Documenting the role of UK science in the Covid-19 pandemic

Through innovation and collaboration, UK science showed extraordinary impact in the national and international response to the Covid-19 pandemic. By engaging with UK libraries, archives and museums, and scientists involved in Covid-19 research, this project investigates what would be needed to implement a national, collaborative programme to collect, preserve and provide access to the UK's scientific record of Covid-19.

Undertaken between September 2022 and October 2023, it forms part of the AHRC-RLUK Professional Practice Fellowship scheme for academic and research libraries.

Empty glass vial labelled Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca

Glass vial from the first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine used in the UK rollout, 4 Jan 2021. Object number 2021-431. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Glass vial from the first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine used in the UK rollout, 4 Jan 2021. Object number 2021-431. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Covid-19 collecting

During and immediately after the pandemic, rapid-response collecting initiatives were implemented in many UK libraries, archives and museums to document the ‘socio-cultural record’ of Covid-19. These focussed on collecting personal testimonies, objects and ephemera from patients, front-line clinicians and the general public. Initiatives included the NHS Voices of Covid-19 project, and activities at the Bodleian Libraries and History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, and the Science Museum Group.

Glass vial that held the first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

Glass vial that held Margaret Keenan’s first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, 7th December 2020. Object number 2021-433. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Glass vial that held Margaret Keenan’s first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, 7th December 2020. Object number 2022-127. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

To date, there has been no large-scale, coordinated attempt to document the UK’s ‘scientific record’ of Covid-19. Barriers include the ‘multi-format’ nature of the scientific record and the need to blend long-term and rapid-response collecting mechanisms that can flex to accommodate new accruals as research activity ebbs and flows.

Ceramic jar by Grayson Perry

Ceramic jar: 'Alan Measles - God in the time of Covid-19' by Grayson Perry. Object number 2021-1624. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Ceramic jar: 'Alan Measles - God in the time of Covid-19' by Grayson Perry. Object number 2021-1624. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Lectern sign carrying the message 'Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives'

Lectern sign carrying the message 'Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives'. Object number 2021-505. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

Lectern sign carrying the message 'Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives'. Object number 2021-505. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

Outputs

"My working definition of the UK's scientific response to Covid-19 is scientific endeavour in the fields of life sciences, physical sciences, applied sciences and formal sciences, involving all sections of the scientific workforce and support staff, and taking place in a range of settings. This will be tested and refined during the course of my research, with a more nuanced definition forming a key output of my research."

Amelie Roper (Professional Practice Fellow)

Glass model of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus

Glass model of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. Object number 2021-1663. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Glass model of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. Object number 2021-1663. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Additional outputs include a survey on Covid-19 collecting in UK galleries, libraries, archives and museums and case-studies with collecting organisations and scientists. These will be summarised in a journal article and professional report. Data will also be made available on the University of Cambridge repository, Apollo.

Engage with the project

Watch Research Fellow Amelie Roper introduce the research:

As part of the project, a survey on Covid-19 collecting was circulated to UK libraries, archives and museums in March 2023. The survey asked about Covid-19 collecting in general, as well as collecting specifically relating to science. There were 87 responses, including 50 from UK higher education institutions, and 12 from the local government sector. Scroll to see the headline findings.

68% of respondents either had, or were in the process of, collecting materials relating to Covid-19. 16% of these had, or were in the process of, collecting materials specifically relating to the UK's scientific response.

Before the pandemic, the most popular formats for scientific collecting in general were printed books, followed by research data, unpublished papers (physical format) and printed journal articles. Organisations that have already collected Covid-19 science materials tend to have acquired materials in digital format, with research data, e-books, websites and other digital files reported as the most prevalent formats.

Most respondents thought it was both important and urgent to collect materials relating to the UK's scientific response to Covid-19 in the future, and said that they would require additional resource to support this. Over half of respondents thought they would be likely to take part in a funded, national collecting programme relating to the UK's scientific response to Covid-19.

Have your say...

Consistent and precise use of terminology is key to making materials connected with the pandemic accessible, but there are many ways of referring to Covid-19.

How do you refer to Covid-19? Cast your vote here, and view the live results below.

People

Amelie Roper

Research Fellow Amelie Roper is Head of Research at Cambridge University Libraries. She is undertaking this project as part of the AHRC-RLUK Professional Practice Fellowship scheme for academic and research libraries. Her mentor is Dr Jenny Haynes, Head of Collections and Research at the Wellcome Collection.

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Sector engagement

A wide range of organisations have been consulted as part of this project, including: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; the British Library; Cambridge University Libraries; GSK; History of Science Museum, University of Oxford; Independent Research Organisations Consortium (IRO-C); the National Archives; Research Libraries UK (RLUK); Science Museum Group; Standing Conference of National and University Libraries (SCONUL); Wellcome Collection; Wellcome Sanger Institute; and the Whipple Museum for the History of Science, University of Cambridge.

Scientist engagement

Scientists involved in the UK's response to the Covid-19 pandemic will also be consulted as part of the project.

Contact

To contact the project, please email researchdevelopment@lib.cam.ac.uk.

Published March 2023

Page copy by Amelie Roper
Infographics by Amelie Roper
Video © Research Libraries UK (RLUK). Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
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Headline image: Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS © Public Health Image Library.
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Person working at computer in Cambridge University Library; © Alice the Camera / Cambridge University Library
Scientist looking at specimen; © University of Cambridge