Public libraries embrace citizen science: Strengths and challenges

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2021.101090Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Public libraries can offer leadership in the promotion and implementation of citizen science initiatives.

  • Citizen science helps to attract new users, increase social cohesion, and improve perceptions of a library's social value.

  • Citizen science encourages users to address science-based community issues alongside scientists.

  • Soft skills are crucial to deal with the challenges raised by co-creation processes and participant retention.

Abstract

Can public libraries become hubs for citizen science? In line with the principles of citizen science, this question was answered collaboratively with librarians from the Barcelona Network of Public Libraries who performed two hands-on activities. One activity was a training course taken by 30 librarians from 24 different libraries which enabled them to envisage citizen science implementation at each library. The other activity consisted of co-creating a citizen social science project and involved 40 library users, seven librarians from three different cities, and professional scientists. The analysis considers the perspectives of both librarians and users, through participant observation, surveys, and a focus group to identify strengths and challenges. The overall results suggest that public libraries can offer leadership in the promotion of citizen science and contribute to the mission of public libraries to act as local community hubs. The main challenges identified were related to the complexity of collaboration, uncertainty regarding research co-creation, and participant retention strategies.

Keywords

Engagement
Citizen social science
Co-creation
Public library
Learning
Self-efficacy
Scientific citizenship
Science education
Public participation
Scientific literacy

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Anna Cigarini is a PhD candidate in information and knowledge society at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya). Since 2016 she is a member of OpenSystems at Universitat de Barcelona, and member of the Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems. Her research interests cover individual and collective decision-making, citizen science, participatory research approaches, and the conditions that favor value creation and governance in collaborative knowledge production processes. She has published her research in journals such as Scientific Reports.

Isabelle Bonhoure has a PhD in materials science (Université Paris XI) and a Masters in science communication (Universitat Pompeu Fabra). In 2013, she joined OpenSystems at Universitat de Barcelona, and she is a member of the Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems. As a researcher, she is particularly interested in citizen social science and its implications in terms of bottom-up co-creation processes, involvement of citizens in a vulnerable situation and practical implementation of responsible research. She has published her research in journals such as Frontiers in Physics, BMC Public Health and Environmental Science and Technology.

Julián Vicens is a research scientist within the Data Science and Big Data unit at Fundació Eurecat. His research interests span transdisciplinary fields such as complex systems, computational social science, and citizen science. He studies topics such as individual and collective behavior, machine learning, algorithmic fairness and participatory platforms, publishing the results of his research in top-tier journals such as Science Advances and Scientific Reports. Julián also works in national and international projects which focus on studying and unveiling inequalities within social systems.

Josep Perelló is a full professor at the Universitat de Barcelona, and research member of Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems. He holds a PhD in physics (Universitat de Barcelona). In 2013, he founded OpenSystems to run transdisciplinary scientific research with the crucial contributions through citizens' participation and with artistic practices. His research interests span transdisciplinary fields such as complex systems, collective human behavior, computational social science, and citizen science. He has published his research in international journals such as Nature Communications, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, EPJ Data Science and Plos ONE covering the following fields: multidisciplinary science, mathematical physics, condensed matter physics, economics, financial mathematics, finance, environmental economics, behavioral sciences, mobility and citizen science.