Documenting COVID-19
Recollection Wisconsin is an organization which brings together digital cultural heritage resources from Wisconsin libraries, archives, museums and historical societies and shares them with the world in partnership with the Digital Public Library of America. I saw today that they shared a great post on Twitter about community archiving efforts to document COVID-19 and its impact on our communities. Here's an excerpt:
"Over the past few weeks, it’s been fascinating to watch the growth of community archiving efforts to document COVID-19 and its impact on our communities. There are a multiple local, regional and national efforts underway with new projects popping up every few days. Here are a few Wisconsin-based “rapid response collecting” activities:
- The Wisconsin Historical Society is calling on citizens to collect this history as it happens through their Covid-19 Journal Project.
- Telling Your Story: Documenting Covid-19 is Manitowoc County Historical Society’s effort to collect voices, stories and images that document how COVID-19 affected their community.
- At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Assistant Professor of Public and Digital History Christopher D. Cantwell is leading a project to document how the Milwaukee area experienced the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020: COVID-19 MKE: A Milwaukee Coronavirus Digital Archive.
- La Crosse Public Library Archives is harnessing the power and reach of social media to gather stories. Documenting Community Voices uses Facebook and a Google form to solicit stories that document how this ongoing public health crisis has impacted the La Crosse community and beyond."
The full "Rapid Response Collecting and COVID-19" post includes links to projects in other states, as well as to a site with templates and documents to assist you in collecting materials amid unprecedented and unanticipated situations.
Great resources for checking out or participating in existing projects or even for starting your own project!
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