COVID-19 collecting by the ACT Heritage Library

The ACT Heritage Library would like to capture the lived experiences of members of the Canberra and surrounding community by developing a COVID-19 Community Archive that documents Canberrans’ lives during this unprecedented time in our history. The actions we take, the emotions we feel and the adjustments we have made in our lives will one day be the subject of historical studies.The material collected will be preserved for future generations.

What are we collecting?

The ACT Heritage Library is seeking to document, archive and preserve the record of Canberran’s lives today. Records will be collected and preserved in a variety of formats, including:

• photographs
• written works such as diaries and recollections
• ephemera such as posters, flyers and mail-outs
• audio recordings such as oral histories and, recorded recollections
• video such as video journals, short films, and digital stories

Both paper and digital submissions are encouraged.

How can you help?

We are asking for your help in collecting records that document your life in the ACT during the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be as simple as collecting posters, flyers and mail-outs appearing in our local neighbourhoods; keeping a journal that documents your lived experiences as you work from home, learn from home, and socially isolate; taking photographs of your local community as it adapts to the changes required to keep us all safe.

All these items provide invaluable information about this significant event as it affects our community. If you have hard copy donations, please put this material aside for the ACT Heritage Library until we reopen, or you can mail them to us and we will take care of it. Alternatively, please contact us to let us know you are collecting, and we will be in touch with you directly when the time is right.

Please contact us through our online form or by email.

Digital images and video can be donated through our dedicated Flickr group.

Donating your digital images and video NOW

The ACT Heritage Library has set up a Flickr Group. You can upload your digital photographs and video as they are created. We would like to see images and video of how your life and your community have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examples include:

• Images of signs you see popping up in your local area
• Images of the community coming together to help each other (e.g. bear hunts; community pantry’s popping up; random acts of kindness)
• Images and video of how you and your family are celebrating special events, such as birthdays, anniversaries, public holidays, etc.
• Images and video of how we are adapting to life at home, for example, working and learning from home, home haircuts, how you are keeping in touch with loved ones
• Images and video of how our community is reacting, including images of queues outside shops, empty supermarket shelves, examples of social distancing

Uploading digital images and video to the ACT Heritage Library Archive on Flickr

Digital images and video can be uploaded to our dedicated Flickr Group – ACT COVID-19 Community Archive

To contribute to the ACT COVID-19 Community Archive online:

1. Log in to your Flickr Account. If you don’t already have an account, you will need to create a FREE account here.

2. When you have logged on, search for, and join the ACT COVID-19 Community Archive Group:

Join a group using a desktop browser

• Click the Search Bar at the top of Flickr page.
• Enter and search for the words “ACT COVID-19 Community Archive”
• Click “Search Groups” on the drop down list.
• Click the group to see its photo pool.
• Click Join Group when you have found it.

Join a group using the Flickr app or mobile browser

• Tap the Search icon .
• Tap the Search Bar at the top of the screen.
• Enter and search for the words “ACT COVID-19 Community Archive”
• Tap Groups above your results.
• Tap a group to see its photo pool.
• Tap Join or Join Group when you have found it.

3. To upload images and video to the ACT COVID-19 Community Archive, follow the instructions here.

4. Provide a descriptive title and contextual information for your images. Please include the following information: subject, event, location, date.

5. Add tags. The tags “Canberra”and "COVID-19" are mandatory. Separate single word tags with spaces and add phrases in quotes (e.g. Canberra, pandemic, “together at home”).

Other tags may include: self-isolation, “social distancing”; “public health warning”; “stay at home”; “flatten the curve”; “work from home”.

6. Select the group: ACT COVID-19 Community Archive