Doing oral history

Book

Doing oral history / Donald A. Ritchie.

Ritchie, Donald A., 1945- (Author).

Summary:

In this thorough guide to oral history theory, methods, and practice, Donald A. Ritchie, a prominent U.S. scholar in the field, synthesizes and builds on the extensive literature in manuals and fieldwork guides, to provide the first oral history handbook to address individual researchers as well as organized project teams (whether novices or veterans in the field), to cover videotaping as well as audio recording, and to support both teachers and archivists in their use of oral history records. Illustrating his guidelines with colorful examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, Ritchie offers clear, practical, and detailed advice on such issues as obtaining funding, staffing, and equipment; conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral histories in museums, on radio, in therapy, and in interactive video. Throughout, Ritchie stimulates researchers to consider and focus on the unique aspects of their individual projects as well as the special rewards and results of the recordings they make. As he states at the outset, Ritchie's emphasis is on doing. His definitive guide provides all the practical advice and explanations contemporary oral historians require to turn their ideas and goals into action, and to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come.

Record details

ISBN: 0805791248
ISBN: 9780805791242
ISBN: 0805791280
ISBN: 9780805791280
Physical Description: xv, 265 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm.
Publisher: New York : Twayne Publishers ; ©1995.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-257) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: An Oral History of Our Time -- Memory and Oral History -- Public History and Oral History -- Setting Up an Oral History Project -- Funding and Staffing -- Equipment -- Processing -- Legal Concerns -- Archiving and the Internet -- Conducting Interviews -- Preparation for the Interview -- Setting up the Interview -- Conducting the Interview -- Concluding the Interview -- Using Oral History in Research and Writing -- Oral Evidence -- Publishing Oral History -- Videotaping Oral History -- Setting and Equipment -- Preserving and Using the Video Recordings -- Preserving Oral History in Archives and Libraries -- Managing Oral History Collections -- Sound Recordings -- Digitizing Oral Archives -- Donated Interviews -- Legal Considerations -- Public Programs -- Teaching Oral History -- Oral History in Elementary and Secondary Schools -- Oral History in Undergraduate and Graduate Education -- Institutional Review Boards -- Presenting Oral History -- Community History -- Family Interviewing -- Therapeutic Uses of Oral History -- Museum Exhibits -- Radio and Oral History -- Oral History on Stage -- Principles and Standards of the Oral History Association.