Oral History Unit
An archive of live story interviews, projects recording history of local communities, training in oral history methodology, exhibition and publications.
Charges:
There is no charge for reference or study purposes however, there is a charge for commercial use of material. There is also a charge for oral history training workshops.
Ways To Pay:
The customer can be invoiced and charges can be paid by cheque or postal order.
Contact Details:
Address: Oral History Unit, Tower House, Town Quay Road, Southampton
Postcode: SO14 2NY
Telephone: 023 8091 5725
Minicom: 023 8083 2798
Email: museums@southampton.gov.uk
Details of service:
Values everyone's individual experience by enabling people to tell their life stories in their own words.
Empowers people to be involved in the process of documenting their life experiences and the events that have affected them.
Is unique in that it gives us the perspectives of people of difference backgrounds, cultures and religions.
Gives a voice to people who in the past have largely been hidden from mainstream and traditional history.
History is not just about the rich and famous - it belongs to everyone.
Recording Life Histories: Interviews are nearly always conducted in the interviewee's home which not only makes it more relaxing for the interviewee, but being surrounded by familiar things often helps people to remember. A life story approach is followed through the interview - When and where born; Family background; Childhood; Schooldays; Leisure; Work; Retirement; up to the present day an approach which has structure but is flexible enough to record the variety of experiences remembered. A Life History can take anything from a couple to many hours.
Equipment: Recording equipment used has changed over the years from open reel tapes to cassettes to the new digital mini-discs and DAT (Digital Audio Tape).
Documentation: Every interviewee is asked to sign a copyright form giving conset to use the material while stating any restrictions they wish to impost. The recordings are copied, a timed synoposis is made and, and time and finance permitting, transcribed. Photographs from people's personal albums are collected and copied. The master tapes are archived and stored away, while copy tapes are available for public listening. Names and personal data are not usually made available to those listening to tapes.
Last updated: 10 January 2008
