OHMAR April 2013

METADATA FOR ORAL HISTORY:
ACTING LOCALLY, THINKING GLOBALLY
•
Jane Jacobs, Metadata Services Assistant Coordinator
•
Dacia Metes, Metadata Librarian
•
Natalie Milbrodt, Digital Content & Strategy Coordinator
ACTING LOCALLY: PROBLEM SOLVING FOR
ORAL HISTORY RECORDS AT QUEENS LIBRARY

Queens Memory is the first Queens Library
program designed to create and preserve oral
histories. It raised many questions for Technical
Services and Archives staff members:

What info to capture: Setting up Collective Access

How to catalog: First MARC, then VRA

How to preserve: Moving to Vital
The Expanding Metadata Universe
MAPPING TO VRA: CHALLENGES /
BENEFITS




There is no cataloging standard for oral history.
Oral histories often include other, non-audio or
video materials. We need to be able to catalog all
entities and establish and define those
relationships.
MARCXML, Dublin Core, PBCore, VRA Core?
VRA Core is not designed for audio, but with
thorough mapping, it works well.
MAPPING FIELDS TO VRA
CA field label name
Object Identifier
Alternate identifier
Title
Alternate Title
Date
Physical Description
Total running time
General Note
Rights
Summary
Reproduction Note
Time period
Equipment make and model
In and Out Points
In and Out Points
Software use to make derivatives
Name of worker who created derivatives
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Related objects
Related entities
Related entity (assigned: "creator")
Related Events
Related Places
Related collection
Georeference
GeoNames
VRA tags
Object Identifier
Location
Title
Title - note
Date
Material
Measurements
Description
Rights
Description
Material
Date
Material
Measurements
Measurements
Material
Agent
Subject
Related Records
Subject
Agent
Subject
Subject
Source (QC, QPL, other)
Location
Location
VRA CORE HIERARCHY

Collection record - comprised of multiple items
that are conceptually or physically arranged.
 Work record - unique entity such as an object,
recording or event.
http://www.loc.gov/standards/vracore/VRA_Core4_Intro.pdf

With VRA Core, we are able to nest all of the
disparate works, regardless of format, within the
a single collection level record.
COLLECTION RECORD
AUDIO OR VIDEO
FULL INTERVIEW
AUDIO OR VIDEO
INTERVIEW CLIP 1
AUDIO OR VIDEO
INTERVIEW CLIP 2
PHOTOGRAPH
SCANNED
TICKET
“HOW WE MOVED TO QUEENS”: MARIO
ANTONETTI AT THE 1939 WORLD’S FAIR
Viola (Antonetti) Knors, 2012
Mario Antonetti’s work permit, his
snapshot of the Italian Pavilion
and group portrait with coworkers, 1939
Antonetti Family,
1944
Authority Control: Making the Gears Fit
What would Wikipedia do?
Getty Vocabularies
Geographic Names
THINKING GLOBALLY: INSPIRED
MACKAY’S CALL TO ACTION
Creating a metadata scheme and accompanying cataloging
guidelines for oral histories is one important step in the process to
track, share, and preserve oral histories. The communication gap
between the creators and the curators of oral histories is
lengthening rather than shrinking as more communities undertake
oral history projects and, without guidance, are forced to make up
rules as they go along. Clear guidelines and best practices that are
responsive to oral history as practiced in the twenty-first century
will benefit not only our communities today, but researchers in
future generations.
From “Oral History Core,” Nancy MacKay
Full article available: http://bit.ly/1a4fyZI
THINKING GLOBALLY: SHARING OUR
FINDINGS



Drafting IMLS grant proposal led by the Center for
Digital Humanities & Social Sciences at Michigan State
University – adding to Oral History in the Digital Age
project
Informal discussions and panel sessions at Society of
American Archivists Oral History Section & Oral History
Association meetings
Regional, data gathering workshops in:
 Mid-Atlantic: Natalie Milbrodt, Queens Library
 Southwest: Lauren Kata, Archives of the Episcopal
Church
 Inter-Mountain: Cyns Nelson, Colorado Voice Preserve
OHMAR WORKSHOP: APRIL 4, 2013
Crafting the Core: Whose Voice Matters? Yours!
Participants will engage in a brainstorming session to
begin the process of defining a record lifecycle framework
for oral histories. The framework should include all of the
elements they believe are important to capture and
preserve about oral histories.



1 hour, 15 min. session
Approx 15 participants
Divided into two brainstorming groups
A friendly mental model for brainstorming:
Think of oral history metadata in terms of oral history project stages.
1. Plan: Information that precedes the actual interview setting
(ex: biographical info about narrator)
2. Collect, Create, Receive & Capture: Information about the event of the
interview
(ex: make/model of recorder, name of interviewer)
3. Organize and Describe: Information coming from the processing of the
recording
(ex: name of transcriptionist)
4. Use: Information pertaining to the use of the recording
(ex: embargo expiration dates)
5. Disseminate: Information about the terms and uses of the recording
(ex: copyright holder contact information, shelf location)
6. Maintain, Protect & Preserve: Information used to track and preserve
the recording (ex: check sums)
To jog our memories within this framework, try asking:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
For example:
Project Stage 2.
Collect, Create, Receive & Capture: Information about the event of the
interview
Who:
Name of interviewer
What:
Events discussed in interview
When: Date of interview
Where: Address where interview was recorded
Why:
Frequent interruptions due to traffic noise
How:
Zoom H2 recorder
Results: Brainstorming Session
WHO
Name and contact info for interviewer – Name and contact info for narrator/interviewee –
Names of observers and others in the room – Name of transcriber – Reviewed by narrator and
interviewer (yes/no) – Name and contact info for copyright holder – Institutional affiliation of
transcriber – Name of audio editor – Personal and professional history of narrator – Expertise
(qualifications) of interviewer – Contact info – Biographical skeleton (including age of narrator) – Who
has preservation copies – Name of sponsor (funder) – Narrator date of birth
WHAT
Creation date – Date discovered in collections – Date delivered by donor – Formats (including
MS Word documents, PDFs, mp3s, WAV files, etc) – LoC Subject Headings – Controlled vocabulary –
Recording equipment make and model – media (analog or digital)- Presence of transcript – Dates in
chain of custody – File format of transcript – Deed of gift (yes/no) – Background research – Scope of
project – Total number of interviews – Time spent – Life story or thematic (controlled vocab for these
types of oral histories would be great) – Format of recording’s access copy – Terms of use (online and/or
onsite) – Availability of release form (and other supporting records for the interview) – Citation info –
Media backed up on which formats – Format of original recording media – Names of software used
(including DAMS, editing, cataloging, etc) – Number of interviews in a discreet project –
WHERE
City, State, Country – Street address – Recording room information – Event information –
Location of transcript copies – Acoustic information about recording site – Physical and digital location,
including where preservation master and access copies of recording are contained/housed – Location of
materials on the web (URL) – Storage location for metadata
WHEN
Month, Day, Year – Embargo date – Access restriction – Dates discussed in interview (date
range) – Hours of operation for onsite access – Schedule for migration and verification
WHY
Relationships between entities – Note about speech impediments, strong accents – Interviewer
note – Purpose of project or single interview – Reason for selection of this narrator – Project sponsor’s
intention
HOW
Restriction details from narrators – Provenance of interviews – Donation information –
Licensing info for recording – Rules for how/if data can be extracted/manipulated – Protocols used for
preservation – Use of digital verification (check sums) – How recording was migrated to new format –
Hiring/selection practices for interviewers
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
“Activity where we
looked at potential
metadata… really made
me think critically about
the full life cycle.”