Guest Post by Darlene Cavalier (SciStarter)
Citizen Science Day (April 14), presented by SciStarter and the Citizen Science Association, is an annual event to celebrate volunteers, practitioners, and projects, and to introduce more people to opportunities to get involved in local or global projects in need of their help.
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Libraries across the country can join in the celebration!
We’ve provided some examples, descriptions, links, and “how to” resources to help you get started. If you’re already planning to participate, consider sharing your ideas in the comments below or via Twitter using the hashtag #CitSciDay2018. We’d love to hear from you!
Reading list.
The Citizen Science Association has compiled a list of books for citizen science enthusiasts of all ages. Display books from the list or host a citizen science book discussion at your library.
Interested in hosting a 2018 Citizen Science Day event?
The Citizen Science Association provides many ideas to help you celebrate “from tweets to festivals, from showing videos to hosting data collecting events, from hosting a webinar to holding a workshop, and so many things in between!” If you organize an event, add it to SciStarter’s calendar and map so that it can be promoted widely and participants can find it. Once the event is on SciStarter, you can use the People Finder to invite citizen scientists to attend your event. You can also use the People Finder to discover and invite local citizen scientists and practitioners to come speak about their projects!
Promote your event using the free resources available on the Citizen Science Association website:
- Downloadable Logos (Creative Commons licensed for use by all)
- Promotional Video (Many thanks to The Crowd & The Cloud TV)
- Calendar and Map (Provided by SciStarter)
- Customizable Press Release (Download and use for your event)
- Full Event Press Release
- Social media kit: tweets, posts, and photos with the CitSci Day logo (you’re welcome to use to get the word out)
- On social media, please use #CitSciDay or #CitSciDay2018
- Event Poster as a PDF. Contact us for the editable version.
- 2018 Citizen Science Day webinar: provides an overview of Citizen Science Day, highlights available resources, provides examples of events held for past Citizen Science Days, and ends with a deep dive into innovative in-person and online events by Libby Ellwood from WeDigBio and Pietro Michelucci from Stall Catchers.
We hope these resources make it easier for your library to participate in Citizen Science Day or to engage communities in citizen science more generally.
Contact Darlene at Darlene@SciStarter.com with questions or to share news about your library’s current or future involvement in citizen science.
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