The Dalla Lana School of Public Health is embarking on an internal project to preserve and archive, as well as selectively share publicly, the School’s distinctive experience with the COVID-19 pandemic from various perspectives, acknowledging their potential historical value.
We are inviting original records and first-person testimony from DLSPH faculty, students, post-doctoral fellows and staff to document perspectives and lived experiences around the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to documents and artifacts, we are seeking personal accounts, photos, videos, and creative works, that capture how the pandemic has shaped your studies, work, research, educational experience as a teacher or student, and personal life – inside and outside the School.
Submissions will be collected and preserved for future researchers to gain insight into DLSPH’s significant role in the pandemic, including the School’s transition to online education. Items identified by submitters as publicly accessible will be available on-demand and can also be featured on the DLSPH website and through DLSPH social media channels.
Type of Submissions Accepted
- Photographs or other images (including screenshots)
- Video recordings
- Audio recordings
- Emails
- PowerPoint presentations
- Journal entries (or other written or audio-recorded accounts of the learning, teaching experience)
- Publications, including drafts and notes
- Artwork, or other creative expression materials
Restrictions
- Content must be related to COVID-19
- Content must be generated and submitted by a member of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health community (including IHPME)
- Metadata submitted is accurate
- Submitted content does not infringe on any existing copyright
Privacy and Confidentiality
On the submission form, you will have the opportunity to decide whether to allow public access to your materials, or whether you would like the materials to be restricted to those with a documented research purpose.
A primary goal of this project is to collect and preserve original materials relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic and the contributions to its understanding and public health management by members of the DLSPH community, with such materials ultimately directed towards formal preservation in the University of Toronto Archives. Much of such original documentation would not normally be shared publicly, but the DLSPH COVID-19 Archive project provides a means to preserve such materials for potential future accessibility by historians/ researchers based on UofT Archives access restriction parameters that contributors can help define based on a set time limit or specific research purpose.
For questions, or for assistance choosing materials to archive, please contact DLSPH Adj. Prof. and medical/public health historian, Christopher Rutty at Christopher.rutty@utoronto.ca, or hhrs@healthheritageresearch.com
On behalf of future historical and public health researchers, we thank you for sharing your archival material with DLSPH.
UofT COVID-19 Collecting Community Experience Project
The UofT Archives and Records Management Services (UTARMS) unit is facilitating a broader university community effort to archive the UofT community’s pandemic experience, however a focused effort within DLSPH is needed. Many members of the DLSPH community have been directly and indirectly involved in the management of, response to, and study of, the COVID-19 pandemic.
To participate in the UTARMS COVID-19 Collecting Community Experience Project, please fill out this questionnaire.