"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 offers a powerful tool for understanding and sharing the stories and history of communities as diverse as ethnic and religious groups, political movements, and social organizations.
Definition and Background of Oral History: This topic covers the history of oral history as a method of capturing historical information through interviews and conversations with people who have firsthand experience of past events.
Purpose and Benefits of Oral History: This topic focuses on the reasons why one would want to collect oral histories and the benefits it provides, such as preserving cultural heritage and providing unique perspectives on historical events.
Ethics and Legal Issues in Oral History: This topic examines the ethical considerations that come with gathering oral histories, such as consent, confidentiality, and privacy, as well as legal issues such as copyright and ownership of the recorded material.
Interview Techniques and Strategies: This topic covers the methods and strategies for conducting interviews, including selecting interviewees, developing questions, and establishing rapport.
Recording and Transcription: This topic focuses on the technical aspects of recording oral histories, such as selecting recording equipment, recording environments, and the process of transcribing the interviews.
Interpretation and Analysis: This topic explores the process of interpreting and analyzing the oral histories collected, including the use of transcription software and the methods for analyzing the interviews qualitatively.
Applications of Oral History: This topic highlights the different applications of oral histories, such as educational purposes, community building, and public programming.
Oral History and Storytelling: This topic examines the relationship between oral history and storytelling and how oral history can help preserve and convey cultural traditions and collective narratives.
Digital Technology and Oral History: This topic covers the increasing role of digital technology in the collection, storage, and dissemination of oral histories, including online archive platforms, metadata, and rights management.
Community-Based Oral History: This topic explores the role of oral history in community engagement and social change, including the power dynamics involved and how to ensure community ownership in the process.
Personal narratives: First-person accounts of an individual's life experiences or memories, often focusing on significant events or people in their personal history.
Cultural histories: Accounts of a group or community's social customs, traditions, and values, often covering topics such as food, music, folklore, language, and religion.
Local histories: Accounts of a specific geographical region, often including information about its development, major events, and significant figures.
Labor histories: Accounts of the experiences of workers, often focusing on working conditions, labor relations, and collective action.
Gender and sexuality histories: Accounts of the experiences of individuals and communities related to gender and sexuality, including stories of activism, oppression, and resistance.
Environmental histories: Accounts of the experiences of individuals and communities with regards to the natural environment, including stories of resource use, conservation, and environmental activism.
Military histories: Accounts of the experiences of individuals and communities related to military service and war, often including stories of combat, survival, and the aftermath of conflict.
Sports histories: Accounts of the experiences of individuals and communities related to sports and physical activities, often focusing on the history and legacy of local teams and athletes.
"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."