Recording Oral History - 3rd Edition,Annotated by Valerie Raleigh Yow (Paperback)

About the Book

This comprehensive guide to each stage of an oral history interview tackles not just the practicalities of process, but also the varied ethical, legal, and philosophical questions that can arise.

Book Synopsis

This comprehensive guide to each stage of an oral history interview tackles not just the practicalities of process, but also the varied ethical, legal, and philosophical questions that can arise.

Review Quotes

...Yow's book provides an exceedingly valuable resource for historians, students, teachers, and others interested in recording and using interviews as a means to learn about the past. Recording Oral History is the kind of manual that researchers will want to return to repeatedly for advice and inspiration.

In this third edition, Recording Oral History continues to serve as a primary reference for researchers interested in learning about the practice of oral history and the process of qualitative interviewing. Yow's years as a practitioner of oral history are reflected throughout the book, and her experiences inform her approach to both practical and theoretical issues.

Rarely during the lifetime of an author is a book deemed a 'classic' yet this is such a work. Indeed, this can be considered 'the bible' for the conduct of oral history interviews. As with any 'bible, ' it contains diverse materials with diverse origins, contains recurring themes, fascinating stories, and cannot be absorbed in one reading. The neophyte will gain insight, strength and guidance from the book's inherent wealth. The experienced practitioner will return for the detailed cautions and procedures in whatever is the moment's topic of need or uncertainty. Noting that this is the third edition should alert a potential buyer to its value within the field.

Recording Oral History has become a classic methodological text for good reason. Yow guides the reader through crucial practical and philosophical questions using accessible and engaging language. These discussions are beautifully contextualized, drawing on diverse bodies of literature that highlight the expansiveness of contemporary oral history practice. The book is thorough, thoughtful, and does justice to the magic that happens when people commit to listening to each other's stories. This third edition is an invaluable resource for any oral historian.

Recording Oral History has been my oral history bible since its first edition in 1994. This third edition is, quite simply, the world's best guide to in-depth interviewing. It combines lucid synthesis of the multidisciplinary and international literature with insightful practical advice, enlivened by Yow's deep humanity and wry humor.

Recording Oral History has long been one of the 'must have' texts for teaching and practicing oral history; this third edition takes a popular resource and makes it better--representing the state of the art in oral history at a time of rapid change. Yow covers all aspects of oral history, wrestles with complex issues, and provides running commentary on best practices, all while avoiding obscure and convoluted language. It is the most comprehensive overview of the field available, and serves as a wise guide for both newcomers and more practiced hands.

Recording Oral History, Second Edition is wonderful--it's like being with Valerie Yow in person and sharing her experiences of three decades of oral history interviewing. The book analyzes what happens when two human beings sit down together with a recorder, with all the wonder and messiness inherent in the oral history process. Yow thoroughly explains best practices in conducting interviews that are both of high technical quality and the highest ethical standards. Old and new readers alike will benefit from the added sections on memory, narrative, and interpretation.

Since the appearance of the first edition in 1994, Recording Oral History has been a benchmark resource for practitioners, researchers, students, and repositories holding recorded oral interviews. Appearing now in its third edition--the second edition was in 2006--this is the premier practical guide for conducting, using, and making available to others oral history interviews. Yow arranges her guide in 11 topical chapters, leading readers through the stages of an oral history project from design and development through implementation and analysis to preservation and presentation of the completed interviews. The author supports each chapter with a focused annotated bibliography of pertinent additional sources for the topics covered. Exceptionally useful are individual chapters that focus on three familiar reasons for launching oral history projects: community studies, biographies, and family research. Notwithstanding the value of this information, Yow's ultimate achievements are the chapters that provide clear, concise examinations of the complex legal and ethical issues associated with oral history. This third edition belongs in every academic library, any library that supports humanities and social science research, and public libraries that serve constituents pursuing online degrees. Summing Up: Essential. All public and academic levels/libraries.

This volume builds on the material in earlier editions, so the reader benefits from Yow's research, reflections, and experience through the years, including her thoughts about how her perspective has changed. . . .This work will serve Yow's intended audience well. Her conversational style is sprinkled with anecdotes from her own and her colleagues' experience, giving the reader a valuable learning experience as well as a fun read. Fortunate college- level students will be assigned this book as a text not only in oral history courses but in any courses involving in-depth interviewing. Newcomers to oral history or qualitative research will find the foundation they need in a deep understanding of the human interactions involved in in-depth interviewing. And seasoned oral historians will enjoy the book as they would an old friend, amused by the anecdotes, chuckling at accounts of familiar faux pas often committed, and appreciating new insights.

Valerie Yow's Recording Oral History, Second Edition is an excellent guide for both the established oral historian and the student. Yow's discussions of issues such as ethics and legalities, varieties of oral history projects, and aspects of interpretation are succinct, graceful, and intelligent. I recommend it for all practitioners!

About the Author

Valerie Raleigh Yow, an independent scholar in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, received her MA and PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin. She has been book review editor for the Oral History Review, a member of the governing council of the Oral History Association, and faculty at both the University of Rhode Island and Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. Yow is a strong advocate for strengthening the Oral History Association's contacts with its international counterparts and is a leader in emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach to oral history research.