Introduction to Oral History (Manchester)
This self-contained course, organised jointly by National Life Stories at the British Library and the Oral History Society, aims to be an informal and practical introduction to oral history interviewing.
The training includes the opportunity discuss some of the issues around oral history, life stories and memory. You will also learn about recording equipment and how to document oral history recordings.
Each course is led by one of the BL/OHS-accredited trainers. Places are limited to 10 per online course and 12 per in-person course, and demand exceeds available places so please apply early. No previous experience of oral history is required.
Please note:
- There will be no refunds for cancelled places.
- Due to high demand and in order to ensure that each course has attendees with a variety of interests and backgrounds, a maximum of two people from any one institution may book to attend each course.
- There are two methods of payment. You can pay online via PayPal, debit or credit card or you can make an offline payment where an invoice will be sent to your organisation. Please select the appropriate option in the booking form.
- If you choose to pay by invoice please note that payments for training courses will be made to National Life Stories (NLS), and the invoice will be sent by email from NLS within a week of your booking. Contact the Training Coordinator if you require further details for your purchase order number.
- In booking this training course you agree to follow the OHS Code of Conduct.
Please contact the Training Coordinator if you would like to be notified of future dates.
Course schedule
This in-person training course will take place at Manchester Central Library. The programme for the course is as follows (please note this is a sample structure and may differ on the day).
Timezone: London, UK.
Hourly Schedule
In-person course
- 10:00 - 10:15
- Welcome and introductions
- 10:15 - 11:15
- What is Oral History?
- Understanding memory
- 11:15 - 11:30
- Short break
- 11:30 - 13:00
- Getting started
- Aims and objectives, who to interview, question approaches, setting up the interview, interview skills
- 13:00 - 14:00
- Lunch (not provided)
- 14:00 - 14:45
- Getting started (continued)
- 14:45 - 15:30
- Documentaton
- Summarising, transcription, copyright, archiving
- 15:30 - 15:45
- Short break
- 15:45 - 16:15
- An introduction to choosing your recording equipment
- 16:15 - 16:45
- Practice interview
- 16:45 - 17:15
- Evaluation of practice interview
- 17:15 - 17:30
- Review of the day, Q&A and feedback
Speaker
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Rosalyn LivshinBL/OHS Trainer; OHS Regional AdviserI am an Oral History Society accredited trainer on the introduction and tailored training courses. I am also a regional network adviser for the Greater Manchester area.
I started my oral history career in the 1970s working for the Manchester Studies Unit of Manchester Polytechnic. There I was responsible for building up the archive of oral testimonies taken from the older members of the Manchester Jewish community, who were the children of immigrants and I also began to interview refugees and survivors of the Holocaust. This collection was deposited with the Manchester Jewish Museum when it opened in 1984.
I continued to interview refugees and survivors of the Holocaust for many projects, including the Manchester 45 Aid Society, the British Library’s Living Memory of the Jewish Community and video interviewer for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation. I was the North-West co-ordinator and video interviewer for the Association of Jewish Refugees ‘Refugee Voices’ project, the interviewer for a project at Manchester University for a book on the refugee experience in Manchester and oral history trainer and interviewer for the Windermere ‘From Auschwitz to Ambleside’ project. My PhD (2015) on Nonconformity in the Manchester Jewish Community; the case of political radicalism, 1889-1939, drew upon my early interviews and new ones. In 2020-21, I produced the audio and text for the Memory Map of the Manchester Jewish Community, which is available online. I currently work as a freelance Oral Historian, recording lifestories.
