Curating Oral Histories

For the past ten years, Nancy MacKay’s Curating Oral Histories (2006) has been the one-stop shop for librarians, curators, program administrators, and project managers who are involved in turning an oral history interview into a primary research document, available for use in a repository. In this new and greatly expanded edition, MacKay uses the life cycle model to map out an expanded concept of curation, beginning with planning an oral history project and ending with access and use. The book:-guides readers, step by step, on how to make the oral history “archive ready”;-offers strategies for archiving, preserving, and presenting interviews in a digital environment;-includes comprehensive updates on technology, legal and ethical issues, oral history on the Internet, cataloging, copyright, and backlogs.

The Oral History Manualis designed to help anyone interested in doing oral history research to think like an oral historian. Recognizing that oral history is a research methodology, the authors define oral history and then discuss the methodology in the context of the oral history life cycle – the guiding steps that take a practitioner from idea through access/use. They examine how to articulate the purpose of an interview, determine legal and ethical parameters, identify narrators and interviewers, choose equipment, develop budgets and record-keeping systems, prepare for and record interviews, care for interview materials, and use the interview information. In this third edition, in addition to new information on methodology, memory, technology, and legal options incorporated into each chapter, a completely new chapter provides guidelines on how to analyze interview content for effective use of oral history interview information. The Oral History Manualprovides an updated and expanded road map and a solid introduction to oral history for all oral history practitioners, from students to community and public historians.

It has been half a century since the last book that addressed how historical societies can utilize oral history. In this brief, practical guide, internationally known oral historian Barbara W. Sommer applies the best practices of contemporary oral historians to the projects that historical organizations of all sizes and sorts might develop. The book -covers project personnel options, funding options, legal and ethical issues, interviewing techniques, and cataloging guidelines;-identifies helpful steps for historical societies when developing and doing oral history projects;-includes a dozen model case studies;-provides additional resources, templates, forms, and bibliography for the reader.

Guides readers through the process of doing oral history.

The first book of the five-volume Community Oral History Toolkit sets the stage for an oral history project by placing community projects into a larger context of related fields and laying a sound theoretical foundation. It introduces the field of oral history to newcomers, with discussions of the historical process, the evolution of oral history as a research methodology, the nature of community, and the nature of memory. It also elaborates on best practices for community history projects and presents a detailed overview of the remaining volumes of the Toolkit, which cover Planning, Management, Interviewing, and After-the-Interview processing and curation. Introduction to Community Oral History features a comprehensive glossary, index, bibliography, and references, as well as numerous sample forms that are needed throughout the process of conducting community oral history projects.

The first book of the five-volume Community Oral History Toolkit sets the stage for an oral history project by placing community projects into a larger context of related fields and laying a sound theoretical foundation. It introduces the field of oral history to newcomers, with discussions of the historical process, the evolution of oral history as a research methodology, the nature of community, and the nature of memory. It also elaborates on best practices for community history projects and presents a detailed overview of the remaining volumes of the Toolkit, which cover Planning, Management, Interviewing, and After-the-Interview processing and curation. Introduction to Community Oral History features a comprehensive glossary, index, bibliography, and references, as well as numerous sample forms that are needed throughout the process of conducting community oral history projects.

Community projects often falter after the interviews are completed. This final book of the five-volume Community Oral History Toolkit explains the importance of processing and archiving oral histories and takes the reader through all the steps required for good archiving and for concluding the oral history project so that it is preserved and accessible for future generations. The authors give special attention to record-keeping systems and repositories, and provide several examples from actual projects to ground the information in practical terms. Charts, checklists, and sample forms also help the reader apply concepts to practice. Volume 5 finishes with examples of creative ways community projects have used oral histories, such as performances, exhibitions, celebrations, websites, and more, in order to promote history and engage the community.

"In this thorough guide to oral history theory, methods, and practice, Donald A. Ritchie, a prominent U.S. scholar in the field, synthesizes and builds on the extensive literature in manuals and fieldwork guides, to provide the first oral history handbook to address individual researchers as well as organized project teams (whether novices or veterans in the field), to cover videotaping as well as audio recording, and to support both teachers and archivists in their use of oral history records. Illustrating his guidelines with colorful examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, Ritchie offers clear, practical, and detailed advice on such issues as obtaining funding, staffing, and equipment; conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral histories in museums, on radio, in therapy, and in interactive video. Throughout, Ritchie stimulates researchers to consider and focus on the unique aspects of their individual projects as well as the special rewards and results of the recordings they make." "As he states at the outset, Ritchie's emphasis is on doing. His definitive guide provides all the practical advice and explanations contemporary oral historians require to turn their ideas and goals into action, and to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved