I was having a problem with some well-meaning community members and students conducting oral histories and then leaving unlabeled tapes on my desk while I was at lunch - at most there would be the name of the interviewed person on a scrap of paper. Since I don't have four hours to devote to cataloguing every single item that comes in, I put together a guide for creating oral histories which includes a cataloguing sheet, an interview agreement, and some brief excerpts from articles. http://www.nha.org/library/oralhistory/guidelines.html

Georgen Gilliam Charnes
Webmaster & Collections Access Specialist
Nantucket Historical Association
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From: Harry Heiss 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 10:44 AM
Subject: Oral history "how to" manuals



Can anyone on the list recommend a beginner's "how to" manual for conducting oral and/or video history interviews?  Our former Deputy Commissioner of the Public Debt plans to interview some retired and long-term employees, but she would first like to read something that would give an overview of how to begin, questions to ask, pitfalls to avoid, etc.  I've looked at several institutional websites that have bibliographies, which have been helpful, but if there is a standard or single "must-read" volume that others have found especially useful and could recommend, that would be ideal.  Thanks.

Harry 


Harry G. Heiss, Archivist 
Bureau of the Public Debt 
Department of the Treasury 
799 Ninth Street, NW 
Washington, DC 20239 

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