Contributing to the Hindsight 2020: New Haven project is just one way to preserve a record of your experiences and thoughts during this time. Below are some ideas and resources to help you get started.

Organize and preserve your family’s photographs and papers

Family papers and photographs not only tell the story of your family, but of the places, communities, and times in which they’ve lived. Spend time with family members organizing these materials, keep notes on who is pictured and where photographs were taken, and store materials safely.

• National Archives' "How to Preserve Family Archives"
• Library of Congress' "Personal Digital Archiving" 
• Library of Congress' easy guides to "Preserve your Books, Paper, Photographs (PDF)" as well as "Preserve Your Art, Family Heirlooms, and A/V recordings (PDF)" 

Record oral histories 

An oral history is a recorded interview between a narrator and an interviewer about particular aspects or important events in their lives or in their family history. It is a great way to capture family histories when physical materials (letters or photographs, for example) might not exist. 

• UCLA Center for Oral History Research - Conducting Oral Histories with Family Members
• FamilyTree's "8 Easy Steps for Interviewing Family Members"
• UC Berkeley Library Oral History Tips
• StoryCorps' list of Great Questions

If you think you’d like to donate the recording to a library someday, make sure you document the interviewer and interviewee’s consent using a release form. See examples: Sample release forms from the American Folklife Center (PDF) and example from the Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

Create a zine

These DIY, self-published projects can be made with materials on-hand, or even compiled digitally. You can share and/or trade your zines with others.

• Vice's "Beginner's Guide to Making Zines"
• Brightly's How to Make a Zine: A Kid-Friendly DIY Guide
• University of Puget Sound Library's Making Zines

Saving your social media and web content

Your social media accounts may include photos, videos, and text posts documenting your life. Most social media platforms allow you to export your content, which can then be backed up along with your other important digital files. You can also use a tool like ArchiveSocial to capture social media content. If you have a personal website, you can submit it to be captured by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. 

• Library of Congress' "Keeping Websites, Blogs, and Social Media"

Documenting social movements

• Jules, B., Summers, E., and Mitchell, Jr., V. (2018). DocNow White Paper "Ethical Considerations for Archiving Social Media Content Generated by Contemporary Social Movements: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations (PDF)"
• Witness Media Lab "Using Video During the COVID-19 Crisis to Protect Human Rights"