Oral History and Digital Humanities

Over the last two decades, much has changed in the world of oral history, as digital audio and multimedia have opened up a wide range of possibilities for presentation of material. The doors of the archives have been blown from their hinges - and "access" has come to have a completely different meaning. Oral history research no longer necessarily entails traveling from one university or museum to another, reading typewritten transcripts or listening to second-generation analog cassettes designated as user copies. Scholars and the general public alike can go to the Internet for information on available recordings, and even if an institution's audio or transcripts are not online, chances are good that a detailed finding aid is, and a call to that repository can result in a patron receiving a digital copy of an interview. Networked information and linked data empower users and researchers to connect oral history resources to other relevant resources. All of this results in expectations for access that are vastly different than they were a mere twenty years ago. This cutting-edge book reviews the theoretical and practical developments that have occurred in the practice of oral history since digital audio and video became practical working formats. Over the years, the digital revolution has changed how oral historians conceptualize projects, how they deal with ethical issues, how they process their materials, how they think about sound and video, and how materials are made accessible. All of this has placed oral history squarely in the middle of the conversation about digital humanities. Each chapter covers a different groundbreaking project in the history of digital oral history from the perspective of the project's organizer, explaining the reasons those projects were developed in the first place, how the researchers solved problems they faced, and how the solutions evolved over time with advancing technologies. Most pertinently, they discuss how the problems that started them on their digital paths are being dealt with currently, and what they see for the future of oral history. The result is an illuminating survey of oral history's digital evolution, distilling the insights of pioneers in the field and applying them to the constantly changing electronic landscape of today.