Covid-19 Oral History Project
Be part of history! Share your pandemic story!
Imagine a person 100 years from now is researching the Great 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. They want to know how the community of Plainfield was affected by the international crisis. What kinds of things do you think they should know? Do you have a story to share which will deepen their understanding of how the pandemic affected you? Consider participating in our new COVID-19 Oral History Project! Details of the project are below. Please be sure to fill out the 2 forms at the bottom of the page if you would like your oral history recording archived at the library. Send any questions you may have to our Indiana Room staff.
Oral History Project documents
Listen to our own Jeannine Spurgin’s oral history as an example!
Oral History Project Options
Phone/Face-to-Face Interview:
1. After you have notified us that you will participate, we will contact you to set up an interview time. Interviews will primarily be taken over the phone, but we will be able to schedule face-to-face interviews in the future with proper social distancing.
2. Interviews will last from 15 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour.
3. Once the interview is completed, you will have an opportunity to review the recording for accuracy. You will be able to do this right after the interview or at another time before the interview is transcribed. You will also be able to review the transcription for accuracy.
4. After the interview has been processed, it will be stored in our archival database, and will be included on the website for patrons to browse and listen to stories.
Record Your Own Story:
1. Instructions are provided for using an interview/topic guide to record your experience yourself using a smartphone or an audio recording device.
2. Once you have recorded your story, please share or email your audio file to us for processing and transcribing. Instructions are provided.
3. You will be able to review the transcription of the interview for accuracy.
4. After the interview has been processed, it will be stored in our archival database, and will be included on the website for patrons to browse and listen to stories.
