Draft Report From CNI Senior Scholar Don Waters Available for Comment: “Meeting the Climate Emergency: University Information Infrastructure for Researching Wicked Problems”

From a CNI Announcement by Cliff Lynch:

CNI Senior Scholar Donald Waters has now made available a full draft of his report “Meeting the Climate Emergency: University Information Infrastructure for Researching Wicked Problems”  for comment by the CNI community.  The report can be downloaded at

The plan going forward is to have Don convene a breakout session at the December 2024 CNI meeting to discuss the report; there will also be a webinar (date to be announced shortly) in mid-January 2025 for those who could not be at the in-person session. Comments can also be sent to Don directly via email at djw@40overbrook.com till about January 20, 2025. Based on this feedback, Don intends to revise the report and we expect that a final version will be available in early February, 2025; the final version will be announced here.

I think Don has done a great job of focusing attention on a set of issues that I have not seen much-examined and that are clearly of critical importance; I believe that many in the CNI community will find this report to be quite thought provoking, and I encourage you explore it.

Here’s Don’s Short Summary:

“The report suggests how research libraries, campus computing organizations, and other information experts could help accelerate research to address the growing climate emergency. The report relies on background literature and interviews with scholars and information experts at ten selected universities.  It begins with a definition of climate change as a complex, “wicked” problem, that requires attention from a broad range of academic and public perspectives.  The report goes on to outline how universities are sponsoring specialized climate centers and institutes to bring together researchers from these various perspectives.  It then recommends that research librarians and other information specialists adjust their service strategies to focus on these centers and institutes.  They should especially consider supporting the information needs of climate researchers in ways that would (a) broaden the disciplinary range, (b) deepen the public engagement, and (c) extend the data analysis capabilities of these centers and institutes.”

Direct to Complete Announcement

Direct to Draft: “Meeting the Climate Emergency: University Information Infrastructure for Researching Wicked Problems”
(64 pages; PDF).

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