University library researchers developing UofSC’s response to the pandemic
Published: November 12, 2020; Updated: November 12, 2020
By Megan Sexton, [email protected]
As the spread of COVID-19 closed the campus and changed life in Columbia, researchers at the University of South Carolina quickly understood the importance of keeping a historical record of their institution’s response and reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.
A team of University Library researchers stepped forward to document the university’s official actions and personal histories.
“Our mission is to collect, preserve and disseminate archival research materials about South Carolina and the South Carolinians. As we moved forward, we decided that focusing on USC seemed like a manageable way to do this,” said Graham Duncan, head of collections and manuscript curator of the South Caroliniana Library.
The project, “Documenting COVID-19 at the University of South Carolina,” was designed to collect, preserve and make available primary source materials that document the effects of coronavirus at the university, along with the university’s response and recovery. Teachers, staff and students are invited to share their stories of how COVID-19 affected them.
The archive will help future researchers understand how the university and its faculty, staff and students managed the logistical, technological, economic and psychological challenges posed by the pandemic.
“We talked about this in relation to previous pandemics. We have a lot [of information]
about the 1918-19 pandemic, but many of them are official government and administrative documents. This is important, but it is also important to tell a personal or social story. How did it affect people’s daily lives and how did they respond to it? ”Duncan says. “That was the idea behind the project.”
Different perspectives come together to tell a complete story about the impact on the university.
Andrea L’Hommedieu, director of the oral history department at the University Libraries
The pandemic has changed many things about campus life – including the way the library collects material.
“My job is to make contact with donors of physical materials. This is not possible now, ”says Duncan. “At this point, all the materials we collect are not physical items; we are thinking more digitally. ”
Duncan, the project’s principal investigator, joined others at the University Libraries – Elizabeth West, Beth Bilderback, Andrea L’Hommedieu, Lance Dupre and Edward Blessing – on the project.
The researchers also formed a diverse campus-wide advisory board to solicit ideas and suggestions. In addition, the library is planning to record oral stories about the pandemic.
Jenna Conant, who obtained her master’s degree in 2019 at the School of Library Science and Information Science, is the project’s digital archivist. She created a web page and set up an online submission form allowing people to upload their materials and include the history that will be needed when documents are filed.
In the early summer, they received a wide variety of contributions, including a series of poems, journal entries, photographs, student podcasts and other items. West, the university’s archivist, is also collecting official university policies and documents related to the response to the pandemic.
The archive will continue to grow throughout the fall semester, and will include the addition of reflection papers from students expected from a history class being taught this fall.
“It is anything and everything. As archivists, we don’t make judgments. It is up to future researchers to determine how to use the materials ”, says Duncan. “It can be used throughout the university. Many departments and academic units can make use of it. At a high level, we hope you can provide the university with some information in the future, should something like this happen again. ”
Telling the stories of COVID-19
Everyone at the University of South Carolina has a story to tell about how to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Andrea L’Hommedieu, director of the oral history department at the University Libraries, is taking steps to collect them.
As part of the “Documenting COVID-19 at the University of South Carolina” project, L’Hommedieu and his colleagues will interview people across the university – students, faculty, staff and administrators – to help document the effects of coronavirus and response and recovery.
“It is important to have this perspective, a first-person memory of the event. We are all experiencing this and we are all affected in different ways, ”says L’Hommedieu. “We want to talk to people in many different areas of the university about how they responded to the pandemic. How has your life changed? Did they find silver ceilings at this time? ”
The research project’s advisory board will recommend people to be interviewed for oral histories, ensuring that researchers use a variety of sources. L’Hommedieu says she is also interested in hearing from people at the university who may have an interesting perspective to share through an oral history. She hopes to interview at least 15 people.
“If you are talking to administrators in charge of preparing and reopening the university, they will have a different perspective of a student studying abroad who has been brought back, or other students who may have done internships that had to be modified. Different perspectives come together to tell a complete story about the impact on the university. ”
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Topics: Faculty, Research, Postgraduate Studies, Initiatives, History, Collections, COVID-19, Careers, University Libraries