Oral History Handbook

Before beginning an oral history project consider the most appropriate long-term preservation solution for your recordings. In most cases, this will be a local archive.

In accordance with the Oral History Associations principles and best practices, “oral historians should take care to select a repository that aligns with the project’s goals, has the capacity to preserve the oral histories, can enforce any signed agreements, and will make them accessible to the public.”

Research

ASC expects that oral history creators will conduct research or base interviews on their own community connections. Interviewers documenting their family or communities may have expertise without needing to conduct outside research. Researchers focused on a specific topic that lies outside their immediate experience, however, will need to conduct thorough background research to formulate questions and select potential narrators for their oral histories.

For researchers who are just starting out, ASC Librarians can provide research consultations to help oral historians identify primary and secondary sources to support their oral history goals.

Schedule a consultation to meet with a librarian.

Please keep in mind that research can be a lengthy process. If a researcher is starting from scratch, they may need to consult many sources before they are ready to begin their oral history project.

Selecting Narrators

This can be the most difficult part of preparing for an oral history project. Most oral historians create a longer list of potential narrators than they ultimately interview. Pre-interview discussions and questionnaires are a good way to determine if potential narrators are appropriate for the project. These tools allow interviewers to see how vivid a potential narrator’s memories are and determine if the person is appropriate. Those who meet the project's needs can be asked if they would mind being interviewed. Those who do not can be thanked for filling out the questionnaire and providing background for the project. 

Some general rules to follow when choosing a narrator:

1. Base decisions on the quality of information the person can share, not their age. Not all older people will make good sources.
2. Choose a narrator who wants to share their story.
3. Choose someone with firsthand knowledge of the topic.
4. Choose narrators who are mentally, physically, and intellectually able to share their memories.
5. Prioritize the narrators whose stories are the most likely to be lost. If a potential narrator is one of the remaining people with first-hand knowledge of the topic, and is well enough to sit for an interview, consider interviewing them first.
6. Choosing the “local historian” or the person with most local knowledge to interview first has positive and negative implications. They have a lot of information, but not always firsthand information. They may, however, be a valuable source of names of potential interviewees, provide research information, and help promote the project.