What Is Oral History?

Making Sense of Oral History offers a place for students and teachers to begin working with oral history as historical evidence. Written by Linda Shopes, this guide presents an overview of oral history and ways historians use it, tips on questions to ask when reading or listening to oral history interviews, a sample interpretation of an interview, an annotated bibliography, and a guide to finding and using oral history online. Linda Shopes is a historian at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. She has worked on, consulted for, and written about oral history projects for more than twenty-five years. She is coeditor of The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History and is past president of the Oral History Association.

Oral History and Archives

Before starting we want to state a few caveats about what we will be talking about when we talk about oral history and archiving. First a warning: we will be talking within the perspective of archival practices as they have emerged in the United States. Therefore some of what we say has to be recognized as culturally and historically limited, and of course reflective of a real difference in resources, although given current spending policies in the United States this difference may not last long.

How to Organize and Conduct Oral History Interviews

Oral history interviewing is one more tool in the larger repertoire of methodologies used for research in history, anthropology, and folklore. Oral history collects information about the past from observers and participants in that past.

Transcribing, Editing and Processing Guidelines

Transcribing and editing an oral history interview is a matter of personal style, but there are some important guidelines for basic transcript production. Some oral historians instruct their transcribers to record the interview word for word, while others allow for greater latitude.

Oral History Project Guidelines

PUTTING TOGETHER AN ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: OVERALL GUIDELINES 1. Identify your narrator—who can tell interesting stories, who has lived through a unique time period, who can document an era for which little other information exists? Make sure this person is in reasonable health for their age, with a good memory and has, preferably, an enjoyment of conversation. 2. Obtain consent—be sure the narrator understands why this interview is important and what your plans are once the interview is completed. Make the interview as professional as possible by scheduling an unhurried, private appointment with your narrator.