Paula Hamilton talks about the role of oral history in interpreting and recording the past. Go to the discussion forum to hear Hamilton and Paul Ashton discuss approaches to oral history.
Paul Ashton – in excerpts from ‘On the Record: a practical guide to oral history’ – discusses the value of oral sources in building histories around ‘ordinary’ lives and occurrences.
Stuart Reid introduces students to questioning techniques in an excerpt from the Oral History Association of WA video ‘Capturing the Past’.
In excerpts from ‘The Knife Edge: Debates about Memory and History’ Paula Hamilton discusses aspects of memory that influence recounting and recording the past.
Penny Taylor writes about sensitivity in interviewing indigenous people, the importance of local histories and distinctions between oral and written cultures in excerpts from ‘Telling it like it is’.
Excerpts from Helen Armstrong’s journal article – ‘Mapping Migrant Memories: crossing cultural borders’ – focusing on oral history approaches to identifying places valued by migrant groups.
