Documenting COVID-19 at UAB

The COVID-19 era has challenged us in many ways. During the last several months, we’ve had to learn new things, change the way we do things, or stop doing familiar things altogether, all while keeping an appropriate distance from each other and taking extreme health precautions. During the pandemic, you may have recorded personal accounts, photographed your hardships and coping mechanisms, or kept diary entries of your unique outlook on the events. What if UAB, as a community, could collect and preserve these materials for the benefit of future generations?

UAB Libraries and University Relations are seeking to gather the stories of UAB students, faculty, staff, and health care workers navigating life during COVID-19. This is an era-defining medical event and we want to document it for historical purposes. Suggestions for submissions include such topics as daily life during the stay-at-home order, social distancing, the transition to remote working and learning, providing healthcare to those infected with COVID-19, and first-hand experiences with the infection. This is an important time in our history and we know the UAB community can provide a wide range of experiences for this collection.

Submissions

We are asking for digital submissions of original written accounts (narratives, blog postings, poetry, diary entries, etc.), photographs, artwork, and video and audio recordings documenting the UAB COVID-19 experience. The file size limit for the form below is 100MB. Submission of non-digital formats will be postponed until the libraries are open to receive them. Therefore, at this time, submissions should be in digital formats.

As our plan is to add your submission to a COVID-19 collection in the UAB Digital Collections website, participants will be asked to accept a deed-of-gift to transfer the material to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a media release form which allows UAB to use the material in print and online publications. However, the media release is not a requirement for submission and if permission is not granted, your submission will still be preserved for research and archival purposes. Finally, participants are asked to ensure that no personally identifiable patient information is disclosed in compliance with HIPAA laws.

For additional information or questions or if you're concerned about your file size going over the 100MB limit, please contact Anna Kaetz, akaetz95@uab.edu.