You are going to be studying the COVID-19 Digital Archive in two parts. In Part One, pretend you’re a historian 50 years from now and that you’re researching the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Think of a relatively specific topic related to the pandemic, and use the COVID-19 Digital Archive as your source for research materials. Use Advanced Search to gather items items that are related to your topic - note, you can change topics if you are having trouble finding enough material. You will then write a post on your website sandbox in two parts. In Part One, write a 700-800 word analysis of your chosen topic as if you were a future historian writing a short article for a popular audience. Your writing can include general contextual information, but most of it should be drawn from material found in the COVID-19 Digital Archive. Incorporate examples, quotes, images, etc. from the archive within your writing and be sure to include a link to the archival record for each item.
In Part Two of the assignment, submit your own archival artifact to the archive by clicking on “Share Your Story” (note: you can choose to remain anonymous). Then write a second post on your website sandbox from your own perspective, in 2021. Some questions to consider (just choose a few to focus on): What was it like to explore the archive? What worked well and what was difficult? Did you run into challenges in terms of uploading your story or assigning its metadata? What kinds of stories did you tend to find? What kinds of stories seemed to be missing? How did you decide what story to contribute? Were there any challenges to this process? Did you notice anything about the kind of metadata that was captured in the items?
Due during Week 6-7 (February 22-March 7). Send Professor Blevins a URL to each of your posts.