- Convenors:
-
Isabelle Bonhoure
(Universitat de Barcelona)
Josep Perelló (Universitat de Barcelona)
Thomas Kaarsted (University of Southern Denmark)
Anne Kathrine Overgaard (University of Southern Denmark)
Send message to Convenors
- Format:
- Workshop
Short Abstract
Citizen science offers opportunities for collaboration between research librarians and academics, leveraging their complementary skills. This workshop explores how to enhance institutional capacity and societal impact through joint efforts, aiming to co-develop a collaborative roadmap.
Description
Citizen science projects often require extensive collaboration within and beyond academia due to their complexity and strong community engagement needs. Researchers and research librarians bring distinct yet complementary skills that can significantly potentiate such projects. Nevertheless, within universities, there is still no clear guidance on how institutional capacities shall be contributing to these efforts and on how other university staff and students can also be involved.
Researchers in citizen science frequently juggle multiple roles—initiators, facilitators, communicators, mediators, observers, and educators. While some can manage these demands, others face challenges in doing so. Meanwhile, European research libraries are exploring new roles aligned with Open Science. Many have developed relevant skillsets, though few currently offer dedicated citizen science support services. Some research libraries are also embracing their potential as community hubs, both within the university and in broader society. Engaging in citizen science provides them with an avenue to strengthen this role and develop new socially-relevant capacities.
This workshop invites researchers from all disciplines, librarians, and other societal stakeholders to begin to co-create a roadmap that strengthens collaboration between research libraries and researchers. The first part will present current research insights and case studies from Spain and Denmark. The second part will involve interactive mapping of needs, opportunities, and visions from participants. Ultimate goal is to develop the beginning of a roadmap that supports new alliances in citizen science and builds long-term institutional capacity, as a collaborative call to action.
Accepted contributions
Abstract
The Vienna University Library will serve as an example of how librarians and researchers can collaborate successfully on citizen science projects. Alongside numerous research support services, including repositories, bibliometrics, data stewards and research data management, a coordination centre for citizen science projects is currently being established. Drawing on numerous existing networks and many years of experience in research support and third-party funded projects, a service is being established that combines citizen science with science communication. This service will bring together people from different backgrounds and age groups, with different educational backgrounds and abilities, to develop and implement project ideas. I am happy to share my experiences with anyone who is interested.
Short Abstract
The TU Wien library established a Citizen Science support service and will give insight into the process and lessons learned. We will recapitulate the first year of cross-faculty collaborations with researchers and show how the library can become an active partner in community-engaging research.
Abstract
In the evolving landscape of Open Science, research libraries are exploring new roles in supporting Citizen Science (CS) initiatives. At TU Wien, the university library has taken an active role in building institutional capacity for CS by establishing a dedicated support service, without pre-existing expertise. This journey began through participation in a collaborative research project focused on Citizen Science in knowledge infrastructures (GLAM institutions). By engaging directly in CS practice alongside researchers, library staff gained first-hand insight into the design, facilitation, and challenges of CS projects.
This experience laid the groundwork for reimagining the research library as a more integral actor in collaborative, socially relevant research. Rather than only providing support from the sidelines, the library immersed itself in practice to design a service grounded in real needs and experiences. TU Wien library now anchors CS in its teaching for the first time, and cross-faculty collaborations are emerging through the formation of a dedicated CS hub.
Our contribution to this workshop shares insights from the first year of this initiative, offering a practical case study on how libraries can co-develop CS competencies, build trust across academic disciplines, and evolve into community-engaged institutions. We aim to contribute to the co-creation of a roadmap for stronger alliances between researchers, libraries, and societal actors, exploring how institutional structures can better support the multifaceted roles CS requires, and how libraries can transition from support units to active partners in citizen-driven research.
Short Abstract
The National and University Library in Zagreb will present its experiences in the implementation of CSinitiatives, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinarity and the role of diverse collections, professional expertise, and collaborative practices in fostering innovative approaches to CS.
Abstract
Libraries, and particularly research libraries, are increasingly acknowledged as strategic environments for citizen science. They function as intermediaries that connect local communities with the scientific community. At the same time, they can preserve and provide access to a wide range of specialised collections, such as cartographic materials, music archives, manuscripts and graphic holdings, which represent valuable resources for interdisciplinary citizen science initiatives. Furthermore, library professionals often combine formal training in librarianship with expertise acquired in other academic fields. This diversity of knowledge strengthens their capacity to design, support and implement interdisciplinary activities in citizen science.
The National and University Library in Zagreb actively supports citizen science through the development of original projects, collaborative partnerships, training activities, and advisory services. The library has demonstrated this potential through a series of interdisciplinary citizen science activites. These include Self help and wellbeing in the academic online environment (psychology and information science), Dendroteka (forestry and information science), and Musical intelligence in the function of national heritage (music and information science).
This contribution will examine the ways in which libraries can mobilise their collections, their variety of materials, and the diverse academic backgrounds of their staff in order to advance interdisciplinary citizen science. It will also reflect on the practical experiences and outcomes of the National and University Library in Zagreb, offering insights that may inform future practices in the broader European and international context.
Short Abstract
At the library of the University of Barcelona we have implmented a development plan for librarians to acquire the needed skills to provide support to researchers to follow open science practices
Abstract
For many years the University of Barcelona has commited to Open Science developing policies, fostering practices, and providing support to researchers. The support has mainly been provided by the library. However the library has identified some challenges in providing such support especially in some aspects like citizen science. One of these challenges is to acquire the needed skills to provide support in some areas like the citizen science. For that reason the management team of the library has created a training plan to allow librarians to follow a professional career as research supporter. We would like to share this initiative and to learn about other collaborations among libraries and citizen science practitioners