Article

Designing a Project

Introduction

Successful oral history projects start with good planning and a sound research design. Before you conduct a first interview, take time to think through what you want the oral history project to accomplish and to take stock of the budget, personnel, and time you have to accomplish your goals. As Valerie Raleigh Yow observed in Recording Oral History, “We cannot skip careful preparation and achieve anything but random conversations.”

A diagram showing the steps of designing an oral history project, with the steps written in six connecting circles.
A graphic shows the progression of steps in the process of designing an oral history project that are described on this page.

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Oral History Project Design Steps

Oral history project design includes these steps:

Focus, research, and refine the topic you want to explore

  • What is the project’s purpose and goals? What are you trying to learn?

  • Why are you using oral history interviews to investigate the topic? What does background research in written primary and secondary sources suggest needs to be researched about the topic through interviews?

  • Do other archives contain oral history interviews that are similar to those you plan to conduct and might be used or supplemented instead?

  • What do your potential interviewees think is important for you to explore?

Define the scope and assess the resources

Oral history projects take time and money. By one estimate, conducting an interview from start (background research and pre-interview) to middle (the interview and transcription) to finish (narrator transcript review and corrections, archival deposit)—can take from 30 to 60 hours. Transcribing costs vary, but budgeting $125 - $150 per hour of recorded audio is not unreasonable.

  • What is your budget?

  • How much time can staff members or volunteers devote to the project? Do they need training to become proficient in oral history project management and interviewing?

Decide who will do what for the project

Oral history projects include many tasks that require a variety of skills: researchers, project managers, interviewers, record keepers, and so on.

  • How will you assemble a staff and assign tasks?

Envision outcomes

  • Where will the oral history recordings and other materials end up? Select a repository EARLY and consult the archivist about its requirements.

  • How might the interviews be used? For museum exhibits? Podcasts? Audiovisual displays? How will the envisioned uses affect the choice of recording equipment (audio or video)?

Set a time frame for the project

  • Does the project need to meet specific deadlines, or can it be ongoing?

Compose a project mission statement

  • Describe the purpose of the project, the goals of the project, the kinds of narrators to be interviewed, where the interviews will be archived, and how the interviews are to be used.

Planning and flexibility go hand in hand

  • All projects have to adapt to new circumstances. Budgets change. Personnel come and go. New research inspires new questions, and the list of narrators grows. When conditions change, a good plan helps you adjust.


Case Studies





More Resources for Oral History Project Planning

Websites and texts that describe the oral history project planning process abound. These resources are among the most helpful and accessible.

Oral History Tracking

A tracking tool to record progress in oral history interviewing, transcribing, and other processing. (Excel format)

Use the Template

Part of a series of articles titled Oral History Project Process.

Last updated: January 10, 2024