LIBR 284-01
LIBR
284-10
Seminar in Archives and Records Management
Topic: Oral History
Fall 2008 Greensheet
Dr. Debra Hansen
E-mail
Phone: (714)278-7288
Office Location: PLS 57
Office Hours: Virtual, by email. Telephone and in-person advising are available by appointment.
Greensheet Links |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials SLIS eBookstore |
This is an online course with 2 optional in-person meetings. All course materials will be delivered on Blackboard. You will also be expected to participate in weekly Blackboard discussion forums. You will be able to self-enroll in the LIBR 284 Blackboard class between August 18 and August 25. The access code will be sent via the MYSJSU messaging system after August 15.
The weekly class sessions run from Monday through Sunday. The first week of class will begin on Monday, August 25.
Course Description
This course covers the theory and practice of oral history as a means to expand and enhance the historical record. The class will focus on the design and implementation of an oral history project as well as archival issues relating to the preservation and management of oral history collections.
Students will conduct an oral history interview and learn the basic procedures of processing, preserving, and making available oral history tapes, digital files, and transcripts.
Course Objectives
At the completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Oversee an oral history project according to professional standards and guidelines
- Judge the positive and negative aspects of audio technologies and choose appropriate equipment for creating and storing archival materials
- Know the legal and ethical issues involved in tape-recording a person’s memories and making them available to researchers and the general public
- Appreciate current oral history processing and preservation practices and techniques
- Understand the uses of oral history as primary sources
- Participate in oral history’s professional and scholarly community
This course supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- Use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information;
- Demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
- Understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups;
- Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
- Evaluate programs and services on specified criteria;
- Contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our communities.
Textbooks and Readings
Required Texts and Equipment
- Ritchie, D. R. (2003). Doing oral history: A practical guide (2d ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. (Available through Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and the publisher)
- MacKay, N. (2006). Curating oral histories: From interview to archive. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press. (Available through Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and the publisher)
- Indexes: A chapter from the Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition. (2003). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Available through Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com)
Additional course reading assignments will be available through the class Blackboard site.
Students will be able to check out a digital tape recorders at the first in-person class meeting. If you prefer to purchase your own recording equipment, a list of recommended recorders and microphones will be posted on Blackboard.
Go to SLIS eBookstore.
Other Popular Oral History Texts
- Yow, V. (2005). Recording oral history: A practical guide for social scientists. 2d ed. Walnut Creek: Alta Mira
- Sommer, B. W. & Quinlan, M. K. (2002). The oral history manual. Walnut Creek: Alta Mira Press.
- Matters, M. (1995). Oral history cataloging manual. Chicago: Society of American Archivists.
- Baum, W. K. (1991). Transcribing and editing oral history. Walnut Creek: Alta Mira
- Hamilton, P. & Shopes, L. (2008). Oral history and public memories. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Course Requirements
Assignments
The assignments for this course are:
- Blackboard assignments and discussions. Contribute to the 10 discussion forums posted throughout the semester. (2 points each/20 points total)
- Oral History Interview. Prepare for and conduct a 1- to 2-hour recorded interview following standard oral history practices and the ethical guidelines established by the Oral History Association. Selection of narrators will be discussed in class. (25 points)
- Interview Transcript. Transcribe, edit, and audit edit your interview, and submit the transcript to the narrator for correction and approval. (20 points)
- Interview Tape Summary. Write a narrative summary of your recorded interview based on elapsed time. (10 points)
- Index. Create a name and subject index for your transcribed interview. (15 points)
- Final Report. Prepare a written and oral assessment of your oral history experience based on the Oral History Association’s evaluation guidelines. (10 points)
- Class Meetings. Two optional class meetings have been scheduled. The purpose of these meetings is to distribute digital tape recorders and teach you how to use them. These meetings provide a good opportunity to get some in-person advising regarding your oral history project and to interact with your classmates. If you plan on using your own recording equipment, attendance at the class session is not required.
- Cal-State Fullerton Meetings: September 6 & October 4. 10 am – 1 pm
- San Jose State Meetings: September 13 & October 11. 10 am – 1 pm
Course Calendar and Grading
| Assignment | Worth |
Due Date |
| Blackboard Assignments & Discussions | 20 points |
Weekly |
| Oral History Interview | 25 points |
October 12 |
| Interview Transcript | 20 points |
November 24 |
| Interview Tape Summary | 10 points |
November 30 |
| Interview Index | 15 points |
November 30 |
| Final Report | 10 points |
December 14 |
All assignments are due on Sunday, by 5 p.m. Grade points for late assignments will be reduced by 20 percent. Final grades will be based on the following grading scale established for graduate students by San Jose State University:
| 97-100 | A |
| 94-96 | A- |
| 91-93 | B+ |
| 88-90 | B |
| 85-87 | B- |
| 82-84 | C+ |
| 79-81 | C |
| 76-78 | C- |
| 73-75 | D+ |
| 70-72 | D |
| 67-69 | D- |
| Below 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
- A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.
Academic Integrity
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct.
Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability,
please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) to establish record of their disability.
No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/
Course Schedule
| Week 1 | What is oral history? (August 25 – August 31) |
| Week 2 | Oral history in the U.S. (September 1 – September 7) |
| Week 3 | Developing an oral history project (September 8 - September 14) |
| Weeks 4-7 | Research, prepare for, and conduct an oral history interview and participate in Blackboard discussion regarding the interview experience. New discussion topics will be posted on Mondays during this period. (September 15 – October 12) INTERVIEW DUE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12 @ 5 p.m. |
| Weeks 8-10 | Oral history transcribing and editing (October 13 – November 2) ORAL HISTORY TRANSCRIPT DUE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 @ 5 p.m. |
| Week 11 | Legal and ethical issues in oral history (November 3 – November 9) |
| Week 12 | Tape summaries (November 10 – November 16) |
| Weeks 13-14 | Oral history indexing (November 17 – November 30) TAPE SUMMARY & TRANSCRIPT INDEX DUE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30 @ 5 p.m. |
| Week 15 | Oral history Preservation and Access (December 1 – December 7) FINAL REPORT DUE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 @ 5 p.m. |
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