Duke University Libraries’ collections support research, instruction and learning across the university community. The Psychology and Neuroscience collection is well established, beginning with the then cutting edge Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory in the 1930s, and continuing in to the 1970’s Parapsychology and the Psychical Research Foundation. While materials supporting the origins of the department’s labs remain part of the Library’s collection, the current emphasis is on the connection between our brain and behavior.
One of the main foci in this regard is addiction studies, specifically research articles, data sets, books and other materials that support the research outcomes of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences’ Center on Addiction and Behavior. Their work “aims to translate basic research advances in brain and behavioral science into effective prevention, early intervention and treatment of addiction and other behavior disorders.” (Source: the Center’s web page.)
Since 2016, the work on addiction at Duke is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, given the complexities of addiction. Researchers focus on public policy, education around addiction issues and the social aspects of opiate addiction in the criminal justice and public health systems. The range of research suggests that a broad variety of supporting materials are needed, and necessarily cross disciplinary boundaries in the libraries.
By supporting Duke University Libraries’ access to current research, a donor contributes to future scholarly publication, scientific advances in understanding and undergraduate learning and communication around complex, socially relevant brain and behavior issues.
Establish a restricted collection endowment ($300,000)
A collection endowment would support broad-based research on addiction as a societal, brain-based and behavioral issue. Necessary research into communicating and addressing the complexities of opiate and other addictions is needed now, more than ever. By collecting across disciplines such as public health policy, translational medicine and neuroscience, the ongoing interdisciplinary work on the nature of addiction at Duke can advance.
