Citizen Science: Library Resources

"citizen-researcher relationship creates an incredible synergy, allowing for the creation, execution, and analysis of research projects that would otherwise prove impossible in traditional research settings"

Explores the diversity of approaches via a systematic search an analysis of 509 environmental and ecological citizen science projects.

Cited over 1,000 times, the article addressed seminal questions, such as reliability of data. Includes some early history of citizen science and slides of a project.

One of the top cited articles on the topic providing an overview on the origins of citizen science, three case studies, and early examples.

This top cited article considers citizen science key in advancing scientific knowledge via helping participants to learn about their subjects and the research process. Presents a model for developing a citizen science project based on projects at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Looking back to the history of engaging the public with science via a journal, this essay advocates for a more ambitious interests in the idea of publicly engaged science.

This study analyses "two datasets (N = 1935, N = 633) retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) with the aim of giving a scientometric description of what the concept of CS entails."

A study exploring how citizen science is practiced in the so far less addressed social sciences and humanities.

An op-ed on what CS is, what it is not, and what criteria CS projects must fulfill to ensure high-quality participatory research.

The authors take a look at the ethical and social implications of the recruitment strategy of encouraging the public to become involved in various research initiatives.

A statistician compiled data to share with the CDC after friends kept testing positive after a week in Provincetown, Mass. It spurred an investigation that changed how officials saw the delta variant.

The article presents how games aiming at engaging people to creatively combat the lockdown can also engage the public on a citizen science path to create awareness about Covid-19.

This research "simulated control strategies for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a real-world social network generated from high-resolution GPS data that were gathered in the course of a citizen-science experiment."

An article from the area of health sciences approaching research with a "Public Engagement with Science (PES)" mentality.

With Citizen Scientists and the COVID-19 emergency in its focus, the article looks at roles of citizen science as it "informs research questions, data collection and analysis, and conclusions that can impact the quality of life in local environments."

A resource specifically for libraries interested in engaging their communities in citizen science on Citizen Science Day.

These resources are designed to help you: Learn about and introduce citizen science to your communities; build your own kits! (download PDFs of project instructions and access supply lists for any tools or materials you need to purchase); and use and promote your kits (download promo fliers and kit check out cards).

An open-access, peer-reviewed journal focusing "on advancing the global field of citizen science by providing a venue for citizen science researchers and practitioners to share best practices in conceiving, developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining projects that facilitate public participation in scientific endeavors in any discipline."

From the “Citizen Science in Libraries,” a session of the American Library Association’s 2019 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C.