You don't need to learn a special language to use SCOUT. Start with what you're trying to accomplish, then use the conversation to shape the answer. These tips can help you get more useful results as you go.
Start Here
A few habits go a long way
There's no perfect formula for talking to SCOUT. Give it enough to understand what you need, see what comes back, and keep the conversation going.
Ask naturally
Start the way you would with a colleague: describe the question, task, or problem you're trying to work through. You don't need to engineer the perfect prompt before you begin.
“I need to travel for a conference in a couple of months. What do I need to do to book airfare and a hotel?”
Keep the conversation going
The first answer doesn't have to be the final answer. Follow up, clarify what you meant, point out what SCOUT missed, or ask it to go deeper.
“That's close, but I'm asking about reimbursement after the trip. What changes?”
Say what you need
If you know what would be useful at the end (a short explanation, checklist, comparison, email, table, or something else) tell SCOUT.
“Turn that into a short checklist I can use while completing the request.”
Check what matters
SCOUT can make mistakes. When an answer affects a decision, deadline, policy, transaction, or other important work, check the cited source before acting on it.
“Show me which source supports that requirement.”
Start simple. You can always add context, narrow the question, or reshape the answer in your next message.
Get More From SCOUT
Give the conversation useful direction
Once you've started, a little more context can help SCOUT understand the situation, find better information, or turn an answer into something you can use.
Add context that changes the answer
Your department, audience, timeframe, request number, constraints, or situation can matter. Add those details when they help distinguish your question from a more general one.
“What's the travel policy?”
“I'm traveling out of state with two students. What requirements apply before we book?”
Point SCOUT toward the right information
When the source matters, say so. You can ask SCOUT to use a particular university resource, connected system, file, or set of documents when that context is available.
“Use the files in this project as the source for this answer.”
Build on the answer
Don't start over every time. Ask SCOUT to shorten, expand, reorganize, translate, or transform what it already produced.
“Now turn that into an email for someone who isn't familiar with the process.”
Compare and connect
SCOUT can be especially useful when the answer isn't sitting on one page. Ask it to compare sources, find relationships, summarize differences, or bring several pieces of information together.
“Compare these two policies. Where do they agree, and where would someone following them need clarification?”
Go Further
Make SCOUT work on the problem, not just answer the question
For more complex work, use the conversation to test evidence, expose assumptions, establish constraints, and examine a problem from more than one direction.
Challenge the answer
A citation doesn't automatically make an answer correct. Ask SCOUT whether its evidence is current, authoritative, and actually supports the claim it is making.
“Is there a more authoritative source for this? Separate what you can verify from anything you're inferring.”
Ask SCOUT what it needs
Sometimes you know the problem but don't know which details matter. Ask SCOUT to identify what it needs before it tries to solve it.
“Before recommending an approach, ask me the questions you need to understand the situation.”
Give it a framework
When there isn't one obvious answer, tell SCOUT what matters to the decision and ask it to make the tradeoffs visible.
“Compare these options based on cost, accessibility, implementation effort, and long-term maintenance. Show me the tradeoffs.”
Ask it to look for what you missed
SCOUT doesn't only have to produce an answer. It can critique a draft, identify assumptions, surface gaps, or explore consequences you haven't considered yet.
“What assumptions am I making here, and what second-order problems could this approach create?”
A note about sources
SCOUT can help bring together information from across UC Merced, but university information can change—and sometimes different sources do not tell exactly the same story. For important answers, the citation is a starting point for verification, not a substitute for it.
When the answer matters, consider asking:
- Which source directly supports this answer?
- Is that source current?
- Is there a more authoritative university source?
- Do any other sources conflict with it?
- What part of the answer are you unable to verify?
The best tip? Try it.
Not sure whether SCOUT can help with something? Ask. Tell it what you're trying to accomplish and see where the conversation goes.
