The full-day training “Citizen Science Competences for Librarians” took place at Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library (Vilnius) on the 28th of April, 2023. Training was organized by Kaunas University of Technology Library in cooperation with Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library. Target group of this event – librarians, 22 library employees from academic and public libraries were participating in the event.
The training had been started with a focus group discussion aiming to identify librarians’ perceptions and insights on what competences librarians need in citizen science projects, what competences librarians already have, what competences librarians are missing, and what competences librarians should improve. The focus group discussion helped to clarify the participants’ perception of the role of libraries in citizen science and the competences they need in citizen science projects. The discussion revealed that librarians believe they already have most of the competences needed to participate in citizen science projects, but that they need some training to improve their skills according to the characteristics of citizen science.
During the training, participants studied and discussed the role of libraries in the initiation, design and implementation of citizen science projects, the role of librarians as facilitators, the competences librarians need to implement citizen science projects, the specific competences to promote citizen engagement in projects, and the skills needed to engage, motivate and communicate with citizens. The training also covered the basics of project design and data management skills.
Participants were also introduced to the Moodle course “Citizen science for librarians: self-paced learning course“ developed within the framework of the LibOCS project. Participants learned about the structure, content, and practical exercises of five modules: Citizen Science and the Role of Libraries, Skills and Training for Librarians Involved in Citizen Science Projects, Engagement and Communication in Citizen Science Projects, Project Management Skills for Citizen Science, Research and Data Management Skills for Librarians Involved in Citizen Science Projects.
After the course, participants described the training as very interesting and stimulating, and expressed a demand for more events where they could meet and hear the experiences and insights of library staff involved in citizen science projects in communicating with the public and researchers.
Moments from the training
