The State Library of NSW wants your self-isolation images to become part of the historic record, launching a new collecting drive on Instagram called #NSWathome.  
 
State Librarian Dr John Vallance says, “the coronavirus has changed the way we live almost overnight! What better way to capture the pandemic’s instant and immediate impact than through social media.” 
 
“We’re asking people all across the State to get involved by sharing a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #NSWathome to show how they’re working, staying fit, keeping informed and staying entertained during the 90-day isolation period,” says Dr Vallance. 
 
The #NSWathome initiative is part of the Library’s broader efforts to capture for its collection the images and stories of people during this extraordinary time in our history.   
 
“#NSWathome is about telling the story of now, while importantly, providing future researchers with a significant visual record of how we coped, amused ourselves and learned to live with this unprecedented health crisis,” says Mitchell Librarian Richard Neville. 
 
“We know very little about what went on inside the homes of people during the 1919 pandemic.  We are determined that with today’s technology, a gap like that in the records won’t be an issue future historians face.” 
 
Images shared on Instagram with the hashtag #NSWatHome will be featured on the Library’s website – https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/nswathome. They will also be added to the Library’s collection using Social Media Archive, an online tool which gathers publicly available social media posts with pre-selected keywords and hashtags.