"Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews."
Guidelines for handling ethical and legal issues related to interviewing, consent, and permission when it comes to oral history.
Ethics: The branch of philosophy which studies the nature of values and morality, and their relation to human behavior, decisions, and actions.
Legal issues: The field of law that covers the rights and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and governments in relation to legal disputes that typically arise in the context of contracts, torts, and criminal law.
Oral history: The systematic collection, organization, and interpretation of spoken accounts or interviews of people's experiences, perspectives, attitudes, and beliefs that seek to capture the transformative power of storytelling.
Research ethics: The principles and guidelines that inform the ethical practice of research in terms of respect for the privacy, rights, and dignity of human subjects, as well as transparency, honesty, and social responsibility.
Informed consent: The process of obtaining the explicit and voluntary agreement of potential research subjects to participate in a study, after they have been informed about the nature, purpose, risks, and benefits of the research.
Confidentiality and anonymity: The obligation of researchers to protect the confidentiality and anonymity of research subjects, and to provide safeguards against the misuse and unauthorized disclosure of data.
Institutional review boards: The committees appointed by organizations to review and approve research proposals, and to assess their conformity with ethical and legal standards.
Intellectual property: The legal rights that creators and innovators have over their original works, ideas, and inventions, and the mechanisms of protection and enforcement of those rights.
Plagiarism and attribution: The ethical obligation of acknowledging the sources and contributions of others in one's own work, and avoiding any form of misappropriation, misrepresentation, or dishonesty.
Professional codes of conduct: The ethical standards and principles that guide the behavior and practice of professionals in various fields, such as journalism, medicine, law, and education.
Digital ethics: The ethical considerations and challenges that arise in the context of digital technologies and platforms, such as privacy, surveillance, cybersecurity, and online harassment.
Cultural sensitivity and diversity: The respect for cultural differences, values, and perspectives that inform the design, implementation, and interpretation of research projects, as well as the avoidance of stereotypes, bias, and discrimination.
Social responsibility: The recognition of the broader social impact and implications of research, and the obligation of researchers to communicate their findings and engage with diverse stakeholders in order to enhance public trust and contribute to social welfare.
Informed Consent: Oral history interviewees must be fully informed about the purpose of the interview, any possible risks, and how the information they provide will be used.
Confidentiality: Interviewees may need to be assured that their personal data will remain confidential, and that extreme care will be taken to ensure that the data is protected.
Ownership and Rights: If an oral history project is being conducted for commercial purposes, or if it conflicts with the legal rights of others, questions may arise about who owns the information, and what legal issues may arise.
Ethical Standards: The ethical standards of the project must be clearly delineated and rigorous, ensuring that interviewees are treated with respect and given appropriate feedback.
Human Subject Research: Oral history is often considered as research involving human subjects, which is subject to a variety of legal requirements and restrictions.
Access and Use: Researchers and archivists must be mindful that access to oral histories can be limited out of concern for the privacy of the individuals who were interviewed.
Reprocessing and Rediscovery: Over time, oral histories may change in meaning and significance, and these changes may need to be taken into account when they are reprocessed and used.
Intellectual Property: Interviewees may have intellectual property rights to the materials they provide, and these rights may need to be respected when archiving and distributing the materials.
"These interviews are conducted with people who participated in or observed past events and whose memories and perceptions of these are to be preserved as an aural record for future generations."
"Oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives and most of these cannot be found in written sources."
"Knowledge presented by Oral History (OH) is unique in that it shares the tacit perspective, thoughts, opinions, and understanding of the interviewee in its primary form."
"To preserve memories and perceptions of past events for future generations as an aural record."
"Often preserved in archives and large libraries."
"In Western society, the use of oral material goes back to the early Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides, both of whom made extensive use of oral reports from witnesses."
"The modern concept of oral history was developed in the 1940s by Allan Nevins and his associates at Columbia University."
"Primitive societies have long relied on oral tradition to preserve a record of the past in the absence of written histories."
"Professional historians usually consider oral tradition to be any information about past events that witnesses told anybody else."
"Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews."
"Oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives and most of these cannot be found in written sources."
"Knowledge presented by Oral History (OH) is unique in that it shares the tacit perspective, thoughts, opinions, and understanding of the interviewee in its primary form."
"These interviews are conducted with people who participated in or observed past events, and whose memories and perceptions of these are to be preserved as an aural record for future generations."
"Oral history complements written histories by providing a different source of information, often capturing details and perspectives not found in written sources."
"Preserving oral history data ensures that memories and perspectives of past events are not lost and can be accessed by future generations."
"Oral history enhances our understanding of the past by incorporating personal experiences and subjective accounts, which offer unique insights into historical events."
"Oral history interviews are often preserved in archives and large libraries."
"The early Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides made extensive use of oral reports from witnesses."
"The primary objective of oral history is to collect and study historical information about people, families, important events, or everyday life using various mediums."