If you think of a university library, you might envisage a place for accessing books, journals and study spaces. But things have changed a lot already. As AI accelerates both opportunities and risks for higher education, particularly around data quality, misinformation and research integrity, the role of the university librarian is becoming critical.
Here, I’ll look at five ways university librarians support academics.
1. Maintaining reliable foundations for research amid information chaos
Academics are currently navigating an environment in which information is abundant but trust is scarce. GenAI tools can synthesise information near-instantly, but they cannot distinguish knowledge from misinformation.
This is where librarians play an essential role:
Ensuring high-quality research materials: Libraries maintain access to rigorously vetted collections, in print and digital formats, and provide access and training on a range of bibliometric tools, all of which academics can rely on for their research.
Maintaining broad collections: even in mature democracies, librarians are called on to push back against censorship and preserve the right to read material that might be deemed offensive, within the bounds of the law. In 2023, over 4,000 book titles were targeted for removal from schools and libraries in the US.
Negotiating value: Librarians lead multi-institutional consortia to reduce the escalating costs of digital content. National negotiations such as those coordinated by Jisc have saved UK universities millions annually.
Advancing open science: University librarians are often key institutional agents driving open access publishing, repository development and rights retention strategies. At scale, these efforts promote equity by eliminating paywalls, enable academics’ work to reach larger global audiences and increase citations and impact. I learned from the late Dr Paul Ayris, as the founding chief executive of UCL Press (and my former manager), that libraries have the power to act as publishers that can benefit millions of readers. After I moved to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, our university libraries established Open Books Hong Kong in partnership with the university presses. The initiative is bringing Chinese research books to new audiences – we reached 1 million views a few weeks ago. More recently, we established the Open Journals Hub and are exploring further partnership with academics in the Greater Bay Area of Southern China.
How academics can benefit
Consult your librarian early in any research project to ensure data, publications and metadata are aligned with funder requirements, disciplinary norms and long-term discoverability.
2. Elevating research through data and metadata expertise
As research becomes increasingly data driven and competitive, FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) is essential to facilitate reproduction and verification of research findings. Librarians are ideally positioned to help academics build and maintain datasets that meet global standards.
Practical support includes:
- Assistance with data management plans for grant proposals
- Guidance on ethical and practical dimensions of data collection
- Repository services for long-term preservation and sharing
- Advice on metadata to maximise research impact.
Our library hosts annual data hackathons complemented by training that helps students and staff develop practical data skills. These initiatives improve research workflows and cultivate a data-literate campus culture, and illustrate how the library connects students and faculty. The winners of our 2025 edition worked overnight to develop an AI application that transforms the sign language to instant text. After the event, we helped to connect the student winners with Helen Meng, whose research team works on AI-enabled speech and language technologies.
- ‘Our strength lies in our small size’: how to offer more as a small, specialist academic library
- Integrating the university library into teaching and learning: why and how
- Three ways to hone your university library services for ultimate student satisfaction
Tip: Bring librarians into your research design at the outset, rather than wait until dissemination. Their expertise can save months of administrative and compliance effort.
3. Strengthening teaching through information literacy
Academics across disciplines increasingly find themselves teaching students who struggle to distinguish credible sources from misinformation – and disinformation. As deepfakes and synthetic media proliferate, these challenges will only intensify. Librarians specialise in equipping learners with the skills to:
- Evaluate information critically
- Understand ethical and effective use of AI
- Navigate research databases efficiently
- Cite and attribute appropriately.
We can also embed information literacy sessions directly into courses or provided as stand-alone workshops, to ensure that students and academics remain critical users of both traditional and AI-mediated information.
Opportunity for academics: Co-design a tailored information or AI literacy session with your subject liaison librarian that aligns with your course learning outcomes.
4. Libraries as interdisciplinary connectors and third spaces
Physical library spaces remain vital to foster peer learning, creative exploration and informal intellectual exchange, in ways that are difficult to replicate digitally. As third spaces away from home and teaching rooms, they provide:
- Quiet and collaborative study spaces shared by the whole institution
- Venues for talks and serendipitous encounters that spark new research ideas
- Access to maker spaces, VR studios, digital scholarship labs and exhibition areas.
Advice for academics: Consider library spaces as extension opportunities for your teaching and research. Invite us to co-facilitate sessions or collaborate on exhibitions and public engagement events. In 2024, we hosted an NGO exhibition in partnership with the university’s history department on the only known primary source on Chinese participation in the D-Day Landings. Students were trained as guides and worked alongside our special collections teams, connecting research, student skills development and outreach to the wider community.
5. Safeguarding knowledge integrity and supporting ethical AI
As universities grapple with the ethical governance of AI, librarians are already developing support:
- Preserving original records and ensuring the fixity and provenance of digital materials
- Advocating for transparent data practices
- Maintaining diverse collections to counter algorithmic bias
- Providing training and guidance on responsible AI use
- Piloting GenAI tools for resource management and service enhancement in ways aligned with institutional values. At my university, we provide information to users via our dedicated LibGuide charting which academic databases incorporate GenAI-enhanced features, and simple guidance on how the AI can help.
Libraries will continue to evolve, integrating AI and sustainable practices in order to remain indispensable in our academic and professional lives. They belong to a community – one defined not necessarily by disciplinary affiliation, but by a shared sense of curiosity and a desire to quench that thirst for knowledge by reading, watching, asking questions, stumbling across the unexpected and thinking.
In my experience, professional librarians are among the most unassuming of all staff in higher education. Don’t let their humility trick you into underestimating their value: ask them and find out for yourself!
Benjamin Meunier is university librarian at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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