Ian Noah's blog

Author: 
Ian Noah

Source: Graham Smith, Institute of Historical Research, London University (www.history.ac.uk)


This article provides an excellent introduction to Oral History, from Developments in Oral History Theory, Ethics and Legal Understanding to Technical Changes, Archives and the Future of Oral History.

Since the 1970s oral history in Britain has grown from being a method in folklore studies to become a key component in community histories. Oral history continues to be an important means by which non-academics can actively participate in 'making history'. However practitioners across a range of academic disciplines have also developed the method into a way of recording, understanding and archiving narrated memories.

Author: 
Ian Noah

There has been some debate in oral history circles about the merit of full transcriptions over key word summaries. Summaries may certainly be quicker, demand limited resources, and prove useful for search engines, indexing and initial research purposes. However, there can be little doubt that - when it is possible and financially viable -  a full textual rendition of an entire interview recording fundamentally and exponentially enhances the value of the recordings by providing a substantial number of additional and important benefits:-