These are unprecedented times and future historians will want to know how our community spent their time. What was the experience of the local community during this global pandemic?
To document this moment, the Ball State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections (in collaboration with the Everyday Life in Middletown project, and the Muncie Public Library) invites you to keep a diary of living during the COVID-19 epidemic in Indiana.
This project seeks to collect and preserve materials from both the Ball State University community and the surrounding geographic area.
The Ball State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections, the Muncie Public Library, and the Everyday Life in Middletown Project will collaborate to publish an online community archive to preserve and provide access to materials received.
Participants are welcome to submit:
Events continue to change day by day. They are specific to you and to your families, friends, and communities. Please start documenting now!
The emphasis is on self-expression, candor and a willingness to be a social commentator and to gather stories. No stress needs to be placed on good grammar, spelling or style.
Archives and Special Collections will welcome deposits in either analog or digital form.
If you are interested in contributing to the COVID-19 Pandemic Project, please visit the following page:
https://bsu.libwizard.com/f/c19ppa
Content submitted will be added to the Stoeckel Archive of Local History Collection at Ball State University Libraries Archives and Special Collections.
If the material you wish to donate is in digital form and exceeds the 100 MB limit, or if you wish to donate physical material, or have additional questions please email Head of Archives User Engagement Sarah M. Allison at smallison@bsu.edu
Everyday Life in Middletown Project
The Everyday Life in Middletown project, an ongoing effort to document ordinary daily experiences, is gathering accounts of life during the pandemic.
You can become a diarist with the Everyday Life in Middletown Project and answer a directive (questionnaire) about the pandemic by signing up here.
Read the directive here. Contact edlmiddletown@gmail.com for more information.
Muncie Public Library
Muncie Public Library welcomes your diaries and creations in either analog or digital form. Submit your digital content through the submissions page at https://muncie.librariesshare.com/documentyourstory/.
If you have questions or would like to donate a submission that is not digital, contact Muncie Public Library online at https://www.munciepubliclibrary.org/contact/contact-us .
There is no deadline for submissions. Muncie Public Library is building this collection to be featured permanently within their local history collection on Biblioboard, available to everyone at all times.
Getting (through) This Together: A Community-Based Archival Collaboration was an ALA Programming Librarian Series presentation with the project collaborators