Access and Output Management
Oral history interviews are primary sources that are meant to be accessible, discoverable, and understood to be used as evidence for historical and anthropological research, as well as other disciplines.
- If the legal release and ethical concerns allow, the interview materials should be discoverable online.
- This could mean designing a website, online portal or audiovisual hosting site. If audiovisual files and/or transcripts cannot be hosted online, consider creating a finding aid for the oral history collection.
- If a repository does not have the capability to make interviews discoverable online, they could explore collaboration with other institutions for doing so.
- Other options for providing access to oral histories include having on-site listening stations or providing on-request access to interviews by sending materials directly to patrons.
Honor agreements Institutions oral historians should honor the stipulations of prior agreements made with the interviewers or sponsoring institutions including restrictions on access and methods of distribution.
