Oral History LIS 642 Course Summary

As an MSLS student at the University of Kentucky, I went through the LIS 642 course, which is Oral History.  The course was fascinating and felt more like an interactive workshop than a regular class.  The professor taught us how to conduct oral history interviews along with going over several oral history examples and studies.  She recorded her weekly lectures so students could listen through Blackboard (my degree was totally online).  The final portion of the course was spent on an oral history project.

I don’t want these course posts to get insanely long, so I’m going to restrict my comments to the most important aspects and provide some links. 

We had three textbooks:  The Oral History Reader, Doing Oral History, and Curating Oral Histories: from Interview to Archive.

 I’m also going to link a Google doc of my first weekly assignment.  We were asked to briefly answer if oral history is useful or not to the study of history. 

My final project was an interview with a tattoo artist (the interview now belongs to the KOHC, but I do not yet know if it has been archived), a paper detailing my experience, a partial transcript, and submission to the Kentucky Oral History Commission. 

I think the transcription process was one the most nerve-racking things I’ve done.  I thought the interview process would have me pulling out my hair, but it was enjoyable.  This is the recorder I purchased for the class.  It worked like a charm and let me get my hands on some new tech learning experiences. 

Overall, the course forced me to pay attention to individual experiences in addition to the overall historical perceptions of events.  It also had me watching my behavior and interactions with people from which I’m trying to get relevant information.  I listen more, allow those very important lulls and pauses to happen, and find myself experiencing peoples’ memories in a new way. 

I hope to, one day soon, do a series of interviews with my Mother.  She’s lived a fascinating life, and I’d like to preserve her memory and experiences.  The Oral History course gave me the tools to (let’s hope) pull this off.

History of Writing and Libraries

I'm finally posting again after the holiday rush.  :)

I decided to start with a review of my LIS 604 course, which focused on the history of writing and libraries.  We spent most of our time covering libraries and books in the Western world, focusing on Europe and the United States after looking at ancient civilizations (Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, etc.).  Here is a summary from my midterm.

Books used in course:  History of Libraries in the Western World by Michael H. Harris & Dahl's History of the Book by Bill Katz

One glaring omission in both books we read had to do with the Americas before Columbus.  The lack of information on writing and books from the native tribes of the Americas really bothered me.  So much so that I decided to write my final research page on the topic.  I ran out of time, so I didn't get to cover North America.  However, I did do an overview of South and Central America before Columbus.  Here is the paper.  Let's hope I did that link correctly.  I'm still learning this whole blogging thing. 

The most interesting bit, at least to me, is the part focusing on the Inca of South America.  For years it's been assumed that they did not have a writing system.  This makes them a rarity in successful civilizations.  Their use of quipas was likened to the use of abacuses/abaci in other civilizations.  However, modern research is starting to suggest the quipas may have been more, but there's nothing conclusive that I've found as of yet.

The papers I've posted are on Google Documents.  You may have to sign in to view them.