Research Guides: Doing Oral History on a Shoestring: Project Log

Created by UO Libraries & OSU Libraries

Project Log

Why is a Project Log important?

Capturing detailed project information and descriptions is extremely important for an oral history project log for several reasons:

Documentation and Context: Project logs provide critical documentation about the oral history project - who was interviewed, when, where, what topics were covered, etc. This contextual metadata helps future researchers and archivists understand the background and scope of the project.
Search and Discovery: Rich metadata descriptions make the oral histories more discoverable and accessible. Detailed information about the interviewees, locations, subjects covered, etc. allows the materials to be properly cataloged and retrieved through search queries.
Preservation and Use: Comprehensive metadata is essential for long-term digital preservation of the oral history files and transcripts. It provides the provenance information needed to properly maintain and migrate the materials over time. Good metadata also governs appropriate access, use and citation of the oral histories.
Context of Creation: Recording specifics about how the interviews were conducted - equipment used, recording settings, who was present, etc. - gives important context about the creation of the oral histories that could impact quality and inform future use cases.
Intellectual Property: Logging details like release forms, permissions, copyright holders and access restrictions ensures the intellectual property rights are clear for long-term preservation and access.

What should I use to capture oral history project log information?

It is highly recommended that you use a spreadsheet to capture all project log information. You can use Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or another spreadsheet software to document your project.

The Glossary

Term	Definition	Why is it important to capture?
Interview Session Title	Will usually contain the interview name and date, and might also contain the theme of the interview, if it focuses mostly on one major topic.	Provides the most significant details of the interview in a prominent location. Can also be used to disambiguate in circumstances where you have interviewed the same person more than once on different days.
Narrator Name	The first and last name of the narrator.	Be sure to collect the correct spelling of their names, and try to include middle names and maiden names, if possible. These details can help with differentiation from other people with the same or similar names, and, in the case of maiden names, can help more fully develop biographical sketches of women’s lives.
Name of Interviewer	The person who conducted the interview.	Collecting this retains the context of who was doing the asking in the interview, and is extra important because they are also likely to be the person who researched the narrator.
Location of Interview	The place where the interview happened. At a minimum, document the town in which the interview was recorded, but more specifics are also helpful. If the interview was collected at the narrator’s home, then identify the location as “[Last Name] Residence”.	Setting often comes up in the interview and can also make an impact on the interview itself. Knowledge about setting could have potential research impact.
Date of Interview	Month, Day, Year at a minimum. You can also include the time of day when the interview started.	Key information. The interview date situates the interview within the context of the narrator’s life and also history at large.
Length of Interview	The duration of the interview in hours, minutes, and seconds	Important information for project management and reader purposes.
Interview Summary	A brief overview of the topics discussed in the interview, usually written in paragraph form.	Provides readers with insight into the interview’s content and helps them judge whether or not to engage with the interview more fully.
Short Biography	A sketch of the arc of the narrator’s life, also usually written in paragraph form.	Gives readers a better sense of who this person was and how their story might intersect with the reader’s interest.
File Formats	File types for all digitally captured materials associated with an interview recording.	Provides information to project managers and archivists about specific technical characteristics of the content that you collected.
File Storage Location	All physical and virtual spaces where digital content has been stored. Should include links to any cloud locations as well as descriptions of physical storage media (external hard drives, etc.) and their locations.	Crucial information for the project team and any archivists who are tasked with safeguarding these files.
Rights	Will usually be defined in the permissions form, and will specify considerations related to ownership, access, and reuse of the interview. Any agreements that deviate from what is spelled out in the permissions form are important to collect in the project log. This column could also be used to verify that a standard permissions is on file.	Ethical practice requires us to respect narrator wishes related to legal rights. If you have the capacity, consider scanning copies of your paper permissions files and storing those digital versions alongside your interview content.
Keywords	Three or more main themes, locations, and/or events central to the interview.	Similar to the interview summary, keywords provide readers with quick access to the main elements of the interview. These details can also be helpful to archivists seeking to describe your content for researcher use.
Special Considerations	Can include post-interview notes compiled by the narrator or interviewer about aspects of the interview that might need further intention. Examples could include: edits to the recording and/or transcript, third-party considerations, and other requests connected to rights.	This is crucial information for post-interview processing as well as archival purposes, denoting edits made to the interview and reasons why.
File Name	Unique identifier given to the interview components, e.g. interview files, transcript, permission firm, etc. You should make sure that your file naming convention is consistent across the project.	Standardized naming conventions help keep your files organized and findable by your team.
Language	Language or languages used by the narrator and the interviewer during the interview.	May imply need for translation or specialized linguistic ability by future readers.
Transcriptionist/Translator	The person responsible for transcribing or translating the interview content.	All transcriptionists have their own style. It is useful to connect individual transcriptionists or translators with for particular files for editing purposes. This is helpful for project management and also archival purposes.