As part of our mission to promote the study of immigration, the Center for Global Migration Studies has been supporting the documentation of the immigrant experience through oral history. Through the Archive of Immigrant Voices and the Capstone courses in Oral History (in which students will do oral history work with immigrants in the College Park area, and other endeavors), the Center is helping to promote, encourage, and facilitate the use of oral history in documenting the immigrant experience in our region and our nation.
In order to fulfill that goal, we have created this page to document the plethora of oral history resources available today. Below are links to various organizations, resources, and books that we find useful in creating or supporting an oral history project, particularly with immigrant communities.
Associations and General Resources
The Oral History Association, established in 1966, seeks to bring together all persons interested in oral history as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity. To guide and advise those concerned with oral documentation, the OHA has established a set of goals, guidelines, and evaluation standards for oral history interviews. See Principles and Best Practices.
The International Oral History Association is a professional association established to provide a forum for oral historians around the world, and a means for cooperation among those concerned with the documentation of human experience. Their website contains an abundance of resources on oral history, including a bibliography of useful oral history readings.
The Oral History in the Digital Age WIKI is an amazing resource to find online best practices guides, oral history collections, and other oral history sites. On the Wiki, they've compiled dozens of online best practices guides on topics ranging from general oral history techniques to metadata standards and digitization best practices. The site is also particularly useful for oral history projects which will incorporate digital archival techniques.
Recommended Readings
Boyd, Douglas A. and Mary A. Larson, editors. Oral History and Digital Humanites: Voice, Access, and Engagement. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2014.
MacKay, Nancy, Mary Kay Quinlan, and Barbara W. Sommer. Community Oral History Toolkit. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Left Coast Press, 2013.
Ritchie, Donald A, editor. The Oxford Handbook of Oral History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Ritchie, Donald A. Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide, Using Interviews to Uncover the Past and Preserve it for the Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
University of Maryland Oral History Interview Legal Release