Libraries

The Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC) at Oregon State University Libraries and Press invites contributions from the OSU community to an archival collection that it’s creating to document experiences by individuals and organizations of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those interested in participating are asked to submit text documents or digital images using a form available online at https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3fp2jMBJwIec4OV. SCARC staff will also be collecting oral history interviews with those wishing to share a more personal account of this unique time in history. This project is similar to those happening at other universities.

Anyone with connections to OSU, viewed broadly, is welcome to participate. This includes OSU alumni, staff and faculty, students, and Bend, Corvallis and Newport community members, as well as siblings, parents, partners, and others connected through OSU programs like the Extension Service.

The materials submitted will be used by SCARC to build a collection for research and exhibitions — and will be preserved in perpetuity in accordance with the department’s standard policies and procedures. Once collected, materials will be organized according to accepted archival principles, described in a dedicated finding aid, and potentially placed online as part of a digital collection or digital exhibit.

The project will seek to collect thoughts, images and other artifacts throughout the entire course of the COVID-19 pandemic and aftermath, and it is expected to last into 2021. 

For more information about the SCARC COVID Collecting Project, see the research guide at https://guides.library.oregonstate.edu/COVIDCollecting or contact project coordinator Anna Dvorak at anna.dvorak@oregonstate.edu.