Doing History in the Digtial Age

In 2009, Michigan State University received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership grant for the project, “Oral History in the Digital Age.” The original project proposal was submitted by MSU Matrix: The Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences Online, in partnership with the American Folklife Center (AFC/LOC) at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH), the American Folklore Society (AFS), the Oral History Association, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the MSU Museum, and the leading historians, librarians, and archivists in the field of Oral History. After 4 years of work, the project produced a highly successful website, Oral History in the Digital Age (http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/), which is used around the world. OHDA is popular in classrooms and is a staple in library reference sections. The site includes 77 essays and case studies and 12 videos on the best practices of oral history. The site also includes digital equipment decision trees, a robust glossary, and an extensive wiki that has thousands of references sources. The site is used by 15,000 unique visitors every month in 2015.

In 2016, we are updating the project to include,

1.Update, Revise, Add New, and Archive Outdated Content. With information about digital

technologies, best practices can change rapidly. Currently, a number of the site’s essays and content need to be updated, revised, or completely replaced. At the same time, the outdated, as well as earlier versions of content need to be archived and made available on a new section of the site to allow for stable citations and to document the development of the field over time.

2.Broaden the Audience and Content Scope. One of the strengths of the original project was its focus on libraries, archives, and museums. However, this strength created a gap in the project – few of the essays focused on the best practices for methods and doing oral history. Filling this gap would greatly enhance the usefulness of the site for practicing oral historians, non-professionals, and teachers and their classroom students.

3.Design Overhaul. The design of the site needs to be enhanced to make it more friendly and efficient

for a wider variety of users. This becomes a particularly acute need as the user base grows.

4.Investigation and Investment in New Forms of Publication. The quickly changing field of oral history has shown the “Doing Oral History in the Digital Age” project team the need for a new type of publication that is still responsibility vetted and reviewed, but can also evolve to reflect and document change over time in the field of oral history. The team wants to use their knowledge of the sites extension needs to develop the foundations for a new form of scholarly publication. The goal is to move away from static notions of fixed journal issues or static reference sources to a more agile, flexible, and revisable platform that allows for rapid publication and revision, but still ensures peer review and stable URIs.

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