Unlocking the Vault: An Experience of Oral History Digitising
Over 2000 hours of unique oral treasures until recently have rested
quietly - dormant in the State Library's Manuscript and Arts Library
collections. While the library hasn’t actively collected or recorded
oral histories for some decades, it was thought that many of the pre
1980’s open reel tapes had deteriorated badly or been lost completely.
After digitising a cross section of just fifteen hours, we were
delighted to find that the tapes, remarkably, were in excellent
condition. The many painstaking steps in preparing an audio digitising
project are discussed and opportunities explored. The processes of
cataloguing, digitising, digital preservation, and even transcribing and
web display are briefly explored in Peter’s discussion of the new
project.