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How do I find Oral History Collections at JMU?

29 oral history collections, consisting of 131 oral history interviews, are available by searching LEO.  All interviews are cataloged separately, so you can find individual interviews within specific collections using LEO. The exception the Shenandoah National Park Oral History Collection, which itself lists over 100 interviews. For details, click on the collection title above.

One collection, the Shenandoah Valley Oral History Project, contains 20 individually cataloged interviews, most of which are available as mp3s which you can listen to from your computer workstation! Search for your particular topic in LEO (described below), or click on the collection title above.

Search Strategies:

• Choose the "advanced word" search option in Leo. Choose "subject" in the dropdown menu as the type of field to search, then type "Oral History Collection" in the adjacent field [Click here for an example of results].

• Next, narrow your search in the next field by choosing another subject that pertains to your topic, being sure to choose "subject" in the dropdown menu as the type of field to search.
  • Click on the title of the collection, not the call number, to see the catalog record with full description.

• If you have browsed the oral history collections before, you can always choose "advanced word" and search by title or author [the person interviewed].
• If you know an interview number [SdArch] you want to find, and want to see related interviews, choose the call number search option, and select "local call number" from the dropdown menu, then type "SdArch" in the adjacent field. [Click here for results.]
  • This will give you a numeric list of oral history collections by SdArch number, and you can navigate to your selection accordingly.  You can also easily see which interviews are part of a particular collection. Click on the collection number or title to view the catalog record with full description.

What is Oral History?

Oral history is more than merely sitting down with a person, turning on a recording device, and having a conversation.  Oral history is a systematic effort of historical documentation with specific legal, ethical, and methodological responsibilities.  It can be an important tool for capturing data often overlooked by newspapers, books, journals, and for documenting personal experience.  Special Collections supports professional standards for oral history research through internships, historical research grants available to the community. 

What is an Oral History Collection?

Oral history collections in Special Collections consist of audio recordings and transcriptions.  They

are assigned a special call number, called an "SdArch" number, which stands for sound archives.  These can seem tricky, but there is a system.  If several interviews were conducted as part of an oral history project, the project will have a number, and each individual interview will have a second number.  For example, SdArch 2 is an oral history collection related to Harrisonburg's Court Square.  The individual who completed the project provided a background paper, which is cataloged as SdArch 2-1.  The three interviews this person conducted are cataloged as SdArch 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4.  [If there had been no background paper, the interviews would have started with 2-1]. 

Many transcriptions [but not all] have been added to either the circulating collection, or to the reference section of Carrier Library, and have regular call numbers.  These are handled through Carrier Library's reference and circulation departments.  The search strategies below will also include transcripts in those areas.

How do I conduct an Oral History interview?

• Dr. Daniel Kerr's Oral History and Social Justice Website--this provides the most up to date information and resources pertaining to oral history procedures.
• Oral History:  A Selected Bibliography--a short list of resources for understanding what oral history is and how to do it.

updated 10/18/06 th