Libraries Empower Researchers to Take on Today’s Global Challenges

According to the results of a recent survey from Library Journal/ProQuest, now part of Clarivate, librarians ranked “Research Excellence” as one of the most important factors contributing to an institution’s mission. Libraries recognize they must support researchers charged with the vital work of deepening understanding, promoting awareness and developing solutions for our most pressing global challenges, like climate change, human rights and infectious disease.

The visionaries, architects and innovators who are leading the way to a more sustainable, equitable and healthy future can’t do it without libraries. Libraries are not only committed to providing and preserving crucial data and information required by scholars; they also provide critical tools and resources to simplify workflows, foster collaboration, discover opportunities and disseminate output so researchers can focus on what matters: their research.

However, supporting these areas of research can be difficult because global challenges are:

• • Interdisciplinary and complex. Solutions require information and knowledge as well as input and perspectives from many different fields, e.g., STEM, business, social science, education, economics and the arts). Library collections must support research and learning across disciplines.
  • Interdependent. Advancement doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Radical discovery and development depend on great minds working together and building on each other over time. Libraries have a role in fostering collaboration among global communities of scholars.
  • Urgent. Issues such as COVID-19, cyber security and extreme weather require immediate attention. Libraries must provide the latest relevant insights, information, discoveries and developments in these areas, as well as tools to simplify workflows so researchers can work quickly and precisely.

At ProQuest, we share libraries’ commitment to addressing global challenges. Our company has evolved over the decades to become an edtech leader because we know the future depends on the work of world-class researchers – and the libraries that support them. As your partner, we can help you provide:

• • Collections that span centuries of newspapers, dissertations, journals, primary sources, video, ebooks and more to ensure access to varied content types and deep datasets so researchers can analyze every aspect and angle of topics such as global warming, human rights and the digital divide.
  • Software that helps libraries put the spotlight on researchers and their accomplishments, as well as enable them to connect and collaborate with peers, disseminate scholarship and discover funding opportunities.
  • Workflow tools that simplify the research process, from analyzing vast amounts of data or automating reference support and document management, to facilitating the most laser-focused search and discovery on award-winning platforms.

Responding to global crises requires all hand on deck. At ProQuest, we know where we stand: behind world-changing researchers and the libraries who support them. Learn more about how we can work together in our Global Challenges initiative.