Planning and getting started on your oral history project
…or, picking up a paused project
November/December 2021 Workshop Series:
From planning, to interview, to archive:
An informal series to get you started or re-started
Session 1, November 16, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Plan your oral history project: We will walk through the early planning to help you create a doable and sustainable oral history project. We will talk about your concept (why, for whom), and logistics (how), and consider ethical questions. We will talk about safe backup and storage.
The Archive: Where will your project be safely stored and made available to others? So often people skip this part, with all good intentions. In the end, it is the part of an oral history project least likely to be completed. Yet it is necessary if your oral history interviews will be heard in the future, or even in the present.
(Photo: Margaret Cherin, archivist, helping us to understand the order of things: It is a best practice, she told us, to plan safe storage and archiving right at the beginning of the oral history project. A first step. She directed a project at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Here she is showing a transcript from the collection of Simon’s Rock founder Elizabeth “Betty” Blodgett Hall )
Session 2, November 30, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
The Interview: We will help you plot out logistics of your first interview, whether virtual or in-person. We will discuss release forms/deeds of gift and other related project materials.
Session 3, December 14, 3:30-4:30 p.m
Brainstorm, Drop-in: A drop-in session on zoom. We talk about your projects as they progress, and we will brainstorm your roadblocks and questions together.
All Fall Workshops will be virtual, on Zoom, free of charge. Registration is required. To register, write to Judith Monachina: jmonachina@berkshirecc.edu
Winter chats with professionals
Dates/times to be announced in December
