Key Resources - Oral History - guide to resources - Oxford LibGuides at Oxford University

Key Resources

Courses and Seminars

A number of organisations in Great Britain offer courses in oral history:

Oral History Society training
These training programmes are accredited by the Oral History Society and National Life Stories at the British Library. Courses for individuals can be booked directly through the OHS website, including:
- 'Introduction to Oral History' and 'Life Story Interviewing Near the End of Life' for anyone who is new to oral history
- 'Advanced Oral History Workshop' for more experienced oral historians
- 'Designing & Planning your Oral History Project' for project managers
- 'Archival Management of Oral History Collections' for archivists
- 'Transcript to Script' for script-writers
Institute of Historical Research (IHR) training
Includes e.g. a two-day oral history and digital storytelling course.

New books

Journals

Oral History Journal
The Journal of the Oral History Society since 1969, and the oldest and only independent journal publishing the work of oral historians in the UK. Past issues can be accessed by university members via JSTOR .
Oral History Review
Published by the Oral History Association, this is the U.S. journal of record for the theory and practice of oral history and related fields.
Words and Silences / Palabras y Silencios
The Digital Edition Journal of the International Oral History Association. It includes articles from a wide range of disciplines and is a meant for the professional community to share projects and current trends of oral history from around the world.

Newly bookmarked websites

This box links to the Bodleian History Faculty Library's Diigo account, which bookmarks websites relevant to the study of History.

Key Websites

Oral History Society (UK)
Only large organisation in Britain and Northern Ireland that works for the collection, preservation and use of recorded memories - facilitating and developing the use of oral history. Their website provides links to resources, advice on interviewing and handling media, information on training courses, news about forthcoming conferences, and links to job vacancies. It also provides links to regional Oral History Society networks in Great Britain.
International Oral History Association
The International Oral History Association (IOHA) was established in 1996 to provide a forum for oral historians around the world, to promote oral history research worldwide, and to develop standards and principles for its techniques. The website provides news of forthcoming conferences, advice, and links to resources. It also provides links to key national oral history organisations.
Oral History Network Ireland
The Oral History Network Ireland (OHNI) was established in 2010 in order to bring together oral history practitioners for the support and promotion of the discipline in Ireland. The website provides news and advice on oral history, along with links to forthcoming events and ongoing projects.
British Library Sounds
[This resource is currently unavailable as an ongoing consequence of the 2023 cyberattack targeting the British Library. Currently the only way to access sound files from the British Library collection is by making an appointment to visit the Reading Rooms in St Pancras. Please refer to the interim Sound & Moving Image Catalogue ]
Some sound extracts can be accessed through the Library's Soundcloud page.
The British Library has an extensive collections of sound recordings, including oral history resources on a wide range of subjects.
UK Data Service
The UK Data Service provides online access to a wide range of qualitative data sets, including oral history resources. The collections are searchable by keyword. Researchers must register with the UK Data Service and state their intended purpose for any data accessed. Its 'Learning Hub' includes guidance on data management, using census data, mapping data, etc.
Oral History Research: A Quick Guide (Oxford History Faculty)
Short Community History Toolkit referring to resources for oral history.
National Life Stories (British Library)
National Life Stories (NLS) was established in 1987 to record and preserve a wide range of voices through in-depth biographical accounts. It sits within the Oral History section of the British Library, and has more than 30 years expertise in oral history fieldwork with a focus on the long life story methodology. Web page includes links to publications, audio extracts, video recordings and methodology papers.
Scottish Oral History Centre
Established at the University of Strathclyde in 1995. Provides teaching, research and outreach activities to encourage the use of ‘best practice’ oral history methodology in Scotland. Also has an as an extensive archive of recorded interviews, some of which are currently being digitised.
Oral History Association (US)
Est. 1966. US membership association for oral history. Website contains resources such as best practice guidelines, links to workshops and webinars, lists of organisations and individuals, etc.

Archival Collections

There are a number of key holdings of oral history resources in Great Britain. Their collection catalogues are sometimes available to search online.

The British Library Sound & Moving Image Catalogue
This is an interim version of the BL Sound & Moving Image catalogue. Digital content is not currently accessible as a continuing effect of the 2023 cyberattack targeting the library: the only way to access sounds from the collection is by making an appointment to visit the Reading Rooms in St Pancras. Please note it will take approximately 8 weeks for the material you need to be digitised and made available. The moving image collections as a whole are currently unavailable.
Imperial War Museum Sound Archive
Holds over 33,000 recordings relating to conflict since 1914. This is the largest oral history collection of its type in the world, with contributions from both service personnel and non-combatants as well as significant holdings of speeches, sound effects, broadcasts, poetry and music. The search function is at the bottom of the webpage.
National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive
Preserves the sound and moving image heritage of Wales. Home to a comprehensive collection of films, television programmes, videos, sound and music recordings relating to Wales and the Welsh from 1898 onwards.
Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches
Scotland’s online resource dedicated to audio recordings of Scotland’s cultural heritage. Its principal content is songs, music, history, poetry, traditions and stories, recorded from the 1930s onwards. The website contains material from three archives: The School of Scottish Studies, The Canna Collection and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and there are recordings in Gaelic, Scots and English.
School of Scottish Studies Sound Archive (University of Edinburgh)
The physical archive contains thousands of recordings of songs, instrumental music, tales, verse, customs, beliefs, place-names, biographical information and local history. Material comes from all over Scotland and its diaspora, and as well as being a rich repository of oral tradition it is invaluable for its range of dialects and accents in Gaelic, Scots and English. A selection of material from the Archive is available on the Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o' Riches website. Transcriptions of songs, tales, customs, riddles, beliefs and all kinds of oral tradition are published in the journal Tocher .
East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA)
The East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) has collected, preserved and catalogued existing oral history collections relating to Leicestershire and Rutland. The interviews primarily cover Leicestershire life from the turn of the century to the 1930s and engage a wide variety of topics from WWI to influenza, education and work. A number of recordings also relate to the interviewees experiences abroad, particularly in India. The collected collections are browsable by topic and searchable by keyword, period and country.
London Archives Audio-Visual Collections
Oral history recordings kept at the London Archives provide first-hand accounts from Londoners from across generations. They deal with various topics such as life during the Blitz, families of Chinese settlers in 19th century London, the migration of Caribbean nationals to the capital during the 1960s, and the experiences of those affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s.

Oral history resources are also held by a multitude of organisations, archives, and educational institutions throughout the country. Many of these collections can be found by searching for 'oral history' or 'interviews' through Archives Hub or The National Archives' Discovery tool.

Archives Hub
A gateway to search across descriptions of thousands of archives, held at over 390 institutions (especially Higher Education) across the UK. New descriptions are added every week, often representing collections being made available for the first time.
The National Archives (TNA): Discovery
Discovery holds more than 37 million descriptions of records held by not only The National Archives but more than 3,500 archives across the country. Over 9 million records are available for download.

Practical Advice: Interviewing, Recording and Editing

A number of UK organisations provide advice on the conduct and use of oral history:

Oral History Society: Practical Advice for Beginners
Guidance for getting started with oral history, including:
- Recording Equipment
- Is your oral history legal and ethical?
- Dealing with GDPR

Oral History (Historical Insights) by Graham Smith
ISBN: 9780956460387

Publication Date: 2010

Published by Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and Higher Education Academy

Institute of Historical Research: The Making of Oral History (Archived webpage)
By Graham Smith
East Midlands Oral History Archive: How to Do Oral History
Advice on equipment, interviewing techniques, copyright and ethics, summaries and transcriptions, etc.
Oral History in the Digital Age: Getting Started (US)
Advice from US resource produced by Michigan State University and other partners. Now more than a decade old.
Re-using Qualitative Research Data: a Personal Account - Paul Thompson
Article on reanalysing data (from 2000) by the founder of National Life Stories.

Oral History - guide to resources: Key Resources