Introduction to the Library and Community Guide to Citizen Science

Introduction Photo Credit: SciStarter/ASU VISLAB

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The Library & Community

Guide to Citizen Science Understanding, planning and sustaining ongoing engagement in citizen science at your library or community-based organization December 2020

EDITORS:

Darlene Cavalier Arizona State University, SciStarter Caroline Nickerson SciStarter Robin Salthouse SciStarter Dan Stanton Arizona State University Library, SciStarter

December 2020

ADVISORS:

Kirsten Crowhurst Program Manager, NNLM All of Us Training and Education Center Lydia N. Collins Participant Engagement Lead, NNLM All of Us Training and Education Center Kelli Ham Formerly at the of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Southwest Region Theresa Schwerin Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) DESIGNER:

Emily Maletz SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Cynthia Randall Cornerstones of Science Yang Cao SciStarter Deron Ash Arizona State University Kristi Eustice Arizona State University EDITORIAL SUPPORT:

Renee Wilkinson Michele Elder

The Library and Community Guide to Citizen Science was made possible with support from: The Institute of Museum and Library Services, under grant numbers LG-95-17-0158-17 and LG-246428-OLS-20. IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. IMLS advances, supports and empowers America’s museums, libraries and related organizations through grantmaking, research and policy development. Their vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov. This project has been funded in whole or in part by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH) under cooperative agreement number 5UG4LM012342-05 with the University of Pittsburgh, Health Sciences Library System. This is a modified version of the Library and Community Guide originally published in February of 2019.

Libraries are quickly becoming hubs for citizen science. Your library may already be involved in citizen science programming.

If so, bravo! For countless others, citizen science is still a bit of a mystery. We created this guide to help you navigate the rapidly changing landscape, access resources, learn about projects and programs and explore a myriad of opportunities to support your plans to bring citizen science to your library or communitybased organization (CBO).

We hope this guide will help you: • Learn more about citizen science and connections with libraries and communitybased organizations.

• Discover STEM-related issues of interest or concern to your communities.

• Connect existing programs and communities to projects on SciStarter.org.

• Access resources to help broaden awareness and increase diverse engagement with citizen science projects.

• Connect with projects, instruments, subject matter experts and diverse communities to activate and sustain engagement in citizen science.

• Plan Citizen Science Month events in April and other in-person, virtual and hybrid events throughout the year.

• Support facilitators (community leaders, educators, volunteers, staff, etc.) in introducing citizen science through your library.