Before moving on to the three main roles, it is important to get an overall idea of what a librarian interested in CS could expect and what will be expected from them. The following suggestions will be useful no matter what role you are in or what level you are at because they can be used across all areas.

  • First, make sure you have some basic knowledge about Citizen Science. Get acquainted with the key terms of CS to be aware of the possible issues that relate to certain terms and learn to use them in the right context (Eitzel, et al., 2017).

  • Second, a librarian interested in CS should have a good overview of what is going on the society and what areas need improvement. The ability to see the bigger picture and the cause-and-effect relationships will boost that understanding.
  • Third, as a librarian, you should never forget the importance of giving credit to other people – starting from a simple thing like supporting other project participants and ending with making sure that any intellectual property is referenced and cited correctly.
  • Fourth, make sure you advertise your abilities and the services of your library well to get the citizens interested in what you offer and the possible cooperation partners like researchers and institutions more inclined to work with you.
  • Fifth, remember that the best way to learn something is by practice, and therefore the best way to gain skills and enlarge your proficiencies is to actively participate in Citizen Science!

If you do not have some specific skills that are mentioned in the next chapters, do not worry – you only need to know where to find the proficiencies and services that you need.


To begin this module, we suggest watching the following presentation by LIBER Europe, "Research librarians guide to Citizen Science".

Research librarians guide to Citizen Science

Eitzel, M., Cappadonna, J., Santos-Lang, C., Duerr, R., Virapongse, A., . . . Shilling, F. (2017, June 5). Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), NA. doi:http://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.96


Last modified: Wednesday, 24 January 2024, 4:14 PM