What are users searching for in 2022? We’ve updated our stats to share with you a unique snapshot of the searches performed on Credo Reference by student researchers at thousands of universities, colleges, and libraries.
Credo’s second annual “Top 25 Search Terms” and “Top 25 Subjects” survey is intended to offer insights into our customers and their libraries. These insights are the basis of many of our product and content decisions, so we hope that, by sharing them, you, too, will be armed with information when building your collections and resources for the remainder of this year.
New Trends for 2022
There’s much to learn from usage data this year as new current issues and key debates emerge. Searches for last year’s buzzworthy topics, including COVID, Death Penalty, and Bullying, have fallen in 2022, revealing a shift in research interest to even more timely topics, such as Abortion, Unemployment, Gun Politics, and Gentrification. As with 2021, we continue to see popular searches of top debate terms, such as Climate Change, Social Media, and Minimum Wage. Considering these shifting trends, especially on such sensitive topics, it is important now more than ever to have access to reliable, authoritative content to support research on these contemporary issues.
As we did in 2021, we are making available a special collection of titles curated on these top search terms. The “2022 Credo Trending Topics Collection” builds upon the trends of last year with edition updates, new titles, and new publishing partners to bring you all of the background content you’ll need for the library, classroom, and beyond. These titles, available for purchase, take a deep-dive into current issues, several of which have been acknowledged for their outstanding contributions to the field from sources such as Choice’s Top 75 Community College Titles. Take a look at the full list and don’t miss the most timely titles, such as Climate Change and Disaster Resilience: Challenges, Actions and Innovations in Urban Planning (2022, McFarland), The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society (2020, SAGE), Accessibility and Diversity in the 21st Century University (2020, IGI Global), and Handbook of Electronic Waste Management (Elsevier, 2020).
The below data shows the top results collected since our last survey (August 2021–August 2022):
Ranking
2022 Top Search Terms YTD
1
climate change
2
social media
3
abortion
←#14 in 2021
4
social inequality
5
mental health
6
critical thinking
7
minimum wage
8
nutrition
9
unmanned aerial vehicle
10
psychology
11
racial profiling
12
unemployment
←#30 in 2021
13
water pollution
←#25 in 2021
14
human rights
←#24 in 2021
15
depression
16
environment
17
education
18
gun control
19
gentrification
←#52 in 2021
20
gun politics in the united states
←New to Top 25
21
immune system
←New to Top 25
22
metabolic disorder
←New to Top 25
23
post traumatic stress disorder
←#45 in 2021
24
poverty
25
global warming
As in last year’s list, see our refreshed list of “Top Subjects for 2022.” We’re seeing a shift toward more searches on Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Contemporary Issues, as well as consistently high usage for top disciplines like History, Health, Psychology, and Social Sciences. All summarized, we continue to see a strong need for general background information across users:
| Ranking | Top Usage Subjects 2022 |
| 1 | Contemporary Issues and Controversies |
| 2 | General Reference Encyclopedias, Dictionaries |
| 3 | Health |
| 4 | U.S. and World History |
| 5 | Psychology |
| 6 | Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies |
| 7 | Education |
| 8 | Criminology & Law |
| 9 | Medicine |
| 10 | Literature |
| 11 | Sociology |
| 12 | Ethnic Studies |
| 13 | Nursing |
| 14 | Food & Nutrition |
| 15 | Religion & Theology |
| 16 | Biography |
| 17 | Media & Communications |
| 18 | Art & Art History |
| 19 | Business |
| 20 | Economics |
| 21 | Technology |
| 22 | Philosophy |
| 23 | Fashion |
| 24 | Anthropology |
| 25 | Geography |
Curious to compare the above data to the 2021 results? Take a look at last year’s list on these usage data insights.
On this year’s list, did you see any unexpected topics or subjects making the top 25? Interested in the remainder of the top search terms list? Let us know!
What Is Credo Reference?
Named a “Must-Have Database” by Library Journal in 2020, Credo Reference enhances the research experience through authoritative reference content and a one-stop exploratory search platform that drives usage of all trusted library resources. The user-friendly interface is ideal for students starting their research or learning about the research process during information literacy instruction. With hundreds of searchable, full-text titles from the world’s foremost publishers, Credo Reference covers every major subject.
Click on the links below for more information about Credo Reference:
- Credo Reference: Academic Core for colleges and universities
- Credo Reference: Complete Core for public libraries
See also:
- FREE Case Study: No Discovery? No Problem. How One College Library in Quebec Is Building Smart Researchers with Credo Reference
- FREE Webinar: The Early Academic Researcher: Promoting Discovery and Use of Primary Resources
- FREE Webinar: Infobase Quick Hits: Content to Build Introductory Courses for First-Year Instruction
- FREE Webinar: Everything You Need to Know: CREDO REFERENCE
