Jamestown at Home: Enhanced Digital Outreach amidst the Pandemic

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes to daily life, forcing many cultural organizations that rely on public visitation to reorient their engagement efforts amidst site closures. Suddenly, communicating with audiences through the web and social media became even more vital. At the same time, employees had to adapt to new approaches in working remotely. This paper will explore some of the ways that the Jamestown Rediscovery staff focused their digital outreach efforts, including enhanced social media, creative reuse of existing content, and development of new educational materials. The team, with the support of an NEH CARES Act grant, is also building a new interactive map that will connect tour videos to in-depth information about the James Fort archaeological site and collections. Even once the site reopened to the public, enhanced digital outreach has been a critical tool for communication and for facilitating physical distancing during the onsite experience.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology