The Fate of COVID‐19 Rapid Response Collections: Studying University Initiatives in Pennsylvania

Over the course of 2020, as the COVID‐19 pandemic was unfolding across the world, numerous information institutions implemented COVID‐19 rapid response collections. Rapid response collections are an emerging collecting modality that focus on documenting an event as it happens or in the immediate aftermath. Growing literature reflecting on these collections typically tells the story of individual collections and focuses on the process of starting and building them. Five years after these collections initially began, there is now the opportunity to reflect on the scope and impact of rapid response collecting during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as the status of these collections today. This pilot study, which aims to provide a foundation for a broader understanding of rapid response collecting across US GLAM institutions, assesses the presence, scope, and status of rapid response COVID‐19 projects started at universities in Pennsylvania.