Oral History Project
Oral History Project presentation at the Association's 20th anniversary, October 2013.
Pictured are Beth Wladis, Ma'lis Wendt, Deborah Trepp, Jane Kunstler, and Mary K. Conwell.
Pictured are Beth Wladis, Ma'lis Wendt, Deborah Trepp, Jane Kunstler, and Mary K. Conwell.
The Mission
The mission of the New York Public Library Retirees Association Oral History Project is to collect and preserve unique and valuable information about The New York Public Library that exists only in the memories of those who worked for the Library. Through recorded interviews, as well as written reminiscences, we seek to supplement the Library's rich history with information that would otherwise be lost and to honor the contributions of the staff to that history.
The NYPLRA Oral History Project is now comprised of 118 recorded interviews of salaried staff who served in professional and paraprofessional positions in the Branch Libraries and the Research Libraries, plus support staff (human resources, security, maintenance, IT, etc.). They represent service at The New York Public Library from the 1940s to the present by staff with unique talents, perspectives and personalities.
When the NYPLRA Oral History Project was restarted in 2013, Columbia University’s oral history program was consulted. There were many options and many resources. As librarians, we chose a fairly rigorous approach, hoping to make the archive as complete and ready-to-use as possible, leaving minimal processing work to be done when it is finally handed over to a research institution.
Standards of practice:
Process followed:
The complete file for each narrator includes the:
The potential value of the archive:
Complements archival material already held at NYPL through first-person narratives
Illustrates public library history & trends, emerging needs of users, and the impact and evolution of technology on library services
Includes social and political history of NYC and the U.S., including labor history, fiscal crisis of 1975, 9/11 attacks, NYPL’s response to the AIDS crisis, etc.
The individual and collective experiences represented in the oral histories are interesting, inspiring, and multi-dimensional, and they reflect the breadth of the Library’s collections, services, and history. The Library would not be the institution it is without those who worked there.
The mission of the New York Public Library Retirees Association Oral History Project is to collect and preserve unique and valuable information about The New York Public Library that exists only in the memories of those who worked for the Library. Through recorded interviews, as well as written reminiscences, we seek to supplement the Library's rich history with information that would otherwise be lost and to honor the contributions of the staff to that history.
The NYPLRA Oral History Project is now comprised of 118 recorded interviews of salaried staff who served in professional and paraprofessional positions in the Branch Libraries and the Research Libraries, plus support staff (human resources, security, maintenance, IT, etc.). They represent service at The New York Public Library from the 1940s to the present by staff with unique talents, perspectives and personalities.
When the NYPLRA Oral History Project was restarted in 2013, Columbia University’s oral history program was consulted. There were many options and many resources. As librarians, we chose a fairly rigorous approach, hoping to make the archive as complete and ready-to-use as possible, leaving minimal processing work to be done when it is finally handed over to a research institution.
Standards of practice:
- Documentation includes the names of narrators, interviewers, transcribers, editors; dates; approvals; etc.
- File preparation and editing includes written editing guidelines using the Chicago Manual of Style; rigorous review process
- Extensive authority control for proper names of people, organizations, businesses, etc., including a master file of 13,000+ staff names covering 100 years; descriptive definitions of many proper names
- Glossary of NYPL-specific terms
Process followed:
- Recorded interviews: Most of the interviews were recorded on a Zoom H1 Handy Recorder. Even those initially recorded on cassette tape have been digitized and backed up. The recorded interview is the most basic and important component of each individual’s archived file.
- Transcription: After uploading the recording, the narration is transcribed by dedicated transcription volunteers who listen carefully and type exactly into a Word document everything the narrator and the interviewer say. Some of the later interviews were transcribed using TEMI audio-to-text automatic transcription software. A complete verbatim interview often runs to eighty or so pages and includes every repetition, verbal stumble, and fragmentary statement uttered. Each transcription is reviewed again and again to make sure all the dialog is captured correctly. Any places in the recording that are difficult to understand are time-stamped and noted as “unclear” in the verbatim document. Unclears can occur when the narrator and interviewer speak at the same time, if someone turns away from the microphone, or if there are competing sounds such as sirens and street noise.
- Review and research: The completed verbatim transcription is reviewed by the transcription editor— the head of the transcription team—who checks for accuracy, makes note of all proper names (Library and non-Library), and identifies any library terms that are unique to NYPL, for example: A-list, Budget Action, PCN. The names are compiled into a Names list that accompanies each narration, is part of the archived file, and serves as an archival finding aid to the narration. The terms are sent to the Glossary committee where they are defined and added to a comprehensive glossary of the Oral History Project. The transcription editor also identifies and defines non-library terms that may assist future researchers in understanding a narration.
- Editing: When review of the verbatim transcription is complete, it is ready for editing. The goal of editing is to create an easier-to-read document for a researcher, retaining what is spoken by the narrator minus the repetitions and any verbal stumbles. The editors don’t pretty up or correct the language, and they work very hard to make sure the flavor and texture of the unique manner of speaking is unaltered. (However, commonly elided words like “gonna,” “hadda,” and “wanna” are changed to “going to,” “had to,” and “want to.”) Two editors go over the narration, the first editor doing a thorough basic editing, with the second editor doing a quicker double check—two heads usually being better than one. The editors follow the Chicago Manual of Style and have also developed guidelines to cover frequently encountered NYPL-related concerns such as branch names and job titles.
- Formatting and narrator review: After editing, the narration goes to the formatter who makes sure the document’s overall format is correct for archiving. BUT – before a narration can be archived it is sent to the narrator for approval. Any small errors or misunderstandings are corrected
The complete file for each narrator includes the:
- Recorded interview
- Narrator’s work history
- Signed release
- Verbatim transcription
- Enhanced verbatim (including notes, definitions, etc., not always included in the edited version)
- Edited transcription
- Names list
- Glossary of terms
- Photos, when available
The potential value of the archive:
Complements archival material already held at NYPL through first-person narratives
Illustrates public library history & trends, emerging needs of users, and the impact and evolution of technology on library services
Includes social and political history of NYC and the U.S., including labor history, fiscal crisis of 1975, 9/11 attacks, NYPL’s response to the AIDS crisis, etc.
The individual and collective experiences represented in the oral histories are interesting, inspiring, and multi-dimensional, and they reflect the breadth of the Library’s collections, services, and history. The Library would not be the institution it is without those who worked there.