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CURATING ORAL HISTORIES – SURVEY RESULTS

I. INTRODUCTION

Two years ago I was offered the opportunity to set up and manage a small oral history project in the college where I work as a librarian. As a cataloger for twenty years and a practicing oral historian for about fourteen, I’m familiar with the practices of each field. The problem came, however, when I attempted to set up procedures that bridge the oral historian’s work and the archivist/cataloger’s work, which I call curating [1] oral histories. How can the interviewer best communicate correct information for the catalog record? How can the cataloger emphasize (or even explain!) the importance of authority control and correct spelling to the interviewer? What are the guidelines for index terms? Use MARC or use metadata? Catalog as book or sound recording? Collection level or item level record?

In addition I had questions about formats: Should I purchase analog or digital recorders? Do I understand digital equipment sufficiently to teach others, and to troubleshoot? Should I allocate resources to make preservation copies in multiple formats? What about reeducating transcribers to use digital transcribing software? How important and how time consuming is format refreshment?  What are the pros and cons of putting oral histories online?

I found an alarming lack of guidance in finding answers to questions like these, either in the oral history literature or in the archives literature. Figuring others might be asking the same questions, I undertook this survey hoping to find a common ground for discussion, start asking questions, and come up with some best practices for curating oral histories.

How this report is organized. The survey is based on sixty-two responses received between March 1 and June 30, 2004. I divided the surveys into four categories based on type of institution: Academic, Historical, Government, and Special. When space is short, each category is referred to by its initial, A for Academic, H for Historical, etc.. Please see the Appendix section Methodology for a detailed explanation of the survey distribution and of these categories.

 After a brief description of the oral history collections (immediately below), I divided the responses into two sections. In Section II, Results –Short I condensed the responses into tables and short answers. This reductionist technique oversimplifies the results, but provides a snapshot for quick analysis [2]

For the full picture, please read Section III, Results – Long, where I quote the significant responses to each question. The Appendix has a section on methodology, a list of respondents (with websites if available), the survey itself, and a short list of references. 

            This table summarizes the oral history collections in the survey.

COMMENTS: The size of a collection is significant because of scale: Some cataloging and preservation activities are practical only on a large scale, and others only on a small scale.

[Source of] acquisition is significant because neither archivists nor oral historians can exercise quality control over interviews that are not produced inhouse. Donated (most common) or purchased interviews add an enormous load to curators who must meticulously analyze both the media quality and the content of every interview. On the other hand, some interesting collaborations were reported, when an oral history program works with another agency (or college classroom) to produce high quality oral histories which are in turn, donated to the oral history program for archiving.

Project duration. Respondents found this question confusing. Some reported the range of interviewee ages instead of the range of interview dates. Nevertheless the date range of interviews in many collections is enormous, implying a storage, access and preservation nightmare. The longer the duration the more complicated the preservation plan– multiple formats, obsolete formats, and preservation issues with old recordings. The most active periods for interviewing were the 1960s and since 2000.

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SECTION II. RESULTS – SHORT

Preservation: In what formats do you archive oral histories? Does your archive have a schedule for format refreshment or transfer? Are your oral histories endangered due to media deterioration? 

COMMENTS: Preservation formats. Archivists must deal with multiple formats of interviews in two ways:  a) by preserving a single interview in multiple formats, and/or b) by acquiring originals in a variety of formats.

Format refreshment/transfer and media deterioration are of much greater concern for older projects. There was a wide range of answers among all types of institutions, even the older projects – some are very concerned about media preservation, and others not at all. Details: see Preservation in Section III.

  Access: How do you catalog oral histories? Where do your  catalog records live?

COMMENTS: Cataloging format and Catalog access. Predictably, academic institutions with a pool of professional catalogers are most likely to catalog in MARC format and to load records onto the bibliographic utilities. On the other hand, projects not supported by a larger institution have less opportunity to create detailed catalog records and more likely to create access through a finding aid.

By shared cataloging, I refer to any cooperative venture whereby oral histories themselves, summaries or catalog records are contributed to a database. There are a variety models for sharing in addition to OCLC and RLIN, such as Veterans Oral History Project, Alexander Street Press, or California Digital Library. Details: check  Access, in Section III.

Online Access: Are your oral histories online in any form? If not, are you considering publishing them online in the future?

Details: see Online Access in Section III.

Looking to the future: What are some of the challenges for archiving oral histories today? Details: see Challenges in Section III.

Looking to the future: What are some of the possibilities for preserving and providing access in the 21st century?

COMMENTS: It is clear that both oral historians and archivists embrace the potential of digital technology for oral histories. Nearly every answer states or implies the possibilities of the Internet for access, and digitization for storage and indexing. Details: See Possibilities in Section III.

Looking to the Future: What is the greatest need for oral history archivists?

COMMENTS: To clarify the question, I suggested answers, “e.g. training, staff, money, technology.” Most respondents answered “All of the above,” and those who were more specific usually emphasized one or two of these over the others. For other answers, see Needs in Section III.

GENERAL: Is communication between oral historians and archivists sufficient? What steps could be taken to enhance understanding?

COMMENTS: This seems to be more a problem for me than for other respondents. Most respondents were satisfied with communication, regardless of how their institution is set up. For individual answers, see Communication in Section III.

GENERAL: Is curating oral histories sufficiently funded in your institution?

COMMENTS: This table says it all. Answers were not detailed enough to report in Section III.

GENERAL: What is the greatest challenge in your daily handling of oral histories?

COMMENTS: From this question I hoped to identify the obstacles and frustrations faced by the frontline workers – catalogers, the archivists, the project managers --in their daily work, as opposed to the larger policy issues addressed in previous questions. For details, see Section III, Daily.

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SECTION III. RESULTS – LONG

PRESERVATION

Does your archive have a schedule for format refreshment or transfer?

Government

• No, but recently began transfer of VCR to DVD. No schedule for microcassettes.
• No, but topic is at least discussed. Current audio preservation strategy is to make a DAT copy of any master recording made on analog cassette or MD, no further preservation copies are made of master recordings made on DAT although all master recordings are also copied to audio-CD
• No, baking and exercising reel-to-reel tapes for a while, but stopped.

Historical

• Will begin a 5 year cycle.
• No, but spin tapes when there are requested.
• Yes! Every two years our collection is exercised and reviewed by spot checks. Every four years our collection is exercised and reviewed completely to determine is transfer is necessary. Transfer is done to audiocassettes or media that is most stable at the time of transfer (audio cassettes at this time).
• Yes, Currently transferring to CD. Part of 5 year program to transfer all to CDs, then to .wav files.
• Yes, Analog to digital audio (.wav, MP3) stored on CD and server. Digital video to VHS for public use soon.

Special

• Yes, in 2008, we will begin the process to refresh the existing tapes on SVHS format.
• Usually refresh every seven years. If original video format is not digital video, then we transfer to digital video.
• Will recommend conversion to digital as part of first formal archives program. Study being conducted now.
• We hope to transfer to CD and DVD in the near future.
• Our master video tapes and a copy of each interview are archived at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the museum and other archives actually prefer older methods of recording, including reel-to-reel. One of our challenges then becomes to balance our desire to update our technology with the need to maintain formats that the museum and other archives. will accept.

Academic

• Currently transferring all our tapes (open reel and audiocassette) to CD
• Haphazard schedule that takes low priority.
• The archive has copied to digital audio all material in the archive, with the exception of very poorly recorded material.
• Limited, from audio reel to CD to provide a use copy (did it because we don’t have a reel player)
• No, no money, staff or time.
• No formal schedule. We make masters whenever we’re: 1) accessioning older interviews such as reel to reel tapes into our collection, 2) we are copying tapes for a patron and discover that we don’t have a master, and 3) we are doing a large cataloging project.
• No. Currently formulating new preservation program. Due to lack of funds and staff time, will probably transfer individual interviews to new media only as copies are requested by users.
• For the older oral histories, audiocassette copies are made for researcher use. After 30 years, the reel-to-reel copies are copied and replaced.

PRESERVATION: Are any of your oral histories endangered due to media deterioration?

Government

• Yes, VCRs, probably microcassettes, too, We have lost an unknown number of tapes when people retired or moved to a new job.
• Yes, tapes are not in good shape. No plans to transfer or refresh.
• No. State of the art storage facilities.
• Probably. Originally all recordings were on analog cassette and some are now over 30 years old. We do not have the resources to go back into the collection, but since the early 90s have been concentrating on doing what seems right at the time of recording.
• Yes, some have sticky shed.

Historical

• Yes, Most oral histories are on reel-to-reel and we expect their quality to be good, however they have not been played recently. There are some others on cassette that were poorly made and may be in greater danger. Others are  on cheap 3” reels that involve Cherokee legends and are in extremely poor condition and may already be lost.
• Yes, Reel-to-reels show signs of sticky shred. Early tapes are brittle and bleeding.
• No, because cassettes in danger have already been migrated.
• Some of the older ones are endangered, so we are transcribing them first.

Special

• Yes, storage conditions have been only fair to poor – quality will be tested by hospital’s audio/visual/digital media specialist
• Some of the original audiocassettes might be endangered, but most of them are in an off-site storage facility. In order to determine their quality and the extent to which they might be deteriorating, we would have to remove them from storage and assess each one individually, which is a project much larger that our small staff can attempt at this time.

Academic

• Yes, which is one reason for the migration of tapes to CD. We have oral histories on several different types of analog tape, some holding up better than others. In addition, our archives is not temperature/humidity controlled, causing a more rapid deterioration than had we been climate-controlled to begin with.
• Yes, we’ve recently transferred the oldest interviews (1958) from 10 inch reels to CDs and audio cassettes. Many more remain to be transferred. Many also need transcription.
• 50% of the recordings were on reel to reel audio and in danger of deterioration, but have been copied. However, a collection of 250 cassette recordings were declined by the archive due to deterioration and our lack of facility and technical experience to preserve them.
• Possibly, we going to undergo a survey of the audio reels checking for vinegar syndrome.
• Yes,  Our reel-to-reel tapes which comprise roughly one-third of the collection are approaching the end of their maximum lifespan. Likewise, about half of the audiocassettes are also approaching the end of their maximum lifespan. I’m concerned about the digital video as well, but have no hard data on their lifespan although I have hedged my bets by having VHS copies made.

PRESERVATION: What are the biggest challenges dealing with multiple formats for oral histories?

Government

• Different transcription and listening requirements.
• Would like to make digital copy of all new recordings AND ½ inch analog copy also, but must settle for at least a digital copy. The other major challenge is to make the best digitization choices.
• Funding, equipment, storage.

Historical

• Hardware to deal with them
• How to properly explain to the public why everything is not digitized!
• Storage and playback.
• Keeping playback machines functional and time needed for migration.
• Time involved in migrating to multiple formats and for saving in multiple formats, and expense for computer memory.

Special

• Our oral history collection exists only the SVHS and VHS format. We do not yet have transcripts.
• Quality, consistency, and transcription or summaries.
• Technology to access them.
• Access. When we come across videotapes in obsolete formats, we cannot assess what they are, or incorporate them into our collection, because the technology no longer exists to view them.
• Ensuring access across formats.
• Cost.

Academic

• The cataloging system originally designated only allowed for the cataloging on tapes. Multiple formats create a cataloging nightmare in our current situation. We’re still trying to decide how to accommodate multiple formats without disrupting the last 35 years of collection.
• Replay equipment, storage and the time required for preservation/copying.
• Making interviews available to researchers with limited access to necessary playback technologies.
• Everything. Transferring from one format to another. Not having playback equipment, even though oral histories can’t leave the room. Figuring out best technology to record, and getting correct format to the transcriber, keeping on top of technology.
• Finding funding to transfer to more durable and accessible formats and keeping abreast of the rapidly evolving technical landscape.
• Storing them—they don’t shelve well, particularly when formats of varying in sizes are numbered in order and must go next to each other. Equipment—finding the playback equipment itself, especially for the older, obsolete media and then finding the space to keep all of the bulky machinery.
• Determining when and if to transfer to new formats. Maintaining equipment and skills to deal with older formats while still acquiring skills for new.
• Cataloging different formats.

ACCESS:

How do you catalog oral histories?

Government

• Transcripts only are available. Recordings not kept in the past.
• Inhouse custom database.

Historical

• Inhouse database, EAD coding beginning next year

Special

• Custom metadata, a combination of METS and TEI-LITE encoding
• This is a new archive with an older collection. We will inventory and create a finding aid in an Access database.

Academic

• Finding aid online, current project to convert finding aid to MARC records
• Finding aid, kind of, many problems with this system
• Some finding aid, some full MARC
• Finding aid, Full MARC (we will post MARC records to OCLC, summaries to our website and perhaps text encoded transcripts in the near future)
• Full MARC done by  catalogers, also have printed catalog, and catalog on the web

• Finding aid, brief MARC, archivists aren’t able, usually, to take the time to provide item level description/catalog records.

ACCESS: Where to your catalog records live?

Government

• Some are available through ARC, NARA’s online catalog. We hope to add more but it will be slow.
• An in-house purpose-designed database registers a range of management data and major topic descriptors for each interview. Each also (eventually!) has a one-page précis and a detailed content point-summary listing (in the form of word-processor ‘doc’ files), and these are all searchable.  Our web-site contains ‘Guides to holdings’ which include oral history interviews with whatever other archival material is available for the subject areas covered by each guide
• Right now most are not available online but are listed on index cards. Currently some have partial cataloging. When they are fully catalogued they will be in OCLC.

Historical

• On a single PC, with backup on floppy.
• On a collection management database. We are giving MARC records to NUCMC to put on their online catalog, hopefully complete by 2005.
• NUCMC

Special

• As a museum, oral histories are processed like any other object, through my collection software.
• Inhouse database with no public access

Academic

• We will post MARC records to OCLC, summaries to our website, and perhaps TEI encoded transcripts in the very near future
• Database created and maintained by NASA/JSC (Johnson Space Center), searchable on the internet from JSC website.
• Archivists aren’t able, usually to take the time to provide item level description/catalog records. We prefer to call each project/series a collection and then enter a record for the collection.  Individual narrator names can get lost in this process unless a full list of subject terms is included in the MARC record or finding aid.  So far we think this method, while not perfect, works satisfactorily. 

ONLINE ACCESS ; Are your oral histories online in any form?

Government

• Intranet only. Plans only for limited access within institution
• Summaries online, a few audio clips on website. Full audio text or transcript will be available for some collections in the future, British Library Sound Archive, http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/holdings.html
• A few transcripts are on our website, with search capabilities. Descriptions on website. LBJ Library and Museum, http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biopage.asp

Historical

• Some basic cataloging information, summary indexes and sample clips. Idaho State Historical Society, http://www.idahohistory.net/oralhistory_narrators.html
• Website has summaries and transcripts. Sound files of interviews are available within library. Soon sound will be available on the web. Maria Rogers Oral History Program, http://www.boulder.lib.co.us/branch/carnegiemariarogers.html
• Summaries are online.
• Transcripts and audio excerpts. Sand and City Oral History Project, http://www.pwpl.org/localhistory/sandmine/index.html
• Yes, some .pdf transcripts. Speaking Seattle, http://www.seattlehistory.org/col_transcript_tech.cfm

Special

• Directory and finding aid online. Veterans Oral History Project at Morse Institute Library, http://www.natickvets.org/ww2.html
• Yes: Complete oral history interviews viewable in the Densho Digital Archive, upon registration with Densho. Access is through the Densho website www.densho.org. Densho Archive includes digital video (streaming video best viewed with broad band internet, or may be listened to as audio). Full transcripts viewable for each interview. Video or transcript excerpts from selected oral histories are viewable without required registration with Densho.
• Yes, Excerpts in video and transcript form on our website. We’re in the process of establishing a small online collection representing each type of survivor experience. Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project, http://www.bahohp.org/
• Summaries online. Slavonicweb Oral History Project, http://www.slavonicweb.org/oralhist/index.html
• Setpember 11 Project is online. This collection will be transferred to the Library of Congress. Documentnewyork.com, http://www.documentnewyork.com/
• Edited transcripts. Suzanne Mulligan, http://www.home.gil.com.au/~mulligan/

Academic

• Finding aid online. Baylor University Institute for Oral History, http://www3.baylor.edu/Oral_History/Projects.htm
• Descriptions of our oral histories are found on our website by project; each oral history description is created in MS Word and uploaded.  As of yet, we haven’t perfected a searchable database. Cal State Fullerton, Center for Oral and Public History, http://coph.fullerton.edu/featured_collection.htm
• Some short extracts appear in our website exhibitions. Some archive recordings also appear with our permission on other sites. East Midlands Oral History Archive, http://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/
• Yes, database online for searching. PDF files of the transcripts 1997-2004 are available online. Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/oral_histories.htm
• We have placed a special series of WWII bomber plant workers online.
• Yes, standard archival inventories online. Northern Michigan University Archives, http://www.nmu.edu/olsonlibrary/archives/oralhistory.dwt
• Abstracts. Ohio State University Archives, http://library.osu.edu/sites/archives/manuscripts/oralhistory.htm
• Yes, we’d like more to be. Regional Oral History Office, http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/ohonline/
• Abstracts online. Southwest Collections, Texas Tech University, http://www.swco.ttu.edu/Oral_History/oralhistory.asp
• Yes, several of the grant funded project done by Project Jukebox are currently online

http://uaf-db.uaf.edu/Jukebox/PJWeb/pjhome.htm

• Twenty or thirty complete interview transcripts are being mounted for the California Digital Library’s California Cultures project or were mounted earlier as part of the CDL’s Japanese American project. UCLA Oral History Program, http://www.cdlib.org/

• Fragments of some interviews are online. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program, http://www.uwlax.edu/murphylibrary/Departments/oralhist.html

• Yes, as .pdfs and digital audio files. Vietnam Oral History Project, http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/oralhistory/

ONLINE ACCESS: If not, are you considering publishing your oral histories on the internet in any form?

Government

• Full audio text or transcript will be available for some collections 
• I have suggested that since the transcripts are much more readily used than the interviews, we should digitize or scan the transcripts that are OPEN and affix them to the website as an oral history finding aid. This would alleviate travel time for the benefit of researchers.
• We are participating in a government-sponsored scheme to digitize several collections to be made available on the web. The digitized version will probably be available directly from the catalog record, but other forms of connection will be used as well.
• No, considering Alexander Street Press.

Historical

• Considering online finding aid.
• We probably will continue to publish basic information and perhaps summary indexes online, but at this point we do not foresee putting full audio or completed transcripts online.

Special (no relevant comments)

Academic

• Yes! in our digital resources library, as .pdf or .jpg.
• Yes. At this point we plan to call them online exhibits and to mount whole transcriptions for a few and excerpts from others along with a photo of each narrator.  One series that we will get has funding to mount the entire set of transcripts (5,000 pages) on the web.  We’ll see if this proves feasible.
• Yes, selected audio files and transcripts.
• The Rasmuson Library is a key player in the Virtual Alaska Archives project, a statewide digital initiative that will, we hope, eventually see many of our materials, oral histories included, on-line for easy patron access.
• We are planning to add oral histories to our Encompass site.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: What are some of the greatest challenges for archiving oral histories today?

Government

• Cataloging and getting content to a wider audience.
• Clear and adequate documentation for catalogers, especially a summary.
• Our oral histories are from 60s and 70s. We keep transcripts only, and now journalists want soundbytes.
• Developing a proactive approach to acquisition so that significant collections are not overlooked.
• Digital audio technology has created a plethora of issues, and there is not always a consensus of professional opinions on best practice; technological redundancy introduces a real element of risk in digital strategies for both preservation and access (particularly for audio recordings) while the variations possible in handling a mix of analog and digital material exacerbates economic considerations. The breadth of detail of content in oral history collections demands lateral approaches to ensuring the materials is amenable to proficient research/retrieval that challenges standard library and archival systems.
• Equipment to read older formats.

Historical

• Media deterioration.
• Decline of analog recording and the lack of clear focus in preserving sound digitally.
• Electronic formats and security issues.
• Keeping technologically up-to-date, having time to develop backups, new formats, internet tools.
• Format obsolescence and preservation of digital files.

Special

• Keeping ahead of the deterioration inherent of the format and keeping ahead of the obsolescence of the format and the equipment.
• Changing formats.
• Time, money, personnel, technologies
• Funding and staffing,
• Storage, conservation.
• Good record keeping.
• Preserving original recordings.
• Ensuring that the interviews are carried out to a standard which befits historical enquiry. Technological change.
• Aging of old collections.
• Bypassing expensive transcription.
• Coming up with ways to make the audio available to the public through creative exhibits.
• Indexing, cataloging.

Academic

• Preservation of analog magnetic media. Archiving equipment for playback.
• Cataloging, plus not getting timely transcriptions.
• Preservation and access.
• Ensuring detailed cataloguing, providing good listening access, ensuring preservation of material over time, with ever changing technology, and finding a way forward with copyright that allows use of material without taking copyright from the speaker.
• Cataloging and preservation activities,  especially transcription are very labor intensive.
• Preserving old tapes,
• Keeping up with formats! Making sure that the media is not deteriorating, that we have funds to purchase and maintain equipment.  More and more we are struggling with educating donors and creators of oral histories about the life expectancy of new media. 
• Proper training to conduct interviews and resources to ensure preservation.
• [Continual] technological obsolescence of even the newest technologies.
• Simplifying production and processing, lack of standards and guidelines for archiving and processing, dealing with multiple formats, waiting for technology to stabilize, raising consciousness for the need for oral historians and catalogers to work together, issues of ethics, rights, and privacy in an online environment.
• Dealing with paper and potential electronic files.
• Maintaining the original tapes to ensure listenability, the expense of duplicating them for preservation and access, ensuring the accuracy of the transcriptions, revisiting permissions for closed interviews to determine if the interviewee is dead and the oral history is now open.
• Copyright issues with few test cases in the courts, legal consultants prefer to skirt the issue.
• Time and money. Changing media, balancing priorities.
• Proper storage and climate conditions, migration to new technologies.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: What are some of the greatest possibilities for preserving and providing access to oral histories in the 21st century?

Government

• Limitations of government, which has become more, not less restrictive in access,
• Digitization will make a real difference, especially as material is increasingly received in digital form.

Historical

• Full-text searching, streaming video and audio, reclaimed audio.

Special

• One of the best methods to preserve and access oral histories is to do transcripts with hard copies on archival paper ..., while continuing to migrate the physical videotape to the appropriate video format as formats become obsolete.
• Metadata standards such as METS allow basic information to be shared among various collections.
• In the end it goes back to a written transcript and an analog cassette. Old fashioned? Yes. Reliable? Yes.
• For us, to continue to provide firsthand testimony of Holocaust survivors long after they are gone. Their videotaped testimony provides a personal account of a series of events that would otherwise only be documented in text formats.
• Minidiscs, high speed connections, and the internet make processing and publishing these materials relatively easy.
• [access through exhibits]
• DVD.

Academic

• Digitization offers enormous promise, but the challenges of rapid obsolescence of hardware and software are daunting.
• A good database for oral histories, stable medium for audio recordings.
• Paper still remains an important preservation format, but it should be supplemented with digital formats.
• Getting the oral back into oral history, the potential for indexing the actual sound interview, greater access through the internet, possibilities for creative use of oral histories, more possibilities for community based projects, use of interactive media in oral history.
• Transfer of analog interviews to digital audio for access without degradation of quality or to enhance the quality by cleaning up background noise and boosting vocal quality.
• Transcription and full MARC cataloging are both relatively low-tech, underrated ways of preserving oral histories (or at least the information they contain) and making them accessible. Although digitization is frequently touted as a preservation/access cure-all, the lifespan of digital files is much shorter than analog ones, the continuing monetary investment in equipment and software is considerable, and copyright issues are likely to limit web access for some time to come.
• Web access to catalogs and interviews makes them much more widely available. Digital technologies allow crisper recording and easier, more direct access to sound recordings than older analogue technologies.
• Transcribing and making available in a searchable database.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: What is the greatest need for oral history archivists (e.g. training, staff, money, technology)

Government

• Money. Oral history is effectively suspended due to budget considerations.

Historical

• Technology and incomplete documentation on the part of the interviewers.

Special

• Ability to communicate to the public about the fragility of most oral history formats.
• [Need to] explain to funders how much time and resources it takes to process oral histories.
• [Improved] relationships among curators, providers and funders.
• Community interest.

Academic

• An international cataloging standard.
• Changing technology and money required to keep up with changing technology continue to be big issues. Staff shortages also prevent us from fully developing acquisitions strategies for all our areas of collecting interest.

GENERAL: Is communication between oral historians and archivists sufficient? What steps could be taken to enhance understanding?

Government

• Many donors have much to learn about preparing a collection for donation, such as a proper finding aid, insuring spelling of proper nouns, signed release forms, awareness of the copyright law, etc.

Historical

• More should be done to require oral historians to provide recordings and documentation in formats immediately useable to curators.

Special

• In general we find in talking to other oral historians that they sometimes do not understand that making the cataloging and archiving and providing access to their tapes is part of the guidelines of the profession, but will enhance their own visibility as oral historians. 
• It seems that archivists are often more skilled and interested in technical aspects, while oral historians are often more skilled and interested in content issues. These (general) tendencies could be addressed by conscious attempts on both parts to learn and understand each others’ concerns.
• The major problem is that most “oral history” projects are ill-conceived, casual “tell me everything you remember” projects without a research methodology, trained interviewers, proper equipment, adequate transcription/summaries, or defined purpose and scope. Neither historians or archivists are involved in their conception, design, or implementation. We simply inherit them and are supposed to make use of them.

Academic

• Because our oral histories are (mostly) student-produced, I visit the classroom twice during the semester: once to explain the paper work that is required for deposit and again, at the end of the semester to “check” what they’re turning into the professor. I have an excellent working relationship with professors and they appreciate my comprehensive approach. As far as independent oral historians are concerned, I speak with them directly about the format in which we’ll accept donations. So far, they’ve been accommodating in preparing tape logs and field notes, rather than just throwing tapes in a box and presenting them to us
• Need a greater understanding of the need to record and document certain details of the interviewee and interview at the time the interview happens.
• We’ve joined forces with history professors to conduct interviews and come up with outlines for the interviews.
• Need more education of non-professional oral historians regarding media types and their longevities.
• Historians here want information now, we [archivists] need to remind them that preservation is necessary.
• Need more education on both ends. Oral historians should work with catalogers before the interview.
• In doing this survey, I can see that the communication is not sufficient--at least, I do not know what process of archiving the oral histories go through once they leave our office.
• Would be great to have all oral historians and archivists in the same office.

GENERAL: What is the greatest challenge in your daily handling of oral histories?

Government

• Transcription and data analysis
• Time

Historical

• We have not provided them with the care in the past that they deserve, staff problems + low priorities
• Juggling the various demands of a large oral history project.
• Justifying the cost to funding agencies.
• Content access.
• Equipment.
• Volume [or oral histories] and lack of staff for clerical issues.
• Working with volunteers.
• Finding the time to transcribe.

Special

• No facilities for listening to the tapes.
• Time.
• Training.
• Promoting the use of the oral histories, not only access, but how to make the information contained in the interviews more useful to researchers.
• Dealing with large number of audiocassettes that need to be organized.
• Funding
• Time, and finding a permanent home for oral histories.
• Lack of release statements on file.

Academic

• Finding personnel with the requisite knowledge and skills for transcribing and editing.
• I think I keyword search-based data base would alleviate some of these issues we have “on paper.”   
• Educating funding sources and those outside the field about the time it takes to process and handle a collection.
• We do not have copies of many of the original cassettes and audio reels, but we are rarely asked for these.
• Want to provide more indepth cataloging.
• Proper preservation and equipment to make non-transcribed interviews available.
• Not enough time to do it right [the first time].
• Making the best use of emerging technologies to provide the best preservation and.
• How to take care of all the volunteers.
• Knowing what interviews are restricted and keeping up with when restrictions have expired.
• Carving out time to process them. Learning the pros and cons of each technological advance, various format options, in order to make good decisions re access and preservation.
• Working the interviews through the processing and cataloging phase and into public access as quickly as possible.

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IV. FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION

This research has uncovered the successes and the struggles of dedicated archivists, project managers, oral historians, and librarians, who are coming up with creative solutions for curating of oral histories.

The purpose of this survey is to ask questions, not to draw conclusions. Yet. When I began this research I was not sure if there was enough common ground for best practices between disciplines, and among such a variety of institutions. Now I certainly believe there is. Mostly, I discovered that those of us who curate oral histories are dedicated, creative and usually overworked. We would all benefit from standards, best practices, forms and templates, and a whole lot more cooperative projects, in order to do our job better, quicker, and using the most appropriate technology.

These are the broad topics that emerged as most worthy of further investigation:

1. Appropriate use of technology for preservation
2. Appropriate use of technology for access
3. Standard cataloging practices, metadata standards for oral history
4. More collaboration on digitization projects
5. Investigation into aggregated databases for oral histories, such as Alexander Street Press, for improved access.
6. Training in all of the above, especially for curators of small projects without institutional support.
7. Advocacy at high levels for the critical importance of preserving oral histories as an inherent link to our cultural heritage.

There are additional topics which need to be examined from a 21st century perspective, such as intellectual property rights on the internet, the worth of a transcript in a digital world, standards and formats, and ethical issues. I hope that others will join me in research and discussion.

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V. METHODOLOGY

Survey distribution. I wanted to survey as great a variety of oral history projects as I could, so made a special effort to reach projects outside of well-funded academic institutions. I made a request on the following online discussion groups: H-ORALHIST, H-PUBLIC, H-MUSEUM, Archives, and Autocat, for interested individuals to complete the survey, which was (and still is) posted on my  website [7]  I also distributed it at the joint conference of the Northwest Oral Historians, Northwest Archivists, and Northwest Historians in May 2004. Finally, I sent the survey to about ten individuals in the field, whose answers I was especially interested in.

I received sixty-two responses between March 1 and June 30, 2004, from a variety of oral history projects around the world. Though most came from United States institutions, I also received replies from England (2), Ireland (1), Canada (1) and Australia (3), and from the Cherokee National Archives.

My survey listed nine choices for “Type of Institution,” but when I received the results I merged some of the categories, ending up with four categories instead, which made more sense for my data. The categories are somewhat arbitrary, of course, and I take responsibility for placing each respondent correctly or incorrectly within a category.

 The categories are Academic, Historical, Government, and Special.

Academic. Respondents from academic institutions are almost always part of a large project or program, where oral histories are catalogued and processed by experienced professionals in the institution’s library. There was sometimes a disconnect – both in physical distance and in skills – between the oral historians who conducted the interviews, and the catalogers and archivists who processed them. Oral history projects retain a great deal of autonomy within their institutional hierarchy, as opposed to, say, government oral history projects. Respondents’ job titles ranged from  Archivist (7), Cataloger (5), Director (3), and Curator (2), as well as a few miscellaneous titles.

Historical. These respondents represent state or regional historical agencies. All are supported by a government funded historical society with the mission to document the history of a particular region.  Job titles of respondents are: Archivist (4), Librarian (3), Director (3), Oral historian/historian (1).

Government. These responses came from a variety of large government agencies: two national libraries, one US military agency, some US national parks, and a US presidential library. Some agencies, such as national parks, have a well defined project to undertake and process, while others, such as national libraries are huge repositories which accept oral histories by donation and inhouse production. Although these large agencies have resources few of us can imagine, no respondent felt that oral histories were sufficiently funded. Job titles of respondents were: historian (2), archivist (2), cataloger (1), oral history manager (1), and library tech (1).

Special. These are projects which don’t fit well into another category. Most are private or non-profit. For the most part, they are small organizations which document a well-defined community or event, such as the Japanese American Internment, and are experts in the field they are studying. Most projects operate rather autonomously, with little direction from higher agencies.

Responses came from public libraries (2), museums (7), non-profits (8), and religious institutions (3). Job titles are archivist (6), manager or director (8), curator (3). It is evident from the job titles that these projects are generally small, often one person does everything.

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4. REFERENCES

Baum, Willa K. “The Expanding Role of the Librarian in Oral History” in Oral History : an Interdisciplinary Anthology, ed. Baum and Dunaway. 2nd ed. (Walnut Creek, CA : Altamira Press, 1996) 321-340, Originally presented in 1978 as a lecture to the Louisiana State University Library School. Almost forty years ago, Willa Baum talked about the importance of a collaboration between oral historians and archivists. It is from this article that I picked up the term “curating” oral histories.

Brewster. Karen. “Internet Access to Oral Recordings: Finding the Issues,” Oral History Program, Elmer E. Rasmusson Library, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. (25 October 2000) http://www.uaf.edu/library/oralhistory/brewster1/. Viewed Sept 4, 2004.  In 2000 Karen Brewster (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) conducted a study of Internet access to oral histories. Even though it is four years old, it is worth reviewing.

Evaluation Guidelines of the Oral History Association, http://omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha/pub_eg.html, Viewed September 4, 2004. Though guidance for the curating of oral histories is sparse, these guidelines are well-written and comprehensive. Everyone involved with oral history should keep them close at hand and refer to them frequently. See especially the section on “Responsibility for Sponsoring and Archival Institutions.”

Matters, Marion, Oral history cataloging manual. (Chicago : Society of American Archivists, c1995). This is practical manual for cataloging oral histories. It is ver well organized in AACRII format with many examples of MARC records, but could use an update for the 21st century.

            Survey of Folk Heritage Collections: Summary of Results. Online at  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub96/appendix2.html. Viewed September 4 2004.

The American Folklife Center, the American Folklore Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology undertook a survey in 2000, to assess the state of “unpublished ethnographic audio collections.” Though their study group was somewhat different from mine, the results were remarkably similar: “Clear trends emerge from these data, the most important being the functional and intellectual disconnect between those responsible for creating the collections and those charged with caring for them.”

            Ellen D. Swain. “Oral History in the Archives : Its Documentary Role in the Twenty-First Century,” American Archivist 66 (Spring/Summer 2003) 139-158.  Ms. Swain recently published a survey of the past fifty years of research on the archiving of oral history, “examining how the introduction of oral history in archives and libraries has challenged and informed archival theory and practice in the United States. The article argues that oral history’s contribution and impact in the twenty-first century will depend on archivists’ and librarians’ ability and willingness to work together, in collaboration with other disciplines, to document and provide access to our oral heritage in the digital age.”

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CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. RESULTS – SHORT

III. RESULTS – LONG

IV. FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION

V. APPENDIX

          1. METHODOLOGY

          2. RESPONDENTS

          3. SURVEY

          4. REFERENCES