Covid-19 Resources for Folklorists

The list of resources below is being actively compiled from a variety of sources by CFS staff to assist folklorists as they navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. We thank everyone who has provided crucial information to build this list for our folklore colleagues, community partners, friends, and collaborators. Email suggestions for additions to patterson.493@osu.edu. 

Folklorists, Archivists, Cultural Leaders & Communities Respond to the Pandemic

• The American Folklore Society's Covid-19 Resources page
• Siena canta alla finestra -  "Long Live our Siena" being sung from balconies in Italy
• Learning Locally: Creative Responses Across the Nation in a Time of Covid-19 on the Local Learning website

Socially Distanced Fieldworking & Interviewing

• Zencastr, a web-based recording platform, which is currently offering up to 4 hours of free recording
• The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
• Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History and the Oral History Association's webinar on Oral History at a Distance: Conducting Remote Interviews
• Check out this resource from the Vermont Folklife Center: "Recording Interviews Remotely"
• Texas Folklife has shared their Virtual Roundtable on "Redefining Our Work? Folk and Traditional Arts During a Pandemic" with information in distant fieldworking
• AFS and the Missouri Folk Arts Program are presenting a series of webinars on Remote Fieldworking with Thomas Grant Richardson
• "On Remote Fieldwork and 'Shifting Gears'" by Michelle Stefano for Folklife Today, a blog of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
• Remote Fieldwork: Q&A with Thomas Grant Richardson (Interviewed by John Fenn, American Folklife Center, for Folklife Today)
• COVID Society: Some resources I have put together for social researchers on This Sociological Life (blog)
• Oral History Association's Remote Interviewing Resources

Cultural & Educational Resources

• Arts-based education materials from South Carolina Arts 
• Folklorist Jon Kay has been uploading educational and informative videos for Traditional Arts Indiana
• Foxfire's special edition of the It Still Lives podcast, which features an playlist from their archives (available on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher or through their blog). 
• The University of Arkansas has assembled a Folklore & Contaigion: Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception research guide
• Folklorist Andrea Kitta discusses COVID-19 Gossip, Rumor, Legend, and Conspiracy Theories. Kitta has also released her book, The Kiss of Death: Contagion and Contamination in Folklore, with free digital access
• Rapunzel's Tooklit, a list of magical, folklore-y things to do during the pandemic, developed by our alumni who started the Carterhaugh School
• Folkstreams: an online collection of free documentary films on American traditional cultures
• Local Learning Toolbox from the National Network for Folk Arts and Education
• The Maryland State Arts Council's Virtual Events & Content List
• The Alliance for California Traditional Arts's "Sheltering Together" live videos (on Facebook or Instagram) featuring performances, demonstrations, and words of wisdom from traditional artists
• ColaJazz is hosting live and recorded Virtual Jazz Crawls. Live streams of the shows take place on Wednesdays, 8-9pm Eastern
• Smog Veil Records, which specializes in underground and out-of-print music from Ohio, is streaming a selection of their song releases on Sound Cloud
• Appalshop has made their entire digital catalogue free to rent on Vimeo, and they're hosting a series of Digital Watch Parties via Facebook

Essays, Articles & Tip Sheets

• Article by Sheila Bock (OSU alumna and associate professor at UNLV): "Deliberate Infectors & Exotic Origins: The Folklore Behind COVID-19"
• Check out folklorist Maribel Alvarez's article, "Folklore in the Age of Pandemics," in BorderLore
• Article from The New York Times: "Museums Scramble to Document the Pandemic, Even as It Unfolds"
• Folklorist Benjamin Radford's articles on pandemic misinformation: "Coronavirus Myths, Misinformation, And Conspiracies" and "Sylvia Browne’s Bogus Coronavirus Prophecies" in the The Center for Inquiry
• "The Values—and Dangers—of Folklore during a Global Pandemic" article in Folklife by Smithsonian folklorist James Deutsch, as well as his article "How to Detect the Age-Old Traditions of Folklore in Today’s COVID-19 Misinformation" in the Smithsonian magazine
• File

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• Dr. Andrea Kitta interviews for Slate in "COVID Folklore: How the Stories We Tell About COVID can help--or Hinder--Vaccination Efforts" by Rebecca Onion.

Documentation Projects

• Documenting Covid-19 GoogleDoc, an open, collaborative list of existing and emerging documentation projects and links
• The Vermont Folklife Center is hosting a series of online Virtual Story Circles via video conference to share realities in a world threatened by a pandemic
• The Southeast Ohio History Center is collecting material from the region of southeast Ohio and Appalachia for their COVID-19 History Project
• The American Religious Sounds Project has put out a "Call for Sounds," asking: What does religion sound like during the age of COVID-19?
• Listening in Place Project from the Vermont Folklife Center
• Foxfire is conducting a Covid-19 Oral History Project
• City Lore is collecting aesthetic responses to Coronavirus. Email submissions to Jake@citylore.org.
• Emily Hilliard at the West Virginia Folklife Program is collecting COVID responses via Facebook messenger, voicemail (toll free #WVFolklifeHotline 1(844) 618-3747), or email (hilliard@wvhumanities.org). 
• The Columbus Historical Society is collecting stories and material related to Covid-19
• Ohio State University Archives is capturing the experiences of students throughout the pandemic. Students can fill out this questionnaire. The survey can be taken anonymously and takes about 10-15 minutes.
• Our own Sydney Varajon is helping put together a project called "Wish you were here! A Project on Placemaking and Pandemic" where you can submit postcards to share your experiences during this time

Archival Collections & Guides

• Archive-It Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Collection archived by the International Internet Preservation Consortium
• Covid-19 Web Archives, an open, collaborative Excel list of existing and emerging archival collections, housing locations, and links
• The Society of American Archivists is putting together their own Resources for Response to COVID-19 Health Crisis

Guidelines and Updates from Folk and Traditional Arts & Humanities Organizations

• Principles for Ethical Cancellation of face-to-face cultural events on Springboard for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Arts statement and FAQs for applicants and awardees
• National Endowment for the Humanities Covid-19 webpage
• Folk Arts Disruption and Cancellations Google doc
• National survey conducted by the Americans for the Arts on The Economic Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Arts and Cultural Sector
• The Art of Reopening: A Guide to Current Practices Among Arts Organizations During Covid-19 a report of the National Endowment for the Arts

Relief for Artists & Culture Workers

• Artist Relief is offering grants of $5K for artists and creative workers who are experiencing economic distress on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications are due by April 23
• Covid-19 & Freelance Artists Resources from the Authors League Fund
• Americans for the Arts is seeking responses for their Covid-19 Impact Survey
• Arts Ready online emergency preparedness service
• Association of Performing Arts Professionals emergency response 
• Creative Capital Covid-19 resources
• North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coronavirus resources page
• Covid-19 Resources for Artists and Arts Organizations from the National Endowment for the Arts
• CERF+ The Artist's Safety Net
• "Why the Arts Matter State Factsheet" from the Americans for the Arts Action Fund
• The Paycheck Protection Program Toolbox for non-profit organizatinos, through Fiscal Management Associates
• The National Endowment for the Arts has CARES Act grant funding to help nonprofit arts organizations preserve jobs and help support organizations
• The Alliance for California Traditional Arts has compiled a shortlist of funding and readiness resources on their Resources for Traditional Artists Affected by COVID-19 page
• Covid-19 Resources from the Mass Cultural Council
• Jazz Road Quick Assist Fund offers a limited amoutn of $1,000 grants whose performances in March, April, and May 2020 have been canceled.

Additional FREE Online Cultural & Educational Resources

• Streaming opera from the Metropolitan Opera
• Virtual museum tours
• The Ohio History Connection has compiled Learn at Home courses and will hold Ohio History Day online
• The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources from the Museum Computer Network lists dozens of portals and resources for e-learning
• The Ohio State University Press has offered free access to its scholarly publications
• Folks have been keeping ongoing lists (here and here) of publishers/vendors who are taking down their paywalls during this crisis
• WOSU Classroom provides resources for at home learning

FREE Online News Resources & Compilations

• Numerous news publishers are offering free online access to Covid-19-related articles
• Duke University Press is offering free online access to books and journal articles related to pandemics
• Humanities COVID-19 Syllabus on Northeastern University Humanities Center website

OSU Updates, emerging policies, and resources

• OSU website for latest news and updates about the Corona Virus
• OSU resources for switching to online instruction
• OSU temporary remote working resources
• OSU Library hours and locations updates
• Interim OSU Guidance and FAQs on Human Subjects-Related Research Visits during COVID-19 Outbreak (folklore students should send questions about their specific research contexts to their faculty mentors or to Dr. Katherine Borland at borland.19@osu.edu) 
• Cornavirus and Your Research Program from the Office of Research
• Survey of Things Students are Worried About on OSU Sub-Reddit
• Email Wendy Smooth(.1) to contribute to the OSU Student Emergency Fund
• OSU Temporary Remote Learning Resources 
• How are you teaching? survey from the OSU University Institute for Teaching & Learning
• Complete this online form to arrange digital copies of content for students from these publishers: Norton, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Wiley or Cengage
• Request streaming media through the OSU libraries
• Mental health resources for faculty and staff
• ASC Student Wellbeing Resources
• Student Life Disability Services resources for virtual instruction
• Infectious Disease OSU Student Community to lead virtual town halls on COVID-19
• Faculty, staff and students from The Ohio State University are now able to access the entire public domain corpus plus temporarily have limited access to in-copyright and copyright-undetermined volumes through HathiTrust Digital Library
• The university also has a variety of student assistance funds accepting donations
• OSU's new calendar of upcoming dates and deadlines on the Academic Decisions page
• Check out the article by Margaret Price (director of the Disability Studies Program) and Jessie Male (PhD candidate) to learn tips for communication, accommodation and development of teaching materials: "Support for Disabled Students: Online Teaching Practices" on UITL's website
• COVID-19 message from the OSU Health Plan: "In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, President Trump has signed into effect the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, effective March 18. Under that act, the evaluation and testing for COVID-19 will be covered at 100% with no out-of-pocket costs. No Prior Authorization will be required, and there will be no network restrictions placed on where members can be evaluated and tested." Read more.
• COVID-19 Information and Resources page from the OSU English Department
• OSU's Keep Researching portals for Funding and their Research Hub
• COVID Connect from the OSU Center for Public Health Practice, linking health departments and other organizations with professional volunteers willing to share their expertise
• HathiTrust provides emergency temporary access service to copyrighted books to OSU Library

Ohio

• Mutual Aid Central Ohio GoogleForm for neighbor-to-neighbor support
• Covid-19 in Ohio: Resources & Ways to Help GoogleDoc
• Ohio Department of Health's Novel Corona Virus page and Resources page
• WOSU offers Spanish livestream of Governor Mike DeWine's daily briefings on the outbreak

National & Global Resources

• World Health Organization's Coronavirus Disease page
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus page