Documenting COVID-19 at LSU

Share Your Stories

LSU Libraries Special Collections has a campus-wide initiative to record the personal experiences of the LSU community during the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you to share stories, photos, videos, audio recordings, visual & textual creative works, and other documentation about your experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How to Participate

How you record your thoughts and experiences is up to you. For instance, you can write in a journal, record voice memos, save your social media posts, take photos and/or videos of life as you see it, share online course material, or create multimedia works of digital storytelling. We are interested in your experiences with:

• the shift to remote instruction and learning,
• studying and working from home,
• working at on-campus and off-campus jobs,
• the impact of closing residence halls and other campus services,
• the ways you and your friends and family are staying in touch during periods of social distancing and self-quarantine.

Include only what you feel comfortable sharing, and practice distancing recommendations set by the CDC.

Submission Process

• Please use this form to submit your items. You will be able to agree to allow LSU Libraries to preserve your submission, and you will receive important information about the copyright and use of your content.  
• We will accept only digital files during the campus closure. LSU Libraries can accept a wide variety of file formats, including photos (jpg, png, tiff), videos (mp4, mov), audio (mp3, wav), text (txt, pdf, docx, doc), presentations (pptx, ppt), and spreadsheets (xls, xlsx).  If you are unsure about something in particular, please email lsucovidstories@lsu.edu and we will assist.
• Submissions will not be available to the public immediately, and not all submissions will be added to future collections. Materials will be reviewed by Special Collections staff, and selected files will be preserved as a permanent part of the University Archives. Some materials may also be included in the Louisiana Digital Library.
• The University’s official response will be recorded in the regular transfer of records to the University Archives. If you are the head of an academic department or campus administrative unit, please contact the University Archivist to coordinate a transfer.

Campus Resources

• For campus-wide updates on the pandemic and available resources, please visit the LSU Coronavirus Updates & Information web page.
• Staff and faculty can access employment resources by contacting LSU Human Resource Management.
• The LSU community can find resources on staying well, including mental health, through Telehealth Services at the Student Health Center.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to University Archivists Katie Howell (J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina Charlotte) and Nicholas Graham (Louis Round Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina) for allowing us to adapt text and ideas from UNCC’s Contribute Your Stories of the COVID-19 Outbreak and UNC’s Your History is Carolina’s History: Collecting Stories About the COVID-19 Pandemic projects.