Decimal Classification (KDC). The search system was implemented in a Python-based experimental environment, employing an inverted-index-based full-text search engine (Whoosh) for keyword retrieval and a sentence-embedding-based vector database (ChromaDB) for vector retrieval. A total of 100 test queries were constructed, with 10 queries for each of the 10 main classes, and both the proposed system and the “Ask a Librarian” service were invoked under identical conditions to collect the top 10 results and response times. The results showed that the proposed system achieved a mean response time of 0.21 seconds and a 100% search success rate, demonstrating stable retrieval performance, whereas the “Ask a Librarian” service recorded a mean response time of 13.12 seconds and an 81% search success rate. This study experimentally confirmed that the hybrid search and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) approach is more effective than the existing method in terms of search success rate and retrieval stability, and suggests future research directions including the application of Korean-language-specific embedding models and the expansion of relevance-based evaluation frameworks.

keywords
Digital Reference Service, Ask a Librarian, Hybrid Search, Vector Search, RAG

Journal Of Korean Biblia Society for Library and Information Science

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