Knowledge Bank

The internationalization of higher education has become a focal point for American universities seeking new and effective ways to globalize their curriculum and enhance worldwide research opportunities for students and faculty. Our institutions of higher learning are calling to promote, among other things, cross-cultural interaction, global awareness, and foreign language literacy.

Following World War II University Libraries and, particularly their area studies collections, have served as local gateways to the cultures, political systems, and languages of the non-western world. They have in place a time-tested infrastructure that contributes tools, experts, programs, and connections to global communities and assist in the creation and management of the global and the local.

Collections at Work: forming global citizens through outreach and engagement will offer a series of library-based case studies that illustrate what the aforementioned infrastructure can deliver. It will explain initiatives, activities, and programs that support undergraduate research and teaching, enhance community engagement, expose students and faculty to the Libraries’ international collections, and perhaps more importantly, heed The Ohio State University’s call for more global dimensions to scholarship.