Promoting citizen science through academic libraries in the US: A study on LibGuides

Abstract

Citizen science is a movement encouraging people to participate in publicly shared scientific projects that leads to new knowledge discovery and fosters community connections to scientific research. The purpose of this study is to review the promotion of citizen science (CS) by research-oriented academic libraries in the US through LibGuides. The data was collected between March 1 and July 10, 2024, from 146 R1 US university libraries as classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Only 19 of the libraries covered CS in a public LibGuide, with 12 of them having a dedicated CS LibGuide. The information in the LibGuides varied greatly; even common elements, such as a definition of CS, differed and came from many sources. Less than half of the LibGuides included information on community engagement or resources for instructors. The authors recommend that future studies look at the promotion of CS as a valuable topic of research, the creation and utilization of CS LibGuides, and the use of CS by universities as a means of facilitating the community engagement aspect of their missions.