The aim of this paper is to sketch a research project on user participation in public libraries and museums. For several years’ user participation, participatory culture and user driven innovation have been “buzzwords” in the ongoing development of cultural institutions in general and in museums and libraries in particular. From a cultural policy perspective research in this area is therefore of great importance. Taking our point of departure in respectively the public library and the local cultural history museum in the city of Roskilde we introduce to the current relevance of the subject of the research project. The case of Roskilde is particularly illustrative as it not only contains user participation, libraries and museums but also illustrate how the development of user participation actually blurs the borders of the two institutions. After a definition of the concept of user participation and a brief discussion of the institutional and political relevance of doing research into the field, we will pinpoint some challenges that both libraries and museums are facing so as to emphasize the importance of studying how the increasing focus on user development is expressed in both institutions. As a last part of this paper we will present the research themes and questions that we wish to examine. As this is a research project still very much on the drawing board both themes and questions are still under consideration just as the precise application of theory and methodical approach is still to be developed.