Oral History
In today's rapidly changing world, oral history collections in local archives and libraries have emerged as important new sources for all those interested in Britain's past and its people's achievements. Personal memories are seen as essential in recreating the past and keeping future generations in touch with their heritage.
Gathering reminiscences offers ordinary people a place in a history that too often favours the famous (and the infamous!) over the ordinary person. recorded narratives link the private lives of ordinary people to the public events of the past, telling us about aspects of people's experiences of which there are no official records.
Do you fit into one of these categories?
A small museum with a busy curator and a lack of resources is keen to capture memories of the older generation of local people for use in the future.
In this case we would consult with the Museum in order to establish their requirements and formulate the most efficient method of gathering material. If required we could research the subject matter, possible interviewees and plan a project programme and methodology. Interviews would then be conducted by the client's own staff (with guidance from ATS Heritage if required) or by our own interviewers and we would provide digital recording to the client.
A client has previously gathered recordings stored on tapes and wants them to be indexed and organised. The curator has no plans to use them in exhibits immediately but would like them in a format that can be safely stored and provides options for future projects.
ATS Heritage would consult with the customer to establish requirements and assess existing audio material against these criteria. Audio would be transferred to a digital format and, if necessary, sound quality enhanced through the use of various filtering techniques. ATS Heritage would then process and edit the audio tracks in full consultation with the client presenting the final version on CD for safe storage and flexibility of use.
A visitor centre wants an interactive visitor information system including oral History with linked images.
Having researched, compiled and edited oral history material, ATS Heritage would develop a suitable software interface that is attractive, relevant and presents the information in the most effective manner. The client's brief on target audience would be taken into account when devising the interface. e.g. Information could be layered to accommodate families as well as serious researchers.
Oral History Life Cycle
ATS Heritage offers a full Oral History Service, from consultancy, collection and Project Management, through to audiovisual presentation. Our Lifecycle diagram is designed to clarify the stages of managing a project.
The most important consideration when starting a project is to ensure that the customer's requirements and objectives are fully understood by the project team. This can only be achieved through discussions and effective research. From this work a project plan and interview methodology can be created that is carefully tailored to the individual.
When a strategy has been agreed, we can research and locate suitable interviewees if they have not already been identified, and conduct the interviews. Our experienced researchers and interviewers are acutely aware of the need for a sensitive and discreet approach when dealing with people and their valuable reminiscences. If you prefer to use your own interviewers, we would be happy to provide training and guidance.
Once recording is complete, we would carefully analyse the material to ensure that it meets the original requirements. If this were not the case then further research and interviews would be conducted until the objectives have been achieved. The final material can then be processed, edited and, if necessary, we can help you to present your material to the public in a variety of ways.
Presenting to the Public
Once the research material is collected, it would be a missed opportunity were it not presented to the visiting public. This may be as part of an existing collection, web page or other data set. However, where the opportunity exists, presenting an oral history on a touchscreen or an audio system can create a real 'wow' factor. A very popular method is to use one of ATS Heritage’s specially modified ‘Talking Telephones’ that can hold up to 125 individual MP3 audio tracks.
Click here to view our datasheet for Oral History