What We Do

MISSION

The mission of A Journal of the Plague Year: An Archive of COVID-19 (JOTPY) is to:

VALUES

JOTPY holds to the following core values in its work and seeks to embody these values in the following ways:

Inclusivity: by creating a rapid-response, crowdsourced archive that is international in scope, and by actively identifying and rectifying silences and exclusions that emerge from crowdsourcing, so as to create an archive that documents the broadest possible range of experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the wider historical and cultural moment of the pandemic

Accessibility: by creating an open-access digital archive that curates and makes available submissions in real time, so as to make the archive’s content universally accessible, readable, and searchable for both academic and public audiences

Standardization and Discoverability: by developing and consistently deploying robust metadata standards with multiple layers of description and categorization, so as to maximize opportunities for access and use of the archive

Adaptability and Responsiveness: by evaluating the changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as related social and political developments, and responding to changing patterns of use of the archive by adapting collecting and curatorial procedures accordingly

Ethics: by collecting, curating, and making submissions available according to established best practices, including an exacting review process for submissions that contain sensitive information or have the potential to inflict harm

Collaboration: by devising policies and procedures that welcome the participation and perspectives of content creators, curators, and users of the archive, and by working effectively with students, university colleagues, and other institutional partners through a model of sharing authority

VISION

JOTPY seeks to become the largest digital archive devoted to recording experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the wider historical and cultural moment of the pandemic. Focused on international collaboration, ethical practice, and iterative digital humanities methods, JOTPY seeks to become the model for rapid-response, born-digital archives of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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