The Special Collections & Archives Department at UW-Eau Claire's McIntyre Library has received the 2021 Governor's Award for Archival Innovation from the Wisconsin Historical Society for "The Chippewa Valley COVID-19 Archiving Project," a collaboration with the UW-Eau Claire Public History Program and the Chippewa Valley Museum. The award is administered in cooperation with and the Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board.

About the Project

In collaboration with the Public History Program at UW-Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley Museum, the archives launched "The Chippewa Valley COVID-19 Archiving Project." This rapid response COVID-19 collecting project focused on collecting, preserving, and making accessible oral histories, web pages, and other records relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Western Wisconsin. The UW-Eau Claire Special Collections & Archives Department developed the project's infrastructure using Omeka-S Software. This infrastructure allowed for the solicitation, archiving, and sharing of records. UW-Eau Claire students aided in project outreach and conducted oral history surveys, and the Chippewa Valley Museum aided in project promotion and record solicitation. This innovative and collaborative project successfully engaged new audiences and brought awareness to the importance of archival work.

About the Archival Innovation Award

This award recognizes individuals, programs, or organizations that successfully experiment with new ways to demonstrate the significance or relevance of historical records for understanding the past, or that use historical records to reach new audiences. This award is open to Wisconsin archival repositories and individuals only. The activity or contribution being nominated must have occurred within the last three years and may be continuing.

The Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board jointly sponsor the Governor's Archives Awards annually. A panel of judges from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board recommended these organizations receive the award. The Wisconsin Historical Society's Board of Curators approved the 2021 Governor's Archives Awards.

Learn More

• Learn about the Governor's Archives Awards

  Learn how to nominate organizations for these awards.

• About the Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board

• Learn about the Board of Curators Awards