DCDC21 | Collecting and collaborating in times of crisis
Channel: ResearchLibrariesUK
Date: 05/07/2021

DCDC stands for Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities. It is a cross-sectoral conference, hosted by The National Archives, RLUK and Jisc, that brings together the GLAMA sectors (galleries, libraries, archives, museums and academia) to shine a light on our shared experiences, innovations, interests and concerns. The DCDC21 Conference explored how crisis can act as a catalyst for change within libraries, archives, museums, and cultural organisations. https://dcdcconference.com/

Sex work and the State: Collaboration, ethics and ‘challenging’ histories 
Victoria Iglikowski-Broad, The National Archives

Historically, sex workers have been medicalised, criminalised and moralised, and this is reflected in many of the collections held by archives and research libraries. Despite this, in The National Archives collections there are fascinating records relating to sex workers lives, around themes of, agency, language and intersectional identities. 

There is huge potential in these records; however archival records tend to be their most powerful when united with current perspectives and lived experience. This creates a challenge, as the effect of a heritage project in collaboration with any marginalised groups effected by the current pandemic would potentially be unethical. Many sex workers are fighting for day-to-day survival. Sex worker charities are running emergency appeals for funds, illustrating the urgency of the impact of the pandemic on sex workers. 

In response to this challenge, this paper explores a series of key principles for ethical collaborations. Discussing knowing the right time to collaborate and how to ensure an intersectional approach to records before working with collaborative partners.


NHS Voices of Covid-19: Creating a national collection of Covid-19
Angela Whitecross and Stephanie Snow, NHS Voices of Covid-19, University of Manchester

NHS Voices of Covid-19 are creating a national collection of personal testimonies of Covid-19 and the NHS, in partnership with the British Library. Funded by a £1m grant from the AHRC through the UKRI Covid-19 urgency call and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we currently have a collection of over 2000 digital oral history interviews. This paper will explore how recording Covid-19 has been a catalyst for change in a multitude of ways; for oral history practice, through increasing opportunities for participatory research and by situating digital humanities methods as significant interventions to inform broader policy and practice change.