ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on building knowledge infrastructures for citizen science, and the importance of reciprocity. The study is based on a Web survey about species observation (SO), a national biodiversity mapping activity that facilitates bridging activities between science and different publics in new manners. Within citizen science, the volunteers’ motivation to participate is much studied. However, we claim that by building knowledge infrastructures that facilitate reciprocity, one builds a long-lasting relationship between the participants and the activity undertaken. These kinds of relationships do not primarily build on a one-way motivation to contribute, but on a reciprocal relationship wherein all parties gain something. Two findings are crucial. First, the new knowledge infrastructure facilitates both uploading and downloading information; downloading information is a very important activity – examples are private field diaries, searching for information, looking at recent records, looking at statistics, and looking at inventories. Second, the users emphasize individual interests – examples are competition, displaying their own pictures, studying others’ pictures, learning something new, spending more time outdoors, increasing their own knowledge and, most importantly, keeping track of their own records.
