Category: Collecting

A Closer Look at Community Partnerships

Case Study: A Closer Look at Community Partnerships by Brooke Bryan History runs deep in the small, storied town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Arguably a champion of early racial and cultural diversity since its establishment, the village was a cultural nook in the conservative Ohio valley in post-World War II times. High-ranking blacks stationed at …

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The Veterans History Project

Case Study: The Veterans History Project by Kurt Dewhurst  Created in 2000 by Congressional legislation, the Veterans History Project (VHP) collects, preserves, and makes available first-hand accounts of men and women who have served in the uniforms of the United States Armed Forces during wartime, beginning with World War I. Originally containing the word “oral” …

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America Works-Emerging Project Models

Case Study: America Works-Emerging Project Models by Nancy Groce and Bert Lyons Tweet

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Oral History, Folklore, and Vernacular Architecture

Case Study: Oral History, Folklore, and Vernacular Architecture by Janet C. Gilmore and Troy Reeves This document arose from discussions, both in-person and electronic, between Gilmore and Troy Reeves. Reeves, who has led oral history activities at UW-Madison since 2007 and has served as a contributor to the OHDA grant, asked her to respond to …

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Achieving Good Audio

Achieving Good Audio Recording Levels by Doug Boyd It is of paramount importance to monitor recording levels during the digital recording of an oral history interview. The dynamic range of a recorder or a microphone is the range between the highest level and the lowest level (the noise floor) of sound that can be captured. …

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The Art of Lighting for Recording Video

The Art of Lighting for Recording Video Oral History Interviews by Doug Boyd To capture professional looking video, you do not need expensive equipment. However, you do need to understand how your camera sees the scene. A digital video camera sees differently from the human eye and it needs light to process images. Professional photographers …

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Microphone Strategies for Recording Video

Microphone Strategies for Recording Video for Oral History Interviews by Doug Boyd Professional video recording technologies are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable. However, nothing will degrade the effect of professional looking video more than a video with bad sound. One of the keys to creating “professional” quality video is to also record professional quality audio. …

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Video Equipment

Video Equipment: Guide to Selecting and Use by Scott Pennington and Dean Rehberger Equipment for gathering oral history can be a large part of small budget projects, a small part of large budget projects, or anything in between. For gathering quality oral histories and narratives, however, projects need not have a Hollywood blockbuster budget. By …

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Speech in Quiet and Speech in Noise

Speech in Quiet and Speech in Noise:  Audio Exemplars and Some Recommendations for Enhancing the Quality of Oral History Recordings by Brad Rakerd Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders From an acoustical standpoint, no two oral history recordings are ever exactly alike. One reason for this is that there is wide variation in the equipment …

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