2024:

AI and AI Literacy

Open Pedagogy and Instructional Design

Open Science and Reproducibility

Open Access and Equitable Publishing

Disrupting and Reconceiving Collection Practices

Politicization of Academic Libraries

Anti-DEI Legislation, Academic Freedom, and Unionization

Post-pandemic Workplace and Hybrid Work Environments

Makerspaces and Tech Spaces

Supporting Student Well-being Post-pandemic

2022:

COVID-related trends

Library staffing challenges

Space utilization

Collaborative collections and growth of shared print

Open everything

Artificial intelligence

Data

Critical librarianship

2020:

Change management: New skills for new leadership

Evolving integrated library systems

Learning analytics

Machine learning and AI

Open access: Transitions and transformations

Research Data Services (RDS): Ethics and maturation

Social justice, critical librarianship, and critical digital pedagogy

Streaming media

Student wellbeing

[Final note: This article was written well before the world was fully aware of the novel coronavirus that has since spread around the globe. As this issue of C&RL News goes to press, institutions have closed their facilities and moved their classes online; vendors have opened up their collections on a temporary basis; and conferences have postponed or cancelled outright, along with many other changes in library operations. We anticipate that this situation will have long-lasting repercussions, very likely including massive budget cuts. Despite these uncertainties, libraries are positioned to provide online research and teaching support to patrons using virtual conferencing and other tools.]

2018:

Publisher and vendor landscape

Fake news and information literacy

Project management approaches in libraries

Textbook affordability and OER

Learning analytics, data collection, and ethical concerns

Research datasets acquisition, text mining, and data science

Collection management:

Acquisition model developments

Open access collection development policies and funding schemes

Legacy print collections

ACRL publishes a biannual Environmental Scan of academic libraries. The 2023 Scan is attached below.

"Every two years, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee releases an environmental scan of higher education, including developments with the potential for continuing impact on academic libraries. The 2023 Environmental Scan (PDF) provides a broad review of the current higher education landscape, with special focus on the state of academic and research libraries. The document builds on earlier ACRL reports, including the Top Trends in Academic Libraries, published every other June in C&RL News. The 2023 Environmental Scan is freely available on the ACRL website."