Citizen Science on Social Media: One Medical Librarian’s Experience of Launching and Maintaining a Moderated Facebook Citizen Science Discussion Group (www.Facebook.com/groups/BiomeReconstitution)

ABSTRACT

Health information available on the World Wide Web varies in quality, and consumers are deluged with sources offering questionable health practices. This concern is not new to medical librarians. Consumers actively seeking health information for their medical conditions seem to be migrating to social media sites to gain knowledge. These sites appear to be a promising new platform for medical librarians to disseminate quality information.

KEYWORDS:

• Biome
• citizen science
• copyright
• discussion groups
• medical librarians
• medical libraries
• microbiome
• social media

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge and thank colleagues who were instrumental in the start-up and launch of Biome Reconstitution on Facebook, and whose contributions were invaluable in making the group a success: Melissa De Santis, Liz Estrada, Mimi Guessferd, and Jane Surtees.