Tell us about your life during the Covid-19 pandemic
Help us collect material about the pandemic on the internet and tell us about your daily life during Denmark's lockdown.
Photo: Det Kgl. Bibliotek
Published 27 March 2020 | Revision 07 November 2024
The corona crisis has turned the world upside down, and we find ourselves in a very special place in world history, and it must be documented. We do this, for example, by collecting websites, radio, television and newspapers, but we also need your help.
Tell us about information on the internet
You may not know it, but Royal Danish Library is responsible for collecting the Danish part of the internet so the future can know what we did back in 2020. When something special happens, such as the pandemic that currently dominates the headlines both in newspapers and online, we focus in on that and intensify our collection.
We need your help with tips about places on the internet that can tell future Danes about the pandemic.
For example:
- Danish pages about the corona crisis in Denmark (but NOT articles and theme sections from Danish news media).
- foreign pages about the corona crisis in and concerning Denmark
- public posts/groups on social media with Danish related content to the corona crisis
Read more about our collection on the Internet
What we collect
Royal Danish Library collects and preserves the Danish part of the internet in accordance with the Danish Legal Deposit Act, and we are currently particularly focusing on collecting material related to Denmark about the corona crisis on the internet in a so-called event harvest.
We focus on:
- social media: selected Facebook posts and profiles, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Imgur, Soundcloud, podcasts, Pinterest and memes on various platforms.
- foreign websites about the corona crisis in Denmark.
- Articles and theme sections from Danish news media are covered by Netarkivet's ongoing selective collections and adjusted as relevant new sites emerge.
- In addition, all Danish domains are harvested in this year's first cross-sectional harvest, which was launched on 13 March. A cross-sectional harvest is a snapshot of the Danish part of the Internet, and it ensures that we collect our material widely.
What has happened so far - the Danish angle
The starting shot for our focus on the corona crisis was Niels Bo Bojesen's satire drawing of a virus-spotted China flag. We focused on securing reactions to the drawing and the ensuing online discussion on a range of different social media. The response was especially wild on Twitter, where there were many strong messages and memes about Denmark, the cartoonist and Jyllands-Posten. That was 26 January, 2020.
On 11 March, the corona virus truly reached Denmark with the government closing down a number of public institutions and instituting other measures to limit the infection. Subsequently, media in Denmark and the rest of the world has been filled with news and reactions about the virus COVID-19, and we naturally collect as much relevant material as we can.
Tell us about your life during the corona crisis
We also need your help to gather knowledge about your daily life and your life in general during the corona crisis. In collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark, we collect your stories, photos and small films from everyday life.
We focus in particular on the culture of everyday life and want to document how ordinary people's daily life and contact with others happens in a situation where everyday life has changed dramatically.
This applies, for example, to what happens when the calendar is suddenly emptied and a large part of our social life - possibly - takes place online. This applies to understandings of illness and health, and not least to the traditions and rituals that must be reworked in order to be together separately. What happens to birthdays and Easter lunches when we have to organize them in new ways, and what does that mean for our relationship with each other?
Download the questionnaire and start writing about your life and thoughts.
Every story is preserved at the National Museum of Denmark, but they are made available for research.