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Doing Oral History
 
 
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Doing Oral History [Paperback]

Donald A. Ritchie (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 7, 2003 0195154347 978-0195154344 2
Oral history is vital to our understanding of the cultures and experiences of the past. Unlike written history, oral history forever captures people's feelings, expressions, and nuances of language. But what exactly is oral history? How reliable is the information gathered by oral history? And what does it take to become an oral historian? Donald A. Ritchie, a leading expert in the field, answers these questions and in particular, explains the principles and guidelines created by the Oral History Association to ensure the professional standards of oral historians.

Doing Oral History has become one of the premier resources in oral history. It explores all aspects of the field, from starting an oral history project, including funding, staffing, and equipment to conducting interviews; publishing; videotaping; preserving materials; teaching oral history; and using oral history in museums and on the radio. In this second edition, the author has incorporated new trends and scholarship, updated and expanded the bibliography and appendices, and added a new focus on digital technology and the Internet. Appendices include sample legal release forms and information on oral history organizations.

Doing Oral History is a definitive step-by-step guide that provides advice and explanations on how to create recordings that illuminate human experience for generations to come. Illustrated with examples from a wide range of fascinating projects, this authoritative guide offers clear, practical, and detailed advice for students, teachers, researchers, and amateur genealogists who wish to record the history of their own families and communities.

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Editorial Reviews

Review


"A comprehensive handbook on the theory, methods, and practice of oral history, based on work by the Oral History Association to revise its professional standards and principles."--Book News, Inc. (on a previous edition)


About the Author


Donald A. Ritchie is Associate Historian in the United States Senate Historical Office, where he conducts an oral history program. A former president of the Oral History Association, he has served on the council of the American Historical Association, and chaired the Organization of American Historians' committee on research and access to historical documentation. He has conducted many oral history workshops, and for ten years, he edited the Twayne oral history series.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (August 7, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195154347
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195154344
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The ABCs of Oral History, June 30, 2001
By 
"reday000" (Lexington, Kentucky) - See all my reviews
Ritchie covers the topic like a blanket. Everything from how to manage one's collection and stay out of legal trouble with the interviewee (and anyone you may discuss); down to remembering to punch out the little tabs on the back of each cassette in order to prevent accidental erasure.

This is a very complete and very practical guide to the processes and thinking of our country's oral historians from an author who's been in the middle of some pretty interesting stories.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Know what you're doing, October 20, 2006
By 
J. Fountain (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doing Oral History (Paperback)
This book delivers on what it promises. Beware, however, that while the author addresses interviews conducted by individual researchers, the book isn't much good for people looking to do that sort of work. Oral history is a more specific kind of work than what your ninth grade history teacher may have led you to believe (go figure!). I still think that a chapter addressing interview techniques would have been appropriate in the structure of the whole book. As it is, the text is written in q&a format, which annoyed me slightly, but it serves.

Verdict: useful for anyone looking to do oral history per se and wanting a guide to the various theoretical and practical issues involved.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Oral history of family is priceless!, August 8, 2008
This review is from: Doing Oral History (Paperback)
We first heard about this book on the radio back in early 1990s...it is a marvelous tool to guide an interview of grandparent or parent, or even self, to record one's memories and family history. The book provided a concise outline to follow so that family history, stories, and memories can be passed down on DVD or CD. We have used it with our parents and given copies to siblings and grandchildren, and learned the benefit following the passing of a loved one - priceless! We even plan to do ourselves for our children. Probably the best and most unique legacy to leave!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Memory is the core of oral history, from which meaning can be extracted and preserved. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
oral history classes, many oral historians, video oral histories, oral history courses, video oral history, oral history movement, legal release forms, oral history interviewing, doing oral history, oral history archives, oral history workshops, oral memoir, using oral history, fieldwork interviewing, digital preservation, oral history program, oral history associations, archival preservation, using oral histories, oral history project, potential interviewees, public historian, historical office, oral history collection, documentary makers
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Oral History Association, New York, United States, Columbia Oral History Research Office, National Park Service, White House, Institutional Review Boards, Library of Congress, North Carolina, Studs Terkel, University of California, Allan Nevins, Columbia University, Great Depression, Linda Shopes, African Americans, Arthur Schlesinger, Chapel Hill, Charles Morrissey, Native Americans, Truman Library, Alessandro Portelli, American Folklife Center, Charles Hardy
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