AACR. See Anglo American Cataloging Rules.

access. (Archives) The ability to locate information through finding aids, catalogs, or websites. Access is one of the five principles of good archival practice.

access point. (Cataloging) A name, term, phrase, or code used as a heading in a catalog, such as author or subject. see also index term.

accessibility. (Archives) The availability of archival materials for consultation. Accessibility is determined by legal authorization, proximity of materials to researchers, usable formats, or the existence of finding aids.

accession. (Archives) The act of formally and legally accepting an oral history, or oral history collection, into an archive.

accession number. (Archives) A unique number assigned to a document in an archive, to connect it from the catalog record or finding aid to the physical item on the shelf. See also address, call number.

acid-free paper. (Preservation) Paper with a pH of 7.0 or greater at the time of manufacture. Acid-free paper is the standard for long-term preservation, and most paper manufactured today is acid-free.

acid migration. (Preservation) The movement of acid from an item to something of lesser acidity, either from direct contact or through exposure to acidic vapors in the surrounding environment.

address. (Cataloging) The number or designation that connects the item described in the catalog to the physical item on the shelf. It can be an accession number (archives term), or call number (library term).

AMC format, (MARC Format for Archival and Manuscripts Control) (Cataloging) A subset of MARC format endorsed by the Society of American Archivists for describing archival (unpublished) materials in a library catalog. EAD is the metadata scheme used for describing archival materials on the World Wide Web..

analog. (Recording technology) A process that records and stores sound in a continuous pattern, as it occurs in nature. Analog recording is being phased out in favor of digital, both for capture and for preservation, though the majority of oral histories in archives today are analog.

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR). (Cataloging) Set of rules accepted by the library world for cataloging materials generally found in libraries. Rules for sound recordings and archival materials can be adapted for cataloging oral histories. See also Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records.

archival quality. (Preservation) Physical qualities of materials, such as paper and recording media, that contribute to its long-term preservation under environmentally favorable conditions. This term is being phased out in favor the term life expectancy, which is based on quantifiable measures.

archives. (Archives) 1. The actual materials to be saved. 2. The building or repository where archival materials are located. 3. The agency responsible for selecting, acquiring, preserving and making available archival materials.

archivist(Archives) The person responsible for the every day functioning of an archive, including accessioning new collections, creating finding aids and other access tools, and managing use of archival materials. In smaller institution, most archivists also take on curatorial duties. See also curator.

 

arrangement. (Archives) The process of organizing materials with respect to their provenance and original order, to protect their context and to achieve physical or intellectual control.

audiocassette. (Recording technology) An inexpensive and convenient container for audiotape. Audiocassettes were widely used for recording oral histories from the 1960s through the 1990s and most oral histories in archives today are stored on audiocassettes.

audit-check. (Oral history) Process of reviewing a transcript while listening to the recording, to catch transcription errors.

aural history. (Oral history) A fancy term coined by Imbert Orchard referring to the historical recordings of sounds.

authentication protocol. (Information technology) Refers to a variety of procedures that networked computers use to make sure only approved users have access to the Internet site. The most common authentication method is through user ids and passwords.

authority control. (Cataloging) The process of establishing a unique and agreed upon form for access points in a catalog record, such as personal, corporate, and geographic names, and subjects. A standard term for access points makes information retrieval in a database more precise. See also controlled vocabulary, thesaurus.

backlog. (Archives) An accumulation of tasks that need to be done to make archival materials available to the public.

bibliographic control. (Archives) A term almost synonymous with cataloging, a method for keeping track of the bibliographic elements of an item – the narrator, interviewer, number of physical items and the address. See also intellectual control.

bibliographic description. (Cataloging) The part of the catalog record which describes the physical and intellectual content of the item: the narrator, the interviewer, the dates of interview, and the physical items included. Other parts of the record can include access points, administrative data and computer metadata.

bibliographic unit. (Cataloging) The item described in a catalog record, as defined by the cataloger or the oral historian. Usually a single oral history -- a series of interviews of a single person --constitutes the bibliographic unit, but it could be a single interview (more precise) or a whole collection of interviews (more general).

bibliographic utility. (Cataloging) A network consisting of a large database of catalog records from diverse institutions, available online. OCLC is the largest bibliographic utility, known to public users as WorldCat and available in most libraries.

biographical data sheet. (Oral history) A form with specific information about the narrator, such as birth date and place, names of family members, and dates of major life events. This information helps the interviewer structure the interview and helps the cataloger record pertinent facts for the catalog record.

Boolean logic. (Information technology) A term used in Information Retrieval Systems that includes the logical operators Òand, Ó Òor,Ó Ònot,Ó etc., which may be combined in a variety of ways to achieve precision in searching. Online databases usually call Boolean searching the Òadvanced searchÓ screen.

born digital. (Preservation) A document created in a digital form, such as a text document created in a word processor, or an interview recorded on digital media.

broadcast quality. (Recording technology) Specifications defined by the National Television Standards Committee and the Advanced Televisions Systems Committee of the Federal Communications Commission for the level of quality at which radio or television stations will transmit.

browser. (Information technology) Computer program that allows users to locate, display, and link to and from websites on the World Wide Web. The most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox.

call number. (Cataloging) A number assigned to an item to connect it from the catalog to the physical item in the archive. It can be based on a standard classification system such as Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress, or on a local system. See also address, accession number.

cardioid microphone. See directional/omnidirectional microphone.

catalog. (Cataloging) A Òcontainer,Ó usually a database, for catalog records that are related in some way, such as in a library, a digital archive, or a subject database. Records in the catalog can be searched and retrieved. The most common catalogs are library OPACs, which consist of all the items in a particular library.

CD (Compact disc). (Recording technology) An optical medium for recording and storing data. The discs have different qualities that are confusing to most of us. CDs look like DVDs but behave differently. See also DVD.

Disc	Type	Storage	Used for
CD-ROM, AudioCD	Read only	650 MB	Commercial use: computer programs, music
CD-R	Record once	650-700 MB (72 minutes of sound)	Recording sound or data
CD-RW	Rewritable	650-700MB (72 minutes of sound)	Not recommended for oral history recording or preservation

clip-on /desktop microphone. (Recording technology) As the name suggests, a clip-on microphone (also called Lavaliere) is a unidirectional microphone that can be clipped to the clothing of the speaker.Though it has a better chance of capturing the speaker's voice, it has certain hazards: 1) the speaker may turn away from the microphone and the sound is lost; 2) the microphone may flop over and not be able to record the speaker's voice. A desktop microphone sits on the table between the speakers and captures all the sound in the room. Though it is less sensitive to the voices of the speakers, there is less room for error.

collection. (Archives) A group of documents that are related in some way, such as the papers of a person, or an oral history series. The collection should be processed as a single unit, with a description of the collection as a whole and relationships among individual components.

collection policy. (Archives) A written statement which clearly states the purpose and the boundaries of the archiveÕs collection goals.

collection level record. (Cataloging) A catalog record which describes an entire collection instead of an individual item – a collection of oral histories in a single record. See also item level record.

collection management system. See management system.

compact disc. See CD.

compressed/uncompressed data. (Recording technology) Digital data can be compressed to reduce the size of the file and is usually done for transporting data over the Internet. There is some loss of quality in compression, so it should not be used for preservation.

condenser microphone. See dynamic/condenser microphone.

consent form. See legal consent form.

conservation. (Preservation) The component of preservation that deals with the physical or chemical treatment of documents. See also preservation.

content. (Information technology) The intellectual information in a document, catalog, or collection, as contrasted to the format or structure. The distinction between structure and content is an important one for cataloging and preservation decisions. See also structure.

content management system. See management system.

contract. (Law) A legally binding agreement involving two or more parties, requiring some kind of consideration (payment), and specifying what each party will or will not do. Transfer of oral histories are more likely exchanged through a deed of gift, which does not require payment. See also deed of gift.

controlled vocabulary. (Cataloging) A list of words and phrases, also known as a thesaurus, showing synonymous, hierarchical and other relationships to an authorized term which is indexed. The Library of Congress Subject Heading list is an example. A controlled vocabulary makes it much easier to retrieve information in a catalog or database. See also authority control.

copyright. (Law) The exclusive right reproduce, publish, or sell copies of original creations (such as oral history interviews), and to license their production and sale by others. Copyright is granted by the federal government for a limited period of time. Once the term of copyright has expired, a work is in the public domain. When oral histories are accepted into an archive, copyright is usually transferred to the archive through a deed of gift. See also intellectual property.

copying. (Preservation) An important preservation principle referring to reproducing the content, or, "Lots of copies keeps stuff safe." Copies can be made from one format to another, one medium to another to something exactly the same as the original. See also refresh, migrate.

CRM. See cultural resources management.

cross reference. (Cataloging) A term used in catalogs, thesauri and indexes to lead you from one form of entry to a preferred or related one, such as the see also reference at the end of this entry. Cross references are an important of a catalog and make information retrieval more precise. See also syndetic structures, hyperlink.

cultural heritage. (Oral history) The history, beliefs, stories, ceremonies, law, language, symbols, land and artifacts that are shared by a group of people and which makes up their culture.

cultural resources management (CRM). The discipline devoted to the identification, maintenance, documentation, and preservation of significant cultural sites.

curation. (Archives) The long-term management and care of historical documents, in order to ensure wide access into the indefinite future.

curator. (Archives) The person responsible for the overall care and preservation of a collection. Tasks include fundraising and budgeting, collection policy, cataloging policy, short- and long-term preservation planning, compliance with professional and institutional standards, rights management, evaluating permission requests for use, and access to materials (including internet access). In many settings the duties of the curator and the archivist often overlap.

DAT (Digital audio tape). (Recording technology) Digital recording format popular in the 1990s. It is rarely used now and should never be used for preservation.

data migration. See migrate.

database. (Information technology)A collection of related data that is organized so that its contents can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. The most common type is the relational database, in which data can be reorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. Library catalogs are relational databases. Databases are organized by fields, records, and files. A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and a file is a collection of records. For example, a telephone book is analogous to a file. It contains a list of records, each of which consists of three fields: name, address, and telephone number.

DCHI. See Digital Cultural Heritage Initiative.

deed of gift. (Law) A signed, written agreement which transfers ownership without monetary consideration. Most oral histories are passed from the interviewer or narrator to the archive through this document. See also contract.

defamation. (Law) A false statement of fact printed or broadcast about a person, which tends to injure that personÕs interest. When the words are printed, the offense is libel; when the words are spoken, the offense is slander.

description. (Archives) A term used in archival practice for all the steps that provide intellectual control over the item – cataloging, finding aids, indexing. The more detailed the description, the easier it is for researchers to find it.

desktop microphone. See clip-on/desktop microphone.

digital. (Recording technology) A process that captures and stores sound by taking samples of sound wave, rather than the continuous signal. Digital is becoming the preferred method for recording sound, because of its higher quality and the ease manipulating sound files. See also analog

digital audio tape. See DAT.

Digital Cultural Heritage Initiative (DCHI). An program engaged in using digital technology to develop a product, such as an online exhibition, or sound archive, for the purpose of preserving and making available our cultural heritage.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). US copyright law, signed in 1998, which extends the length of copyright and clarifies the some copyright issues concerning intellectual content on the Internet. Wikipedia discussion.

digital rights management (DRM). (Information technology) An umbrella term to describe the technologies which control and monitor digital content on the Internet. Information may be monitored for reasons of copyright or intellectual property protection, confidentiality, or regulatory compliance. DRM will become an increasing issue for curators as oral history collections are entered into digital archives or on the Internet.

digital storytelling. (Oral history) A popular method for recording and preserving personal or family stories using multimedia.

digital video. (Recording technology) A method for recording moving images using digital signals. Can be recorded and stored on tapes or discs. Do not confuse with DV, which is a special kind of digital video. See also video.

digitization. (Preservation) The act of transferring a sound recording from analog (continuous wave) format to digital (samples of the sound wave converted to bits and bytes).

DMCA. See Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

directional/omni-directional microphone. (Recording technology) A directional microphone picks up sound from a certain direction. The most common type is cardioid, which picks up sound in a heart-shaped field, designed to prevent feedback. An omni-directional microphone picks up sound in from any direction.

document. A generic term to describe a unit of information in the physical or the virtual world. A document can be a book, a broadside, or an oral history transcript or recording in the physical world. In the virtual world the terms document and file are used interchangeably – as in a sound file, an image file, or a text document. See also file.

DRM. See Digital Rights Management.

Dublin Core. (Cataloging) A metadata scheme designed by librarians to describe electronic resources (websites) in library catalogs.

DV. (Recording technology) A digital format for recording moving images. See also digital video, video, DVD.

DVD. (Recording technology) An optical disc used for storing digital information. DVDs hold much more information than CDs but less is known about their preservation qualities. DVDs look like CDs but behave differently. (Originally Digital Video Disc, then Digital Versatile Disc, currently doesnÕt stand for anything at all.) See also CD.

Disc	Type	Storage	Used for
DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio	Read only	Varies; 5-17 GB	Commercial uses: movies, games, computer programs
DVD-R	Record once	4-5GB	Audio and video recording and editing
DVD-RW	Rewritable	4-5GB	Not recommended for preservation

 

dynamic/condenser microphone. (Recording technology) A dynamic microphone does not need separate power to operate. A condenser microphone but it requires power, usually from a battery or phantom power. Dynamic microphones are more durable; condenser microphones are more sensitive. See also microphone.

EAD (Encoded Archival Description). (Information technology) A metadata scheme designed to create digital finding aids for archival materials. See also metadata.

external microphone. (Recording technology) A microphone that is separate from the recording machine, connected by a cable.

fair use doctrine. (Law) A provision in copyright law that allows the limited use of copyrighted materials for teaching, research, scholarship, or news reporting.

field. (Information technology) A component in a database which is defined to contain certain characteristics for all the data entered into it. See also database.

file. (Information technology) A unit of related data, often referred to as a document. Examples: text document, a spreadsheet, an image, or an audio file. See also document.

file format. (Information technology) A fuzzy term used to describe various categories and distinctions in information technology. In this book I use the term to describe protocols that can be understood by certain computer programs, e.g. .xcl by Excel, .doc by Microsoft word, .wam by Windows Media. It is important to make the distinction between proprietary formats, which can only be understood by particular commercial programs, and open source formats, which can be understood universally.

finding aid. (Archives) The descriptive tool used by archivists to keep track of physical and intellectual content of archival materials. Finding aids generally have a hierarchical design, beginning with a collection level description, followed a series within the collection, and finally item level descriptions within each series.

Flash memory. (Recording technology) A solid state memory chip that can retain data even after the recording device is turned off.

flat database. See database.

format. See file format.

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR). (Cataloging) An international protocol for describing bibliographic resources, as an alternative to Anglo American Cataloging Rules.

gift. (Law) Voluntary transfer of property without getting anything in return. Oral histories are generally transferred to repositories as gifts.

hyperlink. (Information technology) A reference to related material on the same web page or on a different website. Hyperlinks allow users to navigate through the Internet to find the information they need quickly by clicking on the highlighted term. Hyperlinks are possible through HTML technology. Hyperlinks are similar to cross references in a library catalog.

index. (Cataloging) An alphabetical list of topics or names with references to pages or sections to a larger document. An index is a tool for better access within a document.

index term. (Cataloging) A field within a database, such as a library catalog, defined as searchable. Examples of index terms in a catalog record for an oral history are the narrator's name, the interviewer's name, the topic of the interview and the name of the oral history project. See also access point.

informant. See narrator.

informed consent. (Law) An agreement to do something or allow something to happen, made with complete knowledge of all relevant facts, such as the risks involved or any available alternatives. For example, an interviewer should inform the narrator of all the potential uses of the interview.

intellectual control. (Archives) A method for providing documentation for an archival collection -- such as a finding aid or cataloging -- so that the content of the collection can easily be accessed and maintained. See also bibliographic control.

intellectual property. (Law) The area of law that regulates the ownership and use of creative works, including patent, copyright, and trademark. See also copyright.

Internet. (Information technology) A giant networking infrastructure for information to travel across, connecting billions of computers. It includes the World Wide Web, email, and other kinds of technical data exchange.

interview. (Oral history) A structured question and answer session between a narrator and interviewer characterized by well-focused, open-ended, neutral questions to a unique personal perspective. The interview is the basis for all oral history. See also oral history.

interviewee. See narrator.

interviewer. (Oral history) The person who asks questions and guides the structure of an interview. The interviewer is responsible for the structure of the interview and the narrator is responsible for the content.

invasion of privacy. (Law) The law protects us from invasion of privacy based on four actions. The action most relevant to oral history is public disclosure of intimate private facts.

inventory. (Archives) A list of the documents within a repository, and attributes of each. This term is often used to distinguish between an accounting of the physical items from the intellectual items. Can also refer to the act of creating this list.

item. (Archives) An item is the smallest archival unit or document (e.g., a letter, photograph, interview disc).

item level record. (Cataloging) As contrasted to a collection level record, an item level catalog record describes each oral history in separate record. This method of cataloging provides much more detail.

Lavaliere microphone. See clip-on/desktop microphone.

legal consent form. (Law) A legal agreement between the narrator and the interviewer which clarifies the nature of the interview relationship. It should include the following points: intent to conduct the interview, delivery and acceptance of the interview, copyright assignment, the narratorÕs rights to future use, and any restrictions on the content of the interview.

license. (Law) The transfer of rights from the original holder to another party, generally for a specific use, duration, and territory. This is a common alternative to ownership in the digital world, for example, an e-book is licensed to a user, whereas a print book is owned by a library, and borrowed by a user. See also ownership.

life expectancy. (Archives) The length of time that an item is expected to remain intact and useful when kept in a typical office environment (70 degrees F, 21 degrees C and 50% relative humidity). This term is winning favor over the older term archival quality, because it specifies measurements of longevity.

life history. (Oral history) An oral history that emphasizes the entire span of a person's life, as opposed to a topical history, which emphasizes many people's experience around a single topic.

link. See hyperlink, cross reference.

Loss of Lubricant (LoL). (Preservation) A chemical condition that causes audiocassette tapes to deteriorate. See also Sticky Shed Syndrome.

magnetic tape. (Recording technology) A tape coated with a magnetic material which stores information as electromagnetic signals. Magnetic tape is the most common medium in for oral histories in archives today, but as a recording medium, it is being phased out in favor of digital recording methods.

magneto-optical (MO). (Recording technology). A type of data storage that combines magnetic and optical technologies. For example, some mini-discs are magneto-optical.

management system. (Management) A database system for keeping records for collections, projects, or online content. The system usually tracks tasks and objectives, with links to an inventory of materials processed, and people involved. A management system can be set up locally using a database or spreadsheet, or can be purchased as a package. The functions of management systems described below overlap, but commercial products come under one of these names, and emphasize certain management functions over others.

Common Management Systems for Oral History Curators

Content management	Almost always refers to digital content. Controls the authoring, editing, updating, and digital rights management.
Collection management	Used for managing a project or archive. Tracks inventory, physical condition, availability, legal papers.
Project management	Tracks and connects all the tasks and attributes of a project – timeframe, people involved, who does what, budgeting, and how it all gets accomplished.

 

MARC format (MAchine-Readable Cataloging). (Cataloging) A data exchange standard developed by the Library of Congress and adopted worldwide as the standard for library cataloging.

MD. See minidisc.

media independent. (Information technology) Digital files that are not dependent on a particular recording medium. Media-independent digital content is stored and can be transported on media, e.g., CD-R, portable hard disk, and data tape, but this use of media is incidental to the content.

metadata. (Information technology) Data about data. Metadata provides all kinds of information about how a computer should handle the data behind the scenes. Metadata is becoming increasingly important as the world moves to a digital environment for information storage, retrieval and delivery.

Kinds of Metadata
Descriptive	Describes the intellectual content
Administrative	Information about ownership, restrictions, etc.
Structural	Describes the relationships between multiple digital files, such as the order of audio files that form a series
Technical	Technical features such as file type, bit depth and sample rate.

 

METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard). (Information technology) A standard, maintained by the Library of Congress, for encoding various kinds metadata to describe digital files. METS coordinates the schema designed for particular disciplines, such as EAD or TEI.

microphones. (Recording technology) A device that converts sound to electrical signals, usually for amplification. Though microphones occur inside recorders, external microphones provide higher quality sound and should be used for oral history interviews. A variety of microphones are available with different attributes. See also directional/onmidirectional microphone, dynamic/condenser microphone, stereo/mono microphone, clip-on/desk-top microphone.

migrate. (Preservation) To move analog or digital data from one computer storage system to another. See also refresh, reformat.

MiniDisc (MD). (Recording technology) A digital recording medium popular with oral historians in the 1990s because of its convenient size and affordability. However, a recording from the MiniDisc canÕt be directly transferred to a computer for reformatting or editing. A newer version, called Hi-MD, was introduced in 2004 to solve the problem.

Mini-DV. See DV.

MO. See magneto-optical.

monophonic microphone. See stereophonic/monophonic microphone.

narrator. (Oral history) The person being interviewed –who has first hand knowledge about the subject or topic of the interview and can effectively communicate this information. See also interviewer.

obsolescence. (Preservation) The loss of value or usefulness of an object even though it functions well. This can be due to outmoded equipment, inability to buy parts, newer technology, or a change in public taste.

OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). (Cataloging) An international bibliographic utility hosting the worldÕs largest catalog for books, artifacts, sound and visual recordings, and more. The public interface for OCLC is WorldCat, and is available to users in most libraries around the world.

OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog). (Cataloging) An computerized library catalog running on a relational database.

omnidirectional microphone. See directional/omnidirectional microphone.

open-reel tape. (Recording technology) Tape supplied on its own reel and not contained in a cartridge or cassette. Open reel tape was popular for recording oral histories in the 1940s and 50s, and is still prevalent in archives.

open source. (Information technology) A computer program's source code or file format that is open and available to the world.

optical media. (Recording technology, Preservation) Media, such as CD and DVD, that use laser technology for data storage and retrieval. Different kinds of optical discs have different features, for example, CD-R, DVD-R are recordable but not erasable; CD-RW can be erased and reused. See also magnetic tape, solid state.

oral history. 1. The documentation of recent history by means of a recorded, structured interview. 2. The discipline that has grown up around this methodology. 3. A "package" which includes an interview or series of interviews related by content, often with transcript and supporting materials, made available for public use.

oral tradition. (Oral history) A community's cultural and historical background preserved and passed on from one generation to the next in spoken stories and song, as distinct from a written tradition.

original order. (Archives) An archival principle referring to the importance of keeping archival papers together and in the same order as they were arranged by the creator, in order to preserve the context. This principle is also referred to as respect des fonds. See also provenance.

orphaned documents. (Archives) Documents in an archive that, for some reason, can't be made available to the public. Oral histories are often orphaned because the proper legal consent form is missing, or because the equipment for listening to the interview is obsolete or unavailable.

outcome. (Management) Refer to specific goals that should result from a specific task, important in project design and grant writing.

outsource. (Management) To contract with an independent agency for a task. A choice to outsource depends on the archiveÕs collection, goals, resources. Here are some pros and cons:

 

Outsourcing	In-house
You pay only for the job done, not for employees or equipment.	Staff can learn tasks and perform them as they go.
Usually high quality work and good turnaround time.	Staff exercise more control over project and can adjust specifications as you work.
Usually contractor is expert in the field.	Easier to customize project to fit archiveÕs needs.
Contractor absorbs cost of technology obsolescence, failure, downtime, etc.	Requires initial and ongoing financial investment.
Archive loses some control of technical details	Requires initial and ongoing equipment purchase.
Relationship and contractor with vendor requires technical specifications upfront, and plan for quality control.	Staff expertise not always available.
Original recordings must leave archive.	Existing staff must be given sufficient time to do the job. May take time away from other tasks
Potential for misunderstanding on technical specifications, turnaround time, or local practices.	Institution must absorb costs of computer downtime, equipment failure, staff training, etc.
	Responsible for standards and best practices

 

ownership. (Law) The person or legal entity which holds physical ownership of the item, along with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. See also license.

phantom power (Recording technology) A method of providing power to condenser microphones, by tapping into the power supply of the recording device it is attached to.

phased preservation. (Preservation) An approach to preservation that emphasizes activities to protect the entire holdings of a repository, rather than the concentrating solely on evaluating and treating individual items. Such an approach includes but is not limited to, preservation planning and surveys to establish priorities, disaster planning, controlling storage environment, performing holdings maintenance, and selective treatment of materials.

preservation. (Preservation) Actions taken to stabilize and protect documents and artifacts from deteriorating, as well as retrospectively treating or restoring damaged documents. Preservation also includes the transfer of information to another medium.

preservation master. (Preservation) The first copy made from a recorded interview. The original recording should be permanently stored in another location, and subsequent copies should be made from the preservation master.

primary source. (Oral history) First hand information with no interpretation between the document and the researcher. An oral history is a primary resource, as are diaries and correspondence. See also secondary source.

print through. (Preservation) A condition of magnetic tape deterioration when the information on one section of the magnetic tape bleeds through onto the next layer of tape on the spool. Print through can be avoided by rewinding the tape periodically. See also Sticky Shed Syndrome.

processing. (Archives) The organization, description, and arrangement of documents to make them available for public use.

project/program. (Management) A project has a specific goal and ending date; a program is ongoing. A program usually has ongoing funding and is often part of a larger institution, such as a library or a university. Programs often support individual projects.

project management system. See management system.

project manager. (Management) The person responsible for the overall administration of a project. For an oral history project duties include project design; fundraising and budgeting; purchasing and maintaining recording equipment; keeping records; selecting and training interviewers; overseeing transcription, cataloging and processing; rights management; and meeting deadlines. In practice, an oral history project manager's task often overlaps with those of the curator or archivist.

proprietary format. See file format.

proprietary software (Information technology) A computer program where the creator controls the source code. see also open source.

provenance. (Archives) The relationships between the records that come into an archive and their original owners. See also original order, arrangement.

public domain. (Law) A creative work that is not subject to the copyright laws and may be used without permission of the creator or former rights holder. The work could either be expressly created for the public domain, or it could be the copyright limitation has expired. See also copyright.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Discs). (Information technology) A method for large quantities of data to be stored on servers with minimal risk of losing the data.

RDA. See Resource Description and Access

record. 1. (Archives) Any document which supports a function, such as keeping records on the project. 2. (Archives) A document created or received by an agency, organization or individual, in pursuance of legal obligations or business transactions. 3. (Information technology) An element in the hierarchical structure of a database. A record contains related fields, and is contained in a file.

recording medium (pl. media) (Recording technology) The physical carrier for recording or storing information, such as disc, tape, CD, CD-ROM. Though there is technically a difference between recording medium, storage medium and preservation medium, they are commonly used interchangeably.

recording unit. (Recording technology) A customized "kit" for audio or video recording equipment. Can include recorder, microphone, cables, and batteries.

reel-to-reel tape. See open reel tape.

refresh. (Preservation) To make an exact copy of data to a newer medium of the same kind (e.g. from an old cassette to a newer one) for preservation. See also reformat, migrate.

reformat. (Preservation) To make a copy with a structure or format different from the original, in order to preserve the content. See also refresh, migrate.

release form. See legal consent form.

relational database. See database.

relative humidity. (Archives) The amount of moisture in the air, expressed as a percent of the maximum moisture air can hold at a given temperature.

repository. (Archives) The permanent physical home for historic documents. See also archives.

Resource Description and Access (RDA). (Cataloging) A new standard, scheduled to supercede Anglo American Cataloging Rules, in order to better meet the needs of cataloging in a digital environment.

respect des fonds. See original order.

restrictions. (Law) Limitation imposed by the narrator to legally restrict access to all or part of the interview content, for a limited time or permanently. Though such restrictions are discouraged both by interviewers and curators, sometimes they are unavoidable.

rights management. (Archives) The collection of duties connected to the intellectual property rights of oral histories. Rights management can include tracking restrictions, copyright, and permission to use.

sampling rate. (Recording technology). The number of samples from a sound wave that the computer takes to make a digital file. The larger the sample the higher the quality and the closest the digital representation represents the original.

scalability. (Information technology) A criterion used to determine whether a procedure can be adapted to a much larger or a much smaller situation.

search engine. (Information technology) A computer program designed to help users find information on the World Wide Web, or within a particular database. Google is the most common search engine.

secondary source. (Oral history) Interpretive work based on the evidence contained in primary sources. See also primary source.

server. (Information technology) A computer that delivers a "service" to other computers in a network. Common servers are file (data) servers, print servers and mail servers.

solid state. (Recording technology) A storage device that uses a computer chip, with no moving parts. Newer recording units use solid state technology. See also magnetic tape, optical media.

spreadsheet. (Information technology) A table consisting of cells arranged in rows and columns, where the contents of each cell is defined in relation to the others. The relationships between cells are defined by the user as formulas. A computer program such as Excel, is needed to read and manipulate the data in a spreadsheet.

stereophonic/monophonic microphone. (Recording technology). A stereophonic microphone records sound from various sources on different channels. A monophonic microphone records all sounds on a single channel. Stereo microphones can also record as mono. Monophonic is usually sufficient for oral history interviews.

Sticky Shed Syndrome. (Preservation) Audiotape deterioration characterized by gummy deposits on tape path guides and heads after a sticky tape has been played. Appears most commonly on reel-to-reel tapes. See also Loss of Lubricant.

streaming audio. (Information technology) A method of transferring sound so it can be processed in a steady and continuous stream. This method should be used for oral histories made available over the Internet.

structure. (Information technology) Refers to physical qualities of a document or file, such as the size, format, or medium. The distinction between structure and content is an important one for cataloging and preservation decisions.

subject headings. (Cataloging) Descriptive terms pertaining to the item cataloged, based on a controlled vocabulary.

summary. (Oral history) A condensation of an interview, highlighting the key points. A summary can be a paragraph to a few pages, depending on the purpose. Summaries are useful for curators evaluating a collection, for catalogers, for researchers, and for websites or printed catalogs.

syndetic structures. (Cataloging) The structure of related terms that provide access points in catalog records, such as see and see also terms, or broader and narrowerSee and See also elements of syndetic structures.

tape log. (Oral history) An annotated list of topics covered in the interview, indexed at timed intervals. A tape log is a useful tool for researchers to find sections on an audiotape, but is less useful if the sound is edited, rearranged or transferred to another medium.

thesaurus. (Cataloging) A list of terms and concepts, usually dealing with a specific discipline, that provides a standardized vocabulary to use in searching a database. See also authority control, controlled vocabulary.

topical history. (Oral history) A series of interviews with a variety of people who witnessed or experienced a particular topic or event. See also life history.

transcript. (Oral history) A verbatim printed version of the spoken word.

uncompressed. See compressed/uncompressed data.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator). (Information technology). A unique address to a web page. URLs have this or a similar format: http://www.google.com

user copy. (Oral history) Third generation copy of audio recording, made for public use. See also preservation master.

VHS (Video Home System, originally Vertical Helical Scan). (Recording technology) An analog system for recording moving images, which was the standard for consumer video recording in the 1980s and 90s. See also video.

video. (Recording technology) A method of capturing moving images using film, electronic signals, or digital media. See also VHS, DV, digital video.

visual history (Oral history) A recorded interview using video instead of audio.

World Wide Web. (Information technology) A network of web pages on the Internet, available via a browser and a unique address or URL, most easily found through a search engine. The number of web pages is estimated to be in the billions, and growing daily. The World Wide Web is rapidly becoming a universal point for information exchange and delivery.

website. (Information technology) A set of related webpages, usually including a homepage, that are organized to present a person, organization, or idea. Webpages can include text, graphics, hyperlinks, a search engine, sound, and video.

World Cat. See OCLC.

WORM (Write Once, Read Many). (Recording technology) A CD that is not rewritable, and is useful for preservation.

 

 

 

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