The staff of the Allan Hancock College (AHC) Library is currently collecting materials related to the COVID-19 outbreak for a historic archiving project. Area residents are welcome to submit any of their recorded experiences—in the form of photos, videos, essays, journal entries, poems, audio recordings, or other archival materials—of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent shelter-in-place order.
“Over the last few months, the AHC Library staff have heard stories of the resiliency, struggles, Herculean efforts, ingenuity, and heartache our students and community have experienced over the last three months,” librarian Susanna Kopecky said in a press release from Hancock. “We knew this was one of those times that needed to be documented, remembered, and preserved for the future.”
Those who wish to participate in the archival project can fill in an online form (available at bit.ly/achcovidarchiving). Users must have a Google-associated email account to access the document.
The concept of documenting daily life during the COVID-19 crisis ties into the AHC Library’s role in teaching information literacy, Kopecky explained, and the ability to recognize credible sources.
“Everyone is reacting and reflecting in their own way, and we would like to hear from anyone who is interested in sharing their reflections,” Kopecky said in the release. “Years from now, people will wonder what life was like during the pandemic, and we would like to be able to provide that glimpse of life for the historic record.”
Visit hancockcollege.edu/library for more details.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 2, 2020.