Designing a Project

Introduction

Successful oral history projects start with good planning and a sound research design. Before you conduct a first interview, take time to think through what you want the oral history project to accomplish and to take stock of the budget, personnel, and time you have to accomplish your goals. As Valerie Raleigh Yow observed in Recording Oral History, “We cannot skip careful preparation and achieve anything but random conversations.”

A graphic shows the progression of steps in the process of designing an oral history project that are described on this page.

NPS

Oral History Project Design Steps

Oral history project design includes these steps:

Focus, research, and refine the topic you want to explore

• What is the project’s purpose and goals? What are you trying to learn?

• Why are you using oral history interviews to investigate the topic? What does background research in written primary and secondary sources suggest needs to be researched about the topic through interviews?

• Do other archives contain oral history interviews that are similar to those you plan to conduct and might be used or supplemented instead?

• What do your potential interviewees think is important for you to explore?

Define the scope and assess the resources

Oral history projects take time and money. By one estimate, conducting an interview from start (background research and pre-interview) to middle (the interview and transcription) to finish (narrator transcript review and corrections, archival deposit)—can take from 30 to 60 hours. Transcribing costs vary, but budgeting $125 - $150 per hour of recorded audio is not unreasonable.

• What is your budget?

• How much time can staff members or volunteers devote to the project? Do they need training to become proficient in oral history project management and interviewing?

Decide who will do what for the project

Oral history projects include many tasks that require a variety of skills: researchers, project managers, interviewers, record keepers, and so on.

• How will you assemble a staff and assign tasks?

Envision outcomes

• Where will the oral history recordings and other materials end up? Select a repository EARLY and consult the archivist about its requirements.

• How might the interviews be used? For museum exhibits? Podcasts? Audiovisual displays? How will the envisioned uses affect the choice of recording equipment (audio or video)?

Set a time frame for the project

• Does the project need to meet specific deadlines, or can it be ongoing?

Compose a project mission statement

• Describe the purpose of the project, the goals of the project, the kinds of narrators to be interviewed, where the interviews will be archived, and how the interviews are to be used.

Planning and flexibility go hand in hand

• All projects have to adapt to new circumstances. Budgets change. Personnel come and go. New research inspires new questions, and the list of narrators grows. When conditions change, a good plan helps you adjust.

Sample Mission Statement

A mission statement for the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project provides a model: 

In commemoration of the NPS Centennial, the Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR) has launched an oral history project. ANPR’s goal is to record, transcribe, archive, and share 50 interviews with Park Service personnel who have shaped the agency’s history during its second half-century. Narrators will range from emeritus employees to the newest NPS hires.  

The first priority is to interview longtime employees who helped create the modern Park Service. They joined the agency in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and they occupied leadership positions during decades of great change. During their tenure, the NPS expanded significantly, the country adopted laws that challenged the Service’s management policies, and the demographics of the agency’s workforce and its visitors underwent a significant shift. The audio recordings and transcriptions of the oral histories will be archived at the Harpers Ferry Center in West Virginia and are already being shared via publications and websites.  

ANPR’s oral history project joins a long tradition in the NPS of using interviews to safeguard the collective memory and expertise of those who have shaped the Service over the years. It also advances the top priorities of NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis by passing on important lessons to a younger generation of Park Service personnel. These oral histories speak to issues such as relevance, stewardship, and workforce development—all of which will guide the Park Service in its second century. The information collected during these interviews can be used immediately as part of the workforce development and leadership succession. It is also vital to the long-term stewardship of the agency’s history and the education of its early-career employees. 

Case Studies

Case Study

Oral History at an Alumni Reunion

Case Study

Designing a Project to Scale

Case Study

Writing a Scope of Work

Case Study

Association of National Park Rangers

More Resources for Oral History Project Planning

Websites and texts that describe the oral history project planning process abound. These resources are among the most helpful and accessible.

Oral History Association

• The Oral History Association's Principles and Best Practices sets professional standards for oral history practice in the United States.   

Baylor University Institute for Oral History

• The “Introduction to Oral History” from the Baylor University Institute for Oral History from Baylor University Institute for Oral History guides you through an oral history project from beginning to end. It offers a concise orientation to project planning, focusing and researching a topic, selecting narrators, creating an interview outline, and composing questions.  

Institute of Museum and Library Services, Michigan State University

• Oral History in the Digital Age (from the Institute of Museum and Library Services at Michigan State University) offers up-to-date information about getting started, project planning, choosing digital audio and video equipment, and many other aspects of oral history practice.

Print Resources

• Donald Ritchie, Doing Oral History, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 

• Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 3rd ed. (Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2018) 

• Valerie Raleigh Yow, Recording Oral History: A Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 3rd ed. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014)  

Oral History Tracking

A tracking tool to record progress in oral history interviewing, transcribing, and other processing. (Excel format)

Use the Template