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Publishing Oral History Interviews

Introduction

Oral history is a recognized and significant research methodology and serves as both primary sources and subjects in scholarly publishing. Oral history interviews are conducted by individuals from various academic disciplines and professions. This LibGuide is intended to provide resources for planning and implementing an oral history interview project. 

The image is retrieved from: Oral History Society, https://ohs.org.uk/for-beginners/interviewing/

What is Oral History?

What is Oral History? 

“Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies.” - Oral History Association (https://oralhistory.org/about/do-oral-history/) 

Oral history is an audio or video recording of information acquired from an interview that gathers and preserves an individual’s life story, personal experiences, opinions, and feelings in an event through their own words and voice. Oral history is a valuable tool for capturing not only past events but also current and ongoing events. Sharing and preserving interviews helps others learn the social aspects that surround certain events in time. Information from the interviews can be incorportated with other primary and secondary sources to enhance understanding and insight into the events.

Examples of oral history topics on past events:

Examples of oral history topics on current and ongoing events:

Other examples:

  • African Americans, "The History Makers" (Life oral history interviews with historically significant African Americans)

The image is from: Oral History Society, https://www.ohs.org.uk/general-interest/well-being-and-oral-history/