Send message to Author

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.