Word reached AAPS recently that a wealth of insights and resources for this field–all housed at citizenscience.gov–was replaced by a single page listing volunteer opportunities at various agencies. We backed it up, but that’s just step one (see more below).
It is important to note that the new page links to many excellent resources, opportunities, and examples of citizen science, such as those from NASA, the Forest Service, EPA, and others. However, the overwriting of the original website (which contained a toolkit, case studies, a searchable project list, and more) reinforces concern about the future of those resources as well.
We know that citizen science and other forms of participatory sciences offer great value to the work of agencies, and to the American people. And we know that many civil servants in the Federal system built a strong foundation and set an innovative vision for all who work in this field. The loss of these investments would be a loss for the field as a whole.
AAPS is ready to provide a new home for these resources to ensure that they continue to be accessible to all. That’s a huge job, one that can’t be done without help. If you are able to assist in any of the following areas listed below, please let us know.
• Identify or inventory at-risk federal resources
• Work with downloaded web files to re-establish useable online resources, and/or
• Utilize saved text and images to develop designed, downloadable versions of valuable content
• Update broken links or outdated resources
• Help organize and facilitate these efforts
• Provide funding to support these efforts to maintain critical resources
