The Precarious Oral Histories Project is led by oral historians in the Australian National University team of the Language Data Commons of Australia. We work to identify oral history collections across Australia as a necessary first step towards their long-term preservation.
Many individuals, communities and organisations have invested time, effort, skills, and care into creating rich oral history collections over the last several decades. These collections feature everyday peoples’ stories, form part of our cultural heritage, and can transform understandings of Australian history. But many collections held outside of major state and nationally funded cultural institutions are at risk of not surviving into the future because there are not the resources needed for ongoing digital preservation and long-term management of interview access conditions.
Filmed oral history interview, for the Centre for Multicultural Youth history project. Photographer, Persephone Waxman, CMY.
Collections on fast-deteriorating formats, like reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes, and CDs, are especially at risk. Little is known about precarious collections held outside of major cultural institutions that are at risk of being lost. This project is taking an important first step by identifying and recording details about these collections to assess the extent of at-risk oral histories.
The project team is working closely with the National Library of Australia, Oral History Australia, and community organisations.