Communicating about collecting
Generally, you should use as many types and platforms of communication as are available. These might include websites, social media, physical flyers and notices. If you only share information once, through one medium, not everyone will be able to receive it and they may not understand it in a busy or overwhelming time. You could use QR codes on signs to direct people to additional information.
Deliver essential or important information quickly, clearly and transparently.
Featured case studies: Lancaster University and University of Leeds
External communications may need to be issued as part of central communications. Depending on your situation, it may be possible to provide limited messages about collecting activities. You may need to work closely with others to coordinate and disseminate information about your activities and plans.
Be prepared to continue to communicate after the immediate response to the event is over. Transparency about how material which has been collected is being handled and its future is important.
Developing a collecting plan
Your existing collecting policies and procedures may already cover rapid response collecting. Even if they do, you should make an initial plan which reflects the purpose of your archive and your ethical considerations. See ‘Is collecting suitable?‘ for more information. As described in ‘Factors to consider‘, you should document your evolving thinking and the decisions you have made. This is part of the provenance of the rapid response collecting. It will help you and others understand the scope, aims and impact of different practices in rapid response collecting.
‘The first few weeks‘ includes more detailed information about documenting, selecting or appraising material, disposing of material and preservation and conservation actions. You may need to add to your plans as time goes on, but your initial plan may simply capture that you will need to decide soon in these areas.
If you make a flexible plan early on you will have some basic parameters for what you will collect, why, how and with whom. This will be useful in the early stages, particularly if you are involved with stakeholders and other partners. It will also help you plan for the resources and capacity you will need in the longer-term. You should include your assessment of risks and any permissions, insurance or relevant other matters. For example, staff at the Orange County Regional History Center developed a short collecting plan (PDF, 0.6MB) in the first few days after a mass shooting event in Florida.
If you are calling for contributions as part of your rapid response collecting, you should consider how to secure informed consent from your contributors which covers future use by the archive service. You could also consider whether items can be anonymised on submission rather than applying a blanket closure under data protection legislation later. These activities can be very time-consuming to undertake retrospectively so it is better to build this into how you call for contributions.
Featured case studies: Lancaster University and University of Stirling