Embedding Citizen Science in Libraries: A SciStarter and Arizona State University Case Study of Adoption, Scaling, and Sustaining Participation
References
- Ballard, H.L., Robinson, L.D., Young, A.N., Pauly, G.B., Higgins, L.M., Johnson, R.F. and Tweddle, J.C. (2017) Contributions to conservation outcomes by natural history museum-led citizen science: examining evidence and next steps, Biological Conservation, 208, pp. 87–97. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.040
- Bonney, R., Cooper, C.B., Dickinson, J., Kelling, S., Phillips, T., Rosenberg, K.V. and Shirk, J. (2009) Citizen science: a developing tool for expanding science knowledge and scientific literacy, BioScience, 59(11), pp. 977–984. DOI: 10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.9
- Carballo-Cárdenas, E.C. and Tobi, H. (2016) Citizen science regarding invasive lionfish in Dutch Caribbean MPAs: drivers and barriers to participation, Ocean & Coastal Management, 133, pp. 114–127. DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.09.014
- Carlen, E.J., Estien, C.O., Caspi, T., Perkins, D., Goldstein, B.R., Kreling, S.E.S., Hentati, Y., Williams, T.D., Stanton, L.A., Des Roches, S., Johnson, R.F. and Young, A.N. (2024) Building equitable and inclusive urban field research through community partnerships, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 9(1), p. 9. DOI: 10.5334/cstp.755
- Cavalier, D. and Kennedy, E.B. (eds.) (2016) The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science. Tempe, AZ: Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes.
- Cigarini, A., Bonhoure, I., Vicens, J. and Perelló, J. (2021) Public libraries embrace citizen science: Strengths and challenges, Library & Information Science Research, 43(2), 101090. DOI: 10.1016/j.lisr.2021.101090
- Cigarini, A., Bonhoure, I., Vicens, J. and Perelló, J. (2022) Citizen science at public libraries: data on librarians’ and users’ perceptions of participating in a citizen science project in Catalunya, Spain, Data in Brief, 40, 107713. DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2021.107713
- Coburn, C.E. (2003) Rethinking scale: moving beyond numbers to deep and lasting change, Educational Researcher, 32(6), pp. 3–12. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X032006003
- Cox, T., Stafford, E., Early, E., Lerman, L., Thompson, T., Toro, S. and Torres-Gerald, L. (2024) Guidelines for equitably scaling informal STEM programs. Seattle, WA: National Girls Collaborative Project. Available at:
https://ngcproject.org/ScalingInformalSTEMPrograms - Dawson, E. (2018) Equity, Exclusion and Everyday Science Learning: The Experiences of Minoritised Groups. London: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315266763
- Desmarchelier, B., Djellal, F., and Gallouj, F. (2024) Public libraries as social innovators. Public Library Quarterly, 44(1), 1–20. DOI: 10.1080/01616846.2024.2357399
- Eveleigh, A., Jennett, C., Blandford, A., Brohan, P. and Cox, A.L. (2014) Designing for dabblers and deterring drop-outs in citizen science, in Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York:
ACM , pp. 2985–2994. DOI: 10.1145/2556288.2557262 - Falk, J.H. and Dierking, L.D. (2010) The 95 percent solution: school is not where most Americans learn most of their science, American Scientist, 98(6), pp. 486–493. DOI: 10.1511/2010.87.486
- Haklay, M. (2013)
Citizen science and volunteered geographic information: overview and typology of participation , in Sui, D., Elwood, S. and Goodchild, M. (eds.) Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge: Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in Theory and Practice. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 105–122. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-4587-2_7 - Hecker, S., Haklay, M., Bowser, A., Makuch, Z., Vogel, J. and Bonn, A. (eds.) (2018) Citizen Science: Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy. London: UCL Press. DOI: 10.14324/111.9781787352339h
- Hildreth, S. (2012) Inspiring libraries as community anchors, National Civic Review, 101(4), pp. 44–47. DOI: 10.1002/ncr.21093
- Hobbs, S.J. and White, P.C.L. (2012) Motivations and barriers in relation to community participation in biodiversity recording, Journal for Nature Conservation, 20(6), pp. 364–373. DOI: 10.1016/j.jnc.2012.08.002
- Hodgkinson, I.R., Mousavi, S. and Hughes, P. (2022) Citizen science—discovering (new) solutions to wicked problems, Public Money & Management, 42(2), pp. 133–136. DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2021.1967630
- Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2023) Public Library Survey Report. [Data Report] Available at:
https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/surveys/public-libraries-survey-pls - Kania, J. and Kramer, M. (2011) Collective impact, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9(1), pp. 36–41.
- Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F. and Swanson, R.A. (2015) The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. 8th edn. New York: Routledge.
- Kloetzer, L., Lorke, J., Roche, J., Golumbic, Y., Winter, S. and Jõgeva, A. (2021)
‘Learning in citizen science’ , in Vohland, K., Land-Zastrau, R., Ceccaroni, L., Lemmens, R., Perelló, J., Ponti, M., Samson, R. and Wagenknecht, K. (eds.) The science of citizen science. Cham: Springer, pp. 283–308. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4_15 - Kranich, N. (2019) Libraries and Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
- Lankes, R.D. (2016) The New Librarianship Field Guide. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/10433.001.0001
- Lewandowski, E., Caldwell, W., Elmquist, D. and Oberhauser, K. (2017) Public perceptions of citizen science, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), p. 3. DOI: 10.5334/cstp.77
- Mulgan, G., Tucker, S., Ali, R. and Sanders, B. (2007) Social innovation: what it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated. London: The Young Foundation.
- Mumelaš, D. and Martek, A. (2024) Benefits of citizen science for libraries, Publications, 12(1), 8. DOI: 10.3390/publications12010008
- Mumelaš, D., Matijević, I. and Ivanjko, T. (2025) ‘Citizen science in libraries worldwide: A systematic review’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. DOI: 10.1177/09610006251342825
- Murray, R., Caulier-Grice, J. and Mulgan, G. (2010) The Open Book of Social Innovation: Ways to Design, Develop and Grow Social Innovation. London: The Young Foundation and NESTA.
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2025) Equity in K-12 STEM Education: Framing Decisions for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. DOI: 10.17226/26859
- Oldenburg, R. (1999) The Great Good Place. New York: Marlowe & Company.
- Pandya, R.E. (2012) A framework for engaging diverse communities in citizen science in the US, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), pp. 314–317. DOI: 10.1890/120007
- Rabe, A.K. (2024). Libraries as enablers of citizen science: Collaboration, value creation, and social impact. MA thesis. Swedish School of Library and Information Science. Available at:
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1878806 (Accessed: 17 February 2026) - Rotman, D., Preece, J., Hammock, J., Procita, K., Hansen, D., Parr, C. and Jacobs, D. (2014) Dynamic changes in motivation in collaborative citizen-science projects, in Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work. New York:
ACM , pp. 611–622. DOI: 10.1145/2531602.2531612 - Shirk, J.L., Ballard, H.L., Wilderman, C.C., Phillips, T., Wiggins, A., Jordan, R. and Bonney, R. (2012) Public participation in scientific research: a framework for deliberate design, Ecology and Society, 17(2), p. 29. DOI: 10.5751/ES-04705-170229
- Soleri, D., Long, J.W., Ramirez-Andreotta, M.D., Eitemiller, R. and Pandya, R. (2016) Finding pathways to more equitable and meaningful public–scientist partnerships, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 1(1), p. 9. DOI: 10.5334/cstp.46
- Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511803932
- Widdersheim, M. and Koizumi, M. (2016) ‘Conceptual modelling of the public sphere in public libraries’, Journal of Documentation, 72(4), pp. 591–610. DOI: 10.1108/JD-06-2015-0079. [
1 ]
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.939 | Journal eISSN: 2057-4991
Language: English
Page range: 9 - 9
Submitted on: Oct 21, 2025
Accepted on: Mar 5, 2026
Published on: Apr 28, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2026 Tara Cox, Darlene Cavalier, Deron Ash, Emma Giles, Caroline Nickerson, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.