This course is being delivered online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This self-contained course, organised jointly by the National Life Stories at the British Library and the Oral History Society, aims to be an informal and practical introduction to oral history interviewing with an opportunity to learn about recording equipment and discuss some of the issues around oral history, life stories and memory. Places are limited to eight per course and demand exceeds available places, so please apply early. No previous experience of oral history is required. Each course is led by one of the OHS/BL-accredited trainers.

Course Structure

This online training course is delivered over Zoom video call. Each course is run over two consecutive morning sessions, 9.30am – 1.15pm, with half hour breaks mid-morning. The programme for the course is as follows (please note this is a sample structure and may differ on the day):

First day: 9.30am – 1.15pm
• 09:30 – 09:45 Welcome and introductions
• 09:45 – 11:00 What is oral history? Understanding memory
• 11:00 – 11.30 Break
• 11:30 – 12:45 Getting started: aims and objectives, who to interview, question approaches
• 12:45 – 13:15 An introduction to recording equipment

Second day: 9.30am – 1.15pm
• 09:30 – 10:30 The interview: dos and don’ts
• 10:30 – 11:00 Practice interview
• 11:00 – 11.30 Break
• 11:30 – 12:00 Evaluation of practice interview
• 12:00 – 13:15 Documentation: summarising, transcription, copyright, archiving

Course prices

2021
Full attendance fee: £130.00
OHS member fee: £98.00

How to Book

Please note:

• There will be no refunds for cancelled places
• Due to high demand and in order to ensure that each course has attendees with a variety of interests and backgrounds, a maximum of two people from any one institution may attend each course.

The following OHS training dates are available:

If there are currently no dates found for courses please contact the training administrator if you would like to be notified of any future dates.