Thousands of fans followed the Gophers men’s basketball team down the road to the Final Four. Now the University archivists are looking for some of those fans to help them capture their experiences for future generations.
University archivists want to compile photos taken by fans while celebrating the Gophers NCAA tournament victories in the Twin Cities, Kansas City, San Antonio and Indianapolis. The photos will be used in a variety of University publications and on the World Wide Web.
“We’d like to do a better job of archiving than we have in the past,” said Mike Nelson of University News Service. “For an event this special, we really want to go out of our way to do a good job.”
Nelson said the University is seeking pictures of action in the stands rather than on the court.
“We want to focus not on the coach and players, but more on the fan experience.”
The pictures will not be sold or used in any publication intended for retail sale. Instead, the publications will be made available to University departments for use in their literature or periodicals.
Plans for the photo project have just been unveiled, so no submissions have been turned in yet. But Nelson expects that situation to change very soon, as people in the University community become aware of the venture.
“We anticipate that we’ll be hearing from many people,” he said.
— Brett Knapp