Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide

Donald A. Ritchie

Oxford University Press, 2003 - History - 318 pages

Oral history is vital to our understanding of the cultures and experiences of the past. Unlike written history, oral history forever captures people's feelings, expressions, and nuances of language. But what exactly is oral history? How reliable is the information gathered by oral history? And what does it take to become an oral historian? Donald A. Ritchie, a leading expert in the field, answers these questions and in particular, explains the principles and guidelines created by the Oral History Association to ensure the professional standards of oral historians.
Doing Oral History has become one of the premier resources in oral history. It explores all aspects of the field, from starting an oral history project, including funding, staffing, and equipment to conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral history in museums and on the radio. In this second edition, the author has incorporated new trends and scholarship, updated and expanded the bibliography and appendices, and added a new focus on digital technology and the Internet. Appendices include sample legal release forms and information on oral history organizations.
Doing Oral History is a definitive step-by-step guide that provides advice and explanations on how to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come. Illustrated with examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, this authoritative guide offers clear, practical, and detailed advice for students, teachers, researchers, and amateur genealogists who wish to record the history of their own families and communities.

Contents

• An Oral History of Our Time: 17
• Memory and Oral History: 28
• Public History and Oral History: 39
• Setting Up an Oral History Project: 45
• Funding and Staffing: 48
• Equipment: 55
• Processing: 62
• Legal Concerns: 73
• Archiving and the Internet: 77
• Conducting Interviews: 82
• Preparations for the Interview: 83
• Setting up the Interview: 86
• Conducting the Interview: 88
• Concluding the Interview: 106
• Using Oral History in Research and Writing: 108
• Oral Evidence: 115
• Publishing Oral History: 126
• Videotaping Oral History: 132
• Setting and Equipment: 137
• Preserving and Using the Video Recordings: 143
• Preserving Oral History in Archives and Libraries: 153
• Managing Oral History Collections: 158
• Sound Recordings: 162
• Digitalizing Oral Archives: 169
• Donated Interviews: 177
• Legal Considerations: 180
• Public Programs: 182
• Teaching Oral History: 186
• Oral History in Elementary and Secondary Schools: 191
• Oral History in Undergraduate and Graduate Education: 205
• Institutional Review Boards: 213
• Presenting Oral History: 220
• Community History: 221
• Family Interviewing: 228
• Therapeutic Uses of Oral History: 231
• Museum Exhibits: 235
• Radio and Oral History: 239
• Oral History on Stage: 241
• CDROM and the Internet: 243
• Principles and Standards of the Oral History Association: 250
• Sample Legal Release Forms: 254
• Notes and References: 259
• Selected Bibliography: 285
• Internet Resources: 303
• Index: 307

Popular passages

Page 8 - And only a part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those who observed it; only a part of what was remembered was recorded; only a part of what was recorded has survived; only a part of what has survived has come to the historians...

About the author

Donald A. Ritchie is Associate Historian in the United States Senate Historical Office, where he conducts an oral history program. A former president of the Oral History Association, he has served on the council of the American Historical Association, and chaired the Organization of American Historians' committee on research and access to historical documentation. He has conducted many oral history workshops, and for ten years, he edited the Twayne oral history series.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide
• Author: Donald A. Ritchie
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0195154347, 9780195154344
• Length: 318 pages
• Subjects: History / General; History / Historiography; History / Social History; Reference / Genealogy & Heraldry