This is part of a series on web archiving at the UBC Library. For all posts about web archiving, please see https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/tag/web-archiving/

Since early 2020 the UBC Library has embarked on a project to collect and preserve web content related to the unique local events and impacts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. From the updates of Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry to records of COVID-related racism against Asian communities, this project will help to preserve the regional footprint of what will be a much-studied period in our history.

Working with students at the iSchools at UBC (Kisun Kim, Matt Kingcroft, and Sarah Gallagher), the University of Alberta (Teo Dobre), and the University of Toronto (Michael Ruccolo), the Library has developed a number of collections:

COVID-19 Pandemic in British Columbia: general COVID-related content in the province

COVID-19 Pandemic and UBC: COVID content related to UBC and its operations and response during this time

COVID-19 and K-12 Education in BC: COVID information from school district websites throughout the province as well as government policy documentation on COVID and school operations

COVID-19, Racism, and Asian Communities: information on racism-driven events related to COVID

COVID-19 Impacts on the Downtown Eastside: on the impact of COVID-19 on unhoused people in the DTES area, and on the drug and overdose prevention efforts in that community at the time.

These collections are also part of the recently launched global COVID-19 Web Archive. Pulling together over 80,000 archived websites, this portal from the Internet Archive documents the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities, businesses, healthcare, and other aspects of everyday life around the world.

For more information on web archiving at the UBC Library, visit our website or email digitization.centre@ubc.ca.