Shaping the future by hearing the past
Pollok is complicated, more complicated than you might think. People will tell you that there’s old Pollok, there’s new Pollok and some bits that aren’t even Pollok at all.
Unearthing stories
Unearthing stories about a place is always more nuanced than you ever imagine. For people who have lived somewhere all their lives, breathed it in and speak about it with a love that you would for a close friend, you’ll discover that not everything meets the eye.
[quote]“We have been capturing the stories from the young and not so young to create a picture of a place.”[/quote]
The HLF-supported Pollok 80/20 project has proved to be such a project. We, The Village Storytelling Centre, are searching high and low to discover the stories of 80 years of Pollok social housing. We are trying to turn these stories into an interactive map that generations of people can come and listen to and enjoy the fabulous, hidden oral history that exists in a much-maligned and misunderstood area of Glasgow. We hope this project brings people from across the city to hear the sordid behaviour of one particular park bench, hear the voices of people who can tell you what it used to be like and how they feel about it now.
We have been capturing the stories from the young and not so young to create a picture of a place. A picture that goes beyond the assumptions people make of an area.
Preserving voices
We’ve heard the sound of laughter emanating from one house on the corner of the street. The sounds of the old shopping centre and the trams that would pass by regularly have filled our ear. For a moment the past has been in the present and the present has occupied the past.
[quote]“We are in a privileged position to go and collect the stories of the people who live in this area and hear the rich knowledge that resides in every house, in every community hub, in every shop.”[/quote]
We are still at an early phase of our project and we are only just discovering the complexity and meaning that this area has to the people who occupy it. From those who can tell you about the church that was moved brick by brick from a different part of the city to the shenanigans that would occur up at Crookston Castle, we’ve learnt that not every story has to be epic or huge, it’s the small moments of intimacy that you experience when discovering someone’s life history. The impact and imprint that they have made on the lives of people around them even if they don’t see it as such. We are in a privileged position to go and collect the stories of the people who live in this area and hear the rich knowledge that resides in every house, in every community hub, in every shop.
It is with thanks to HLF that the voices of people can be heard for years to come, creating art out of the everyday.
Pollok may be old, or it may be young. But for the people who know it, what matters is that it’s here and it has thousands of voices that can shape and share its future by bringing up its past.
Find out more about HLF's Stories, Stones & Bones celebrations on the HLF Stories Tumblr.
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Time to apply for Stories, Stones and Bones
HLF is a partner in Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage & Archaeology in 2017 and through Stories, Stones and Bones is offering grants of £3,000 to £10,000 to encourage everyone to take advantage of all that heritage has to offer.
Applying is straightforward with a short application form and a quick decision. And with the first deadline on Friday 30 September, there’s still two weeks to put ideas forward.
Lucy Casot, Head of HLF Scotland said: “We are very excited about Stories, Stones and Bones. It’s a real opportunity to open the door to people that don’t normally get involved in heritage and let them see what it has to offer. I can assure them, they will be surprised and delighted.”
Celebrate Scotland's history
Through HLF, more than £800million of National Lottery players’ money has been invested in Scotland’s heritage. Projects are happening all over the country, touching the lives of those involved - whether it's sharing stories across generations, digging to unearth clues that history has left behind, or volunteering to teach young people about the past.
[quote=Anna James, Stories, Stones and Bones Grants Development Officer]“Don’t let the fact that you haven’t applied to HLF, or indeed any organisation, for a grant before put you off. It’s a far simpler process than you might think.”[/quote]
“I would encourage anyone that has an idea for a project to get in touch," said Anna James, Stories, Stones and Bones Grants Development Officer. "Don’t let the fact that you haven’t applied to HLF, or indeed any organisation, for a grant before put you off. It’s a far simpler process than you might think and we’re here to help.”
Shine a light on what gives Scotland and its people a unique identity by celebrating its history and heritage during what is going to be a very special year.
How to apply
You can apply quickly and easily using the material on the Sharing Heritage programme page.
If you’ve got a question about applying, please contact the Scotland development team to get their advice.
There are two deadlines – Friday 30 September 2016 and Tuesday 31 January 2017.
How to tell family stories
In December 2014 Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project (MECOPP) was delighted to be awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver our very first oral history project. It was called Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Sons – Memories of Childhood.
"The focus of this intergenerational project was to celebrate childhood across communities, continents and generations."
The focus of this intergenerational project was to celebrate childhood across communities, continents and generations. It was alsos a way of preserving the personal histories of first-generation Chinese and South Asian older people and their UK-born family members.
Creating an exhibition
We interviewed and photographed 11 family pairs from South Asian, Nepalese, Tibetan and Chinese communities. Participants shared their memories from childhood including early life, education, the impact of migration and their childhood hopes and dreams.
The interviews formed the basis of a storyboard panel with each panel containing both family members’ stories and a mixture of current and old family photographs.
Participants also shared with us an object of meaning from their lives which we photographed and turned into object boards and a collection of postcards.
These wonderful storyboards and object boards formed an exhibition which launched at the Museum of Edinburgh in October 2015 and was a wonderful celebration for all involved in the project!
“The best experience was going to the museum with my mother for the project launch. It was great to share our life experiences with others and also with each other.”
Project participant
One participant told us: “The best experience was going to the museum with my mother for the project launch. It was great to share our life experiences with others and also with each other.”
The exhibition went on to be shown at Edinburgh Central Library and Edinburgh University and continues to be shown across the city. In January 2017 we published a book: Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Sons.
A deeper connection
Participants were recruited through MECOPP’s community contacts and through our development work. To ensure this project was open to everyone we recruited volunteers who could speak community languages such as Cantonese, Punjabi and Urdu as well as English. One of our participants told us: “it helped me by having someone who spoke Urdu/Punjabi so I could express myself fluently”.
Through their involvement in the project, participants told us that their wellbeing had improved and the majority reported an increase in their confidence and self-esteem too. Participants not only experienced a stronger connection to their own families, but some experienced a deeper connection to the other families involved also.
One participant shared: “what was new and lovely was the feeling of connectedness with members of other families that have grown up in different countries and cultures”. Every person told us they were glad they had taken part and that they had learned more about the relevance of oral history in daily life. One participant said: “I think it is not just a project but also part of the history in our community during that time.”
As the development worker for Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Sons it gave me great joy to deliver this project. It was a real honour to be welcomed into families and trusted to share their memories with the world.
To learn more or to get involved you can visit the MECOPP website or email me.
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After Windrush - telling stories of struggle and celebration
Why did you want to make this film?
I had the idea for about 25 years.
I'm an African-Caribbean British Yorkshireman. I was born here, raised here. I saw my mother and father go through racism, I went through it at school. Then when I came out of the military, I couldn’t even get a job, people were looking at me like I had three heads. I wanted to be respected – almost to be invisible but visible. And if I'm feeling this, how many others are feeling this?
I wanted the film to be a celebration of our journey, an acknowledgement of the struggle, and a closure and a motivation for the future.
What was the initial response from the community?
This is the back story. I'm 57, so of the first generation born here. The indigenous population didn’t want us here, there were lots of fears and phobias about people coming from the Caribbean. Back then, we were a very tight-knit community.
So when I asked people to come forward to offer their stories for the film, thinking about 25-30 would take part – my God that’s when I realised we still have those links. Around 85-100 people came forward.
Were there any surprises?
How much it inspired people. I never felt "inspired" to do it. I felt there was a need to do it.
The amount of people who said: "Wow, we’ve got to do more of this, we’ve got to share our heritage more"; that almost brought me to tears. So the Sikh communities of Huddersfield and beyond – they want to do their own film now, the Muslim communities, the Irish. The story of migration reaches everyone.
What would you say to anyone from a minority background who wants to do a similar project?
If your story hasn’t been told, tell it. It needs to be told, because it inspires others whose stories also haven’t been told, and it will inform, educate and entertain people in the right way about your culture.
Plan carefully. We were overwhelmed with the support, and financially you need to be ready for that.
Everything you think is your culture and "belongs" to you, be prepared to be surprised. When you have been marginalised as a minority group, you start to hold onto things that are precious to you – but I was shocked how many people had similar stories to me.
Do you have any practical tips in applying for National Lottery funding?
- Try to find somebody who understands the process before you start the journey, like a previous grantee.
- Be prepared to be disappointed – because it’s not guaranteed that you will get it.
- Be explicit about the outcomes of what your project is going to do, and the benefit it's going to have for your community and the wider community.
What have you learned from the experience?
I made sure we had a diverse team of volunteers – I’ve seen monocultural projects within the African-Caribbean community failing because they’re not taking on skills from other communities. I already loved the diverse nature of people, but this project really gave me a deeper understanding of what others have to navigate: class, gender, disability.
What do you think about Black History Month?
I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. Any month, week, day that raises the profile for people of African-Caribbean descent, past, present and aspirations for the future, has got to be good.
However I have an issue with the word "black". If it was African-Caribbean British History Month, you start looking at people more introspectively than just their colour.
Where can people see the film?
- 19 October: Heritage Quay, Huddersfield
- 23 October, 10am: Huddersfield Central Library
- 24 October: Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing
- Find out more on Facebook and the Kirklees Local TV website.
What's next for you?
We have more than 70 interviews that we haven't been able to use, I've got some big plans to share those stories and learnings.
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Learning to listen - top tips for a great oral history interview
"Oral history" can be as simple as listening to someone else talking about something they’ve experienced. But anyone who’s tried it will know that it’s not always as easy as it sounds.
Here are some of my top things to think about:
Develop your listening skills
We’re not all very good at listening and it’s a skill that can be learnt and developed.
Great oral historians listen without interrupting or judging. They also listen on different levels: not only to what is said but what is not said, to silences and repetitions. They’re also listening for the differences between narrative and reflection. This is where someone not only tells you what happened but why and how they now think about it.
Memory and its retelling are complex, rich and multi-layered: learning to listen is crucial.
Get to grips with the tech
To capture and preserve what people say means you have to get to know how to use a digital audio recorder. Even if you’re just doing it with a mobile phone, you need to know how to get the best quality sound.
It is also important to record in a file format that can be easily shared with the person you interviewed and also archived so that others can use it in the future. Being knowledgeable and adept with your recorder will make you and your subject more relaxed.
There is lots of advice in this discussion.
Do your research
The best oral history projects think carefully about who to interview and sensitively match interviewers with the people they are going to interview.
If you are interviewing more than a few close family members, then you will need to do some background research. Make sure that you’re talking to a good cross-section of people: different genders, ages, ethnicities, ideas and opinions.
Longer detailed interviews with fewer people is better than short interviews with lots of people. The more time you spend with people the better you get to know and trust each other, and the better the interview.
Reassure people
Before you start an oral history, it's important to explain to the person you’re going to interview that:
- it’s up to them what they say
- they don’t have to answer all your questions if they don’t want to
- they can stop at any time
It’s important that people are comfortable about talking, especially if it’s a difficult or emotional subject. They should understand what you are going to do with their recording (and their personal data) afterwards. This means asking them to fill in forms so you both agree. Find out more on the Oral History Society website.
Keep notes
Many people don’t realise that what happens after the interview has finished is as important as the interview itself
After a few interviews you won’t be able to remember what was discussed, and listening again to each one takes a lot of time, so some kind of content summary is helpful.
This will also allow you to compare what’s been said in lots of interviews: what people agreed or disagreed about, where they told similar themes and stories.
This is useful for when you come to make a website, exhibition or publication based on several interviews.
Find out more
There is lots of useful information about oral history on the Oral History Society website. They also run training courses all over the UK.
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Oral history good practice guidance
By reading this guidance you'll learn how to plan and run a successful oral history project. It explains what oral history is and how to run an oral history project from scoping to planning and execution, including the need for recording agreements and archiving. It also looks at how to budget an oral history project and provides sources of further information.
About oral history
Oral history captures people’s experiences and the opinions that shape the way they make sense of their lives. It is first-hand evidence of the past. Oral history needs to be recorded, documented and archived to professional standards. Only then can we be sure that recordings will be preserved and made accessible for current and future generations.
It’s also important to use these testimonies. Oral histories can be shared as a resource in their own right or as part of the way we explain a museum collection, historic building, community or place.
Oral history interviews should be substantial records of the past. If your project is focused on reminiscence group work, unstructured short conversations or vox pops, this guidance might not be helpful to you. While these activities can be useful in engaging people with heritage, we do not consider them oral history.
The role of oral history
Unless we collect and save people’s memories they can be lost. Spoken accounts can:
- fill gaps in historical evidence and secure history at risk
- bring new perspectives and challenge our view of the past
- give voice to people excluded from traditional historical records
- document traditions and stories passed down from generation to generation
- record the changing and enduring culture of a place or community, or shifts in everyday practices
- contribute to the preservation of dialects and ways of speaking
Everyone, irrespective of their background, has a unique story to tell. Oral history allows people whose voices might not otherwise be heard to share their experiences. The act of retelling life events can help people understand their lives and often contribute to a sense of wellbeing and identity, both for individuals and communities. At their most powerful, oral histories can explain, enrich understanding and encourage empathy with others. Oral history projects can also contribute to our investment principles.
Sometimes people’s testimonies contradict each other. Memories can be selective and interviews capture different viewpoints, often influenced by factors such as age, gender, social status and cultural background. Like any historical source, oral histories are open to debate, analysis and interpretation. That’s what makes oral history challenging and exciting and just as valuable as other historical data.
Scoping your project
Oral history can be about a huge range of themes. For example, interviews have recorded changes in industry, the significance of well-loved places and the history of communities.
- As part of the Cumbrian Landscape Story project, Ted Bowness recorded his story for the High Fell audio trail: “We would go nutting in late August and September, shake the trees and the nuts would come down like snowflakes. Beautiful, brown hazelnuts. Lovely.”
- Former miner Rev Kenneth Bailey shared hist experienced for the Digging Deep, Coalminers of African Caribbean Heritage project: “We didn’t get the same amount of money as the white folks get … six pounds, 10 shillings per week, that was what my wages was … the white miners, or the white maintenance workers, were getting more.”
- Through the Rainbow Jews project, Russell Vandyck shared: “Pride marches were really getting established in the ’80s, so we thought why not have the Jewish Gay Group, ‘Bagel and cream cheese’ stall? We would always sell out ... and some people actually joined the group on the strength of that.”
Oral histories have also challenged stereotypes and explored sensitive topics. For example, the Scope project, Speaking for Ourselves, captured the experiences of people with cerebral palsy, including the prejudice they’ve faced.
What is your theme?
You will need to decide on a theme for your project: whether it’s about a particular community, place, event, activity, issue or other subject. You may want to break this down into topics. For example, the history of a neighbourhood could cover people’s homes, family life, where they work, shop and spend their leisure time. But don’t be too prescriptive as subjects may emerge that you don’t expect.
Is there a need or demand for your project?
Gather evidence of interest in your chosen topic through consultation with key organisations, communities and individuals. Check with the Oral History Society’s regional networkers, the British Library Oral History department if it’s a national project or your local archive to see if your chosen topic may duplicate other projects and, if so, how it could be adjusted to enhance existing collections.
Sharing oral histories
Oral histories should be shared, for example via websites, exhibitions, art installations, theatrical or musical performances, educational materials, films and walking tour apps. They can add people back into the interpretation of buildings and landscapes. Consider how you will use your stories and engage a wider audience with the material. For example:
- NHS at 70: the Story of Our Lives created a digital archive of the service’s history. 150 volunteers were trained to collect interviews from staff, patients and families, which have been used in touring exhibitions and short films.
- Stories from the Estate recorded the experiences of early residents who made West Belfast’s Twinbrook Estate their home in the 1970s during some of the worst periods of the conflict. Alongside their testimony, photographs and newspaper articles help to illustrate the period through an online exhibition.
- Manchester Jewish Museum uses spoken accounts throughout themed galleries and the synagogue itself to bring stories to life. There is also a room dedicated to oral histories, where visitors can sit and listen to excerpts from a range of interviews.
- Thirty students interviewed theatre makers for The Soho Poly: Inspiring Future Generations project, capturing an inclusive history. Interviews are available online and also form part of an education resource to inspire future generations and a walking tour on radical theatre.
Oral history projects always have to collect new oral histories. We also welcome applications that engage with oral histories already available in our archives. The UK Sound Directory lists many of these collections.
Planning your oral history project
Time
People often underestimate the time needed to run an effective oral history project. It takes time to build relationships with potential partners, volunteers and participants, and the process of collecting and documenting your interviews can be time-consuming too.
Plan different stages into your project. Recruiting an oral history professional and training volunteers might be a first step. Allow sufficient time to identify and recruit a broad cross-section of interviewees, particularly if you are interviewing people not familiar with your organisation, or dealing with a sensitive topic.
Be specific in your application about the number of interviews you will record, how long they will be, how many will be summarised and/or transcribed and archived into a collection.
An experienced full-time interviewer can be expected to complete interviews with between 30 to 50 people in a year (150–250 hours). Longer whole-life stories might take more hours over several days or weeks.
On average it takes two hours to summarise a one-hour interview (2:1 ratio). Full word-for-word transcriptions take longer (6:1 ratio). You will need to allocate sufficient time to do this. You might also need to employ a qualified transcriber. You can use speech-to-text software, but it will still require manual checking and correcting, which may be significant depending on the audio quality of the recording and how accented the speech is.
So, as well as the interview time, also plan for:
- training, preparation and research
- building and maintaining relationships with interviewees and/or volunteers
- discussing the pre-interview documents with interviewees and obtaining permission
- travelling to interviews
- cancellations and postponements
- uploading and backing-up copies of the recorded interviews
- documenting each interview (with a written summary)
- transcribing or translating interviews if required
- getting interviewee recording agreements
- choosing and editing extracts from the interviews and developing outputs
Staffing
You might need new staff, volunteers or freelancers, or a combination of these to deliver your project across a range of roles, for example:
- project manager
- oral historian or oral history trainer
- interviewers/fieldworkers
- translators
- transcribers
- archivist
- data manager
- outreach worker/educator/artist to run workshop sessions
- evaluator
- web designer
For more guidance on recruiting see ‘interviewers and other staff and volunteers’ later in this guidance.
Equipment
First decide whether to record in audio or video format. Each has its merits but video tends to be more expensive and require different skills. Generally, one-to-one audio interviews encourage a confidential and relaxed atmosphere for people to speak openly. The outputs you want to create might also influence your format (for example, audio-visual displays or YouTube films will require video interviews). It is also possible to combine longer audio interviews with shorter selective follow-up video recordings, especially where there is something visually interesting to document, such as a place or piece of equipment.
For both formats, you will also need computer equipment and software to access, rename, backup and document the recordings. Video requires large data storage. Seek up-to-date advice on the most suitable equipment, be familiar with the technical options and get quotes for costs.
The Oral History Society website has up-to-date advice on equipment and advice on recording remotely via the internet.
Project outputs
Think about how you want to engage the public with your oral history project, eg: events, publications, performances, learning resources or a website, and plan in the resources you will need.
Partners
Consider the partnerships you will need. Working with community organisations, colleges or youth groups can help you reach different people, recruit volunteers and interviewees, and collect new stories.
Partnerships with a local museum, library or archive will help ensure the oral histories are documented and archived to professional standards, held in compliance with data protection legislation and accessible in the long term. Consider where to deposit oral histories and other materials for the future, and approach potential partners as part of your planning – they will need to agree to accept your recordings and there may be related costs which you can include in your budget.
You might also need to develop partnerships to share the oral histories. For example, work with host organisations if you want to show an exhibition, or teachers if you plan to produce school resources.
Evaluation
Evaluation of your project needs to be built in from the outset. Ongoing feedback from staff, volunteers and participants and partners can help you achieve your targets and outcomes, and ensure quality throughout the delivery of the project. Your evaluation should focus on what has changed as a result of your project.
Interviewers and other staff and volunteers
The quality of the interview largely depends on the skills of the interviewer, so carefully consider who you use to conduct your interviews. In some cases, a high degree of expertise and professionalism is needed. For example, it may not be appropriate for inexperienced volunteers to interview survivors of trauma or victims of abuse.
However, there may also be times when there’s value in using volunteers, especially from the same cultural background. In which case ensure they are properly trained so interviews are of high quality. Also consider the gender or cultural background of those being interviewed. On certain sensitive issues, for example some health-related topics, you may need to match the gender of the interviewer and interviewee.
If you are working with volunteers in other roles, it might be helpful to recruit people with knowledge of a particular language, a local community or a specific issue. Whatever the project, you should employ people with proven expertise in oral history to work alongside volunteers, to ensure that interviewees are approached sensitively and appropriately and that recordings are of a high quality. Volunteers should also sign volunteer agreements – see our volunteers good practice guidance for more information.
You may also need interpreters or translators. There are arguments for and against using family and community members or professionals in this role. Consult with experienced professionals, community representatives or the interviewees themselves if you are unsure what to do and budget accordingly.
Training and mentoring
Staff and volunteers need to be skills-assessed when they join your project and a training programme will need to be tailored to their needs. A minimum of three to five days training/mentoring over your project is recommended, particularly if you do not have experience recording oral histories. The Oral History Society and British Library run a range of courses and others are available. Other specialist training and mentoring may be required. This could include training to work with vulnerable people if the project involves children, vulnerable or multi-lingual adults. Think about any other skills, training and ongoing support volunteers might need.
Contact your local Heritage Fund team to see if they can put you in touch with other oral history projects or contact one of the Oral History Society’s regional networkers.
Practical risks and safeguarding
In line with your statutory responsibility, you must identify and assess any potential risks in relation to the personal security of interviewers and interviewees, especially if they are vulnerable. Make sure you have safeguarding processes in place. The NCVO website lists safeguarding advice and training providers. If working with students or young people involve the school, college or youth workers as early as possible. Consult with local disability organisations if you plan to involve disabled people as interviewers or interviewees. You may also need to budget for specialist equipment.
Your responsibilities: recording agreements, copyright, data protection, licensing and embargoes
Recording agreements
Two documents need to be signed by all interviewees. These will help you manage your relationship with them and help you comply with data protection legislation (including GDPR).
Interview Participation Agreement
An interviewee signs this before the interview starts. It can be combined with an information sheet to explain your project to interviewees. You need to document each individual’s agreement to take part in an interview and explain how you will store, use and provide access to their personal data, both during the project and when recordings are archived and accessed in the future.
Interview Recording Agreement
An interviewee signs this after the interview has been completed. It determines how their interview should be archived, made publicly available (in all or part) and potentially used to create publications, exhibitions, learning resources and other outputs. The Interview Recording Agreement should be shown to participants before the interview but signed after the interview has taken place. In some instances, with sensitive material, people may want all or part/s of the interview to remain confidential (‘redacted’) or only released after a set period of time (‘embargoed’). These requests should be made clear on the form that the interviewee signs and archived alongside the recording for future reference.
The Oral History Society has more information about GDPR and template agreements which you can adapt for your project.
Copyright
Future publication and reuse of interview recording material is more straightforward if project managers or interviewers seek the transfer (‘assignment’) of copyright from the interviewee to the project or place of deposit. In practice, where good relationships have been established and maintained, most people are comfortable to assign copyright in the knowledge that their experiences will help build public understanding about the past.
Data protection
A public archive, museum or similar will also find it more straightforward to comply with data protection legislation. In brief, every instance of processing personal or sensitive data, such as oral history recordings and documentation, must be justified with a ‘legal basis for processing’. ‘Archiving in the public interest’ is one such legal basis and the Oral History Society recommends you use it in your documentation. Any organisation or individual that archives personal data ‘for purposes having public value beyond the immediate interests of the organisation itself’ is ‘archiving in the public interest’.
Licensing considerations
Our funding requires projects to ensure their digital outputs (including images, research, educational materials, project reports, software, web and app content, databases, 3D models, sound and video recordings) are freely available online for at least five years from the project completion date, accessible and where possible openly licensed – see our digital good practice guidance for more information.
However, it may not always be appropriate to use an open licence for content made available online.
Projects are encouraged to carefully consider the suitability of an open licence in relation to projects involving contributions by children, young people and vulnerable adults, material featuring children and young people, and interviews likely to contain extremely sensitive personal data such as illness narratives, traumatic experiences (such as conflict or abuse) and discrimination. Open licences apply in perpetuity, and future reuse may limit the ability of rights holder to redact materials. Where content is released under an open licence, the permission to do so should be carefully explained and obtained in writing. In practice it is difficult to predict in advance whether or not interviews will include such material. You should raise any concerns about these issues with your contact at the Heritage Fund as early as possible.
The Oral History Society has published ethical guidelines and the UK Data Service provides advice on involving children and people with learning difficulties.
Archiving and embargoes
Finally, by its very nature, oral history involves people’s personal and confidential memories and experiences, and they will also talk about other people in their recorded interviews. Some of what they say will be sensitive (and in rare cases, libellous) and it might not be appropriate in the short term to share these parts of their interview publicly, such as making the recordings available in a public archive, on a website or in an exhibition. These parts of interviews can be safely archived but closed to public access (embargoed) for a period of years agreed with the interviewee. This allows you to make use of the rest of the interview and share it online or in other ways.
Documenting and archiving your recordings
Archive and deposit arrangements
Oral history recordings must be documented, archived and made accessible. Local archives, libraries, museums or heritage centres might be well-placed to do this or to provide professional support if you wish to take on all or part of this responsibility yourself.
Before deciding where to archive the oral histories, ensure they will be accessible. For example, where you plan to deposit the recordings must be easy to get to, with full access to the building and/or via the web – see the W3C accessibility guidelines for more information. You might also need to think about multi-lingual user guides.
Partnerships with local archives, libraries, museums or heritage centres should be in place from the beginning of your project. You will need a written agreement (called a deposit agreement) with the organisation that has agreed to archive your recordings, ideally before making your application. Remember that you can include any costs that arise from archiving your recordings in your budget. Discuss this with your archive partner.
If you do not place the recordings in an archive, library or museum, you need to show an alternative which safeguards them for the future and allows public access.
Be clear about other material you are gathering, such as photographs, documents or artefacts, and how these will be archived and made available to the public. You may not be able to place all material in the same permanent home. Websites can be archived with the UK Web Archive.
Check with archive partners that as far as possible they meet British Standard BS 4971:2017 conservation and care of archive and library collections (formerly PD 5454). There are also international standards for archiving audio-visual records – see guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects for more information.
Backing up your recordings
During the project itself, before you archive the recordings, make sure you have allocated sufficient time, staff resources and the right computer equipment to back up all your audio, video, image and text files to more than one external hard drive and/or a secure server system. Ask your archive partner for advice.
Documenting the interviews
Once you have downloaded, renamed, saved and copied your recording you should summarise or transcribe its content. Use the file-naming system you have adopted and the date of interview, list each significant theme as it occurs, cross-referenced to the time-coded track-mark on the digital recording. Personal details of interviewee such as address, telephone, email and name should be kept separate from the recordings and summaries, but should be clearly cross-referenced in line with your data protection policy.
To produce a full verbatim transcription of the recording you can either employ a professional transcriber or do it yourself using transcription software such as Express Scribe or Start Stop. Voice recognition software is improving but relies on good quality audio and clear unaccented English for good results. The best options (such as Otter and Trint) can be expensive to use and may still require additional checking and correction.
Full transcriptions are not essential for archiving as long as there is a content summary. However, you may need to transcribe extracts. Summarising an interview and transcribing parts are both very time-consuming. Selection and editing of interviews, for example for an exhibition, website or soundtracks also takes time. For basic speech editing you can download free open-source software such as Audacity but there are better low-budget editing software packages, for example WaveLab or Sound Forge Audio Studio.
Budget
Make sure your budget covers all project costs. These will vary according to the number of paid and/or volunteer staff, how much training and research is required, the number of recorded interviews, the travel involved, whether paid translators or transcribers are needed, the number of interviews documented and the outputs.
Staff and volunteer costs will likely include:
- training
- travel (allow a minimum of two visits per planned interview and build in contingency for cancellations)
- recruitment
- salaries and fees for project staff, including freelance consultants
You need to offer a fair salary or fee for paid staff. The Oral History Society provides guidance on rates for freelance contractors based on different roles, as well as salaried staff. There are also nationally-agreed minimum pay rates for some professionals, such as archivists and museum staff. Seek further advice where necessary.
Equipment costs might include:
- solid-state flashcard audio recorders
- video recorders (DV) and tripod
- microphones (for example, lapel microphones, two per recorder plus spares)
- memory cards (SD) 8GB to 16GB
- equipment bags
- multiple external hard drives for back-up
- computer with software to manage digital file upload and transfers
- printer/scanner
- transcription equipment/software
- editing software
- stills digital camera
- lockable storage furniture
You may want to build in the costs that partners will incur, as well as any in-kind contributions they can make. For example, this could include training an archive’s volunteers if they are not familiar with handling digital oral histories. Consider how you will recruit interviewees and any associated costs, for example publicity, stalls at events, travel to meet new contacts.
You will also need to budget for any outputs you have planned, such as exhibitions, audio trails, publications or events. Allocate a proportion of project costs to evaluation.
More information and resources
- The Oral History Society for introductory advice, training, useful reading, helpful local and regional contacts
- The British Library Oral History Department has descriptions of its thousands of oral history recordings online and you can listen to the oral history recordings online or at the British Library.
- The UK Web Archive preserves websites and some social media.
See also:
The History of Women's Aid in Scotland
Heritage Grants
As part of this anniversary, SWA collected new oral histories of the women involved in the Women’s Aid movement, catalogued the archive and raised awareness with a wide range of people about the significance of Women’s Aid and the issue of violence against women. SWA received a grant of £305,400 to deliver the project.
As part of this anniversary, SWA:
- collected new oral histories of the women involved in the Women’s Aid movement
- catalogued the archive
- raised awareness with a wide range of people about the significance of Women’s Aid and the issue of violence against women
Strong partnerships between SWA, Glasgow Women’s Library, Women’s History Scotland and Glasgow University Centre for Gender History were combined with the active participation of local Women’s Aid groups and community supporters to make this project a success.
Volunteers were recruited and trained to collect the oral histories and to organise a touring exhibition, film, publication and events.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has funded the archive of Glasgow Women’s Library and related heritage projects, including a focus on the contribution of Scottish women in the First World War, helping to build capacity and community expertise over a decade.
Making a difference
How the project achieved The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s outcomes for heritage:
- Previously uncollected oral histories are now on the record. The project enabled memories to be digitally recorded, preserving crucial social history for future generations. Respecting the confidentiality of women sharing personal and often sensitive histories involved all the partners in making careful, ethically informed decisions whilst highlighting vital, and all too often neglected, areas of women’s lives.
- Heritage was interpreted in new ways as a result of the partnership. While new to the heritage sector and unfamiliar with archives, Scottish Women’s Aid are extremely skilled in hearing complex, powerful experiences and taking action to improve women’s lives. Hundreds of visitors to the exhibitions, film and events programme recorded how profoundly moved they were to hear the experiences of these Scottish women.
How the project achieved The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s outcomes for people:
- Recognising the important role of volunteers in collecting oral histories, the History of Women’s Aid in Scotland project was successful in recognising that people volunteer for a wide range of reasons. These might include personal experience, political commitment and interests in widening social networks.
- Planning for flexible, clearly defined roles was crucial in prioritising the development of individual volunteers, as well as in delivering excellent heritage outcomes. The volunteers had an impact: “Eye-opening. During my visit I was approached by one of the wonderful women who WA has helped. An encounter I will never forget!” (Museum of Edinburgh)
- Visitors valued learning about the collection: “I have gained a much more informed understanding of domestic abuse and the issues surrounding it - thank you. Inspiring stories from the video and oral histories”. (Museum of Edinburgh) “It is good to see and hear about all the great work … and learn of the impact this makes on lives. Talking openly breaks barriers and reduces stigma”. (Aberdeen Central Library)
How the project achieved the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s outcomes for communities:
- A wider range of people engaged with heritage. Supported by local Women’s Aid Groups, the exhibitions toured libraries and museums, raising the profile of women’s history across Scotland.
- In particular, this project has led to closer links between younger and newer members of Women’s Aid groups and Women’s History Scotland, keen to work together to uncover and share more experience in the future.
Lesson learnt
Projects with substantial volunteer involvement require a dedicated project staff role, devoted to co-ordinating and prioritising the roles of volunteers. The experience of at least six volunteers who made life-changing decisions regarding careers, relationships and further education following involvement in this project is evidence of the high quality attention given to volunteer development.
Why communities are essential to sharing the stories of Pride
These significant and inclusive events raise the profile of all sorts of LGBT+ lived experiences, celebrate activism and build stronger alliances. They increasingly involve people of all ages, cultures and faiths in publicly sharing differing identities.
Alongside Stonewall’s 50th anniversary this summer, Pride is marking what has been achieved in tackling discrimination, and the work needed ahead to maintain and to improve these hard-won rights.
Committed to challenging inequalities
At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, our mandatory outcome to involve a wider range of people in heritage means LGBT+ heritage is core to our work as an inclusive and progressive funder, committed to challenging inequalities.
We are delighted to have supported over 130 imaginative LGBT+-led heritage projects.
These have varied from research on LGBT+ music venues and clubs to highlighting and promoting the often hidden social histories of LGBT+ individuals who have faced prejudice and fought for greater equality.
Projects bringing different generations together
This summer we're highlighting some of the wide-ranging projects led by organisations – from small local heritage groups to larger charities – involved in raising the profile of Pride across the UK.
In particular, we’ll focus on some of the opportunities for intergenerational sharing which came up as so important in our very popular live chat last summer.
Who's Queer Now?
Pride Cymru's Who’s Queer Now? used "LGBT+ people’s love of the Doctor Who universe" as a way to bring people of all ages and identities together, through social media discussions.
These discussions were then used to inform an event which featured guest panellists including Russell T Davies, creator of latest Dr Who series, and Waris Hussein, director of the first ever episodes.
The project found that fantasy worlds, such as The Whoniverse, provide a space for people to explore, and be themselves.
- Find out more on the Pride Cymru website.
Lesbian Voices of Plymouth
Pride in Plymouth are leading the Lesbian Voices of Plymouth project, which is currently researching and sharing the experiences of LGBT+ women past and present. They hope to redress the imbalance of women in the historical record, starting with their own.
The ratio of women to men in Plymouth’s LGBT+ archive stood at 13% to 87% before the project started in February 2018.
We hear that through participating in this project, one woman has already gained a job in a heritage organisation, and the project still has a year to run!
- Follow the organisation's efforts on the Lesbian Voices of Plymouth website.
Pride in Kidderminster 2018-19
Kidderminster & District Youth Trust’s project brought together older and younger generations of the LGBT+ community to reflect on the changes, and the gains, that have happened throughout the 21st century.
It helped “bridge the gap between these generations to have a better understanding of LGBT+ history through personal stories and experiences” and helped forged mentor relationships.
The project produced a film that was presented at Wyred for Pride 2018 at Kidderminster Town Hall.
- Find out more on the Youth Trust website.
This is How We Got Here
The Proud Trust worked with 51 young people from youth clubs in Stockport, Wythenshawe and Manchester to uncover stories of LGBT+ activism and civil rights history from 1960 to 2000. The young people trained as oral historians, and then recorded personal stories shared by those who had been active in education, youth work and the Manchester gay scene years ago.
The stories – which dealt with key moments in personal and collective LGBT+ protest and liberation – were then turned into a book: Prejudice and Pride: LGBT Activist Stories from Manchester and Beyond.
- Watch films of the interviews on YouTube.
Pride in the Past 2017
Chester Pride led this exciting oral history work with the Grosvenor Museum – a collaboration between curator Liz Montgomery and LGBT+ community volunteers.
It resulted in a collection of LGBT+-related contemporary artefacts at the museum, and three staff tasked with acting as champions in sharing the collection more widely.
An exhibition in Chester Indoor Market and at the Grosvenor Museum attracted 6,500 visitors over LGBT+ History Month in February 2017.
What's next?
You can find all of the stories we're covering this summer on our LGBT+ Heritage page. And please do get in touch with us if you have an idea for a project.
