The Australian Centre for Oral History

A Cultural Conversation With ...

A conversation with Australian artist, Yvonne Boag, is available. An interview by art critic, Paul McGillick. Paul and Yvonne discuss what atracted her to become a professional artist and influences on Yvonne's work including her time in Paris (France), Seoul (South Korea) and the Lockhart River Aboriginal Community at the top of Cape York.

A demonstration of an interview with Mr. Johnny P Johnson (artist, teacher and humanitarian) is now available.

[Click here to go to the cultural conversations page]

Other conversations are in the planning stages and will be uploaded here when available.

If you have an idea for an interesting conversation or would like to have your own conversation showcased here, contact us and let's discuss how we can help.

Testimony Software

We advocate the use of Testimony Software to publish oral histories and engaging digitial stories on the web and CD ROM.

You can get more information about Testimony Software from http://www.attendonline.com.au.
To check pricing or purchase Testimony Software, go to http://www.attendonline.com/buy.html.
To see Testimony Software in action, go to the Project Jukebox web site, http://uaf-db.uaf.edu/Jukebox/PJWeb/progusecommem.htm or have a look at our Conversations With project and select the Yvonne Boag interview, http://www.acoh.com.au/ACOHStories/index.html.
You can download a trial copy from http://www.attendonline.com.au/Testimony/register.php or, if you prefer, contact us (details below) and we will send you any one of the samples on the left of this screen.

"We at the Alaska Historical Society and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Office of Public History wholeheartedly endorse Turtle Lane Studios' Testimony Software.
Testimony Software entirely underpins our project, Hearing History: The Minutes of the Alaska Constitutional Convention, an online interactive teacher's guide featuring the linked transcripts and audio recordings of these historic proceedings.
The browser interface is intuitive and the authoring toolkit is simple to use and obviates the need to consider technical issues, allowing us to concentrate on content.
The non-platform-specific nature of the software removes any potential headaches regarding Mac or Windows specificity, and the embedded player further simplifies the interface. Even enormous files simply take longer to load - the system never hiccups. The overall result is highly gratifying, and creates a seamless bridge between the spoken and the written word.
We have worked with Dr. Jansen for over a year, and been greatly pleased by customer service and his product. He is available for excellent technical support when it is required (usually due to operator error rather than software issues).
We would without hesitation recommend Turtle Lane and its products to any comers."
Leighton M. Quarles Developer, Alaska Historical Society

Terrence M. Cole Director, Office of Public History, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Activities

We are redeveloping the Testimony Software manual. This is in wiki format and you can see what we are doing at http://www.turtlelane.com.au/TestimonyManual/index.php?title=Main_Page
We are working on a major upgrade to Testimony Software. Version 5.1 will adopt HTML5 and CSS3 facilities, in particular, the change to the way Testimony handles digital video and audio. This will remove the dependency on Quicktime and, once Internet Explorer catches up, make the technical side of digital video in a web page, simpler.
We have developed a demonstration of Testimony Software on oral histories of the building of Sydney Harbour Bridge for the State Library of New South Wales' Oral History program.
We presented our work with Testimony Software at the Oral History Association of Australia conference in Melbourne, October 2011. This was an interesting conference with many good presentations giving an interesting perspective of oral history in Australia. Several leads have resulted which we are following up.
We are working with the Alaska Historical Society to develop a teachers guide to the recordings of the Alaska Constitution Convention, held in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1956. This guide, using our Testimony Software, provides a thematic view of the convention and gives students and users access to the actual recordings of the convention. Go to http://www.accteachersguide.com
Project Jukebox at the University of Alaska Fairbanks announces the release of its second jukebox built using Testimony Software. The Fairbanks Communities of Memory Project Jukebox is available from here.
We were approached by the Mt Kembla Heritage Centre in Mt Kembla, NSW, to advise on the set up their IT infrastructure for the centre and establish a web-based cataloguing and exhibition environment. The centre is dedicated to the memory of the 96 miners who died in mainland Australia's worst commercial disaster in 1902.
We attended the Oral History Association Conference in Pittsburgh, October 2008. We showcasedTestimony Software and presented a paper on ensuring long-term access to oral histories - the digital obsolesence issue, and what an oral historian can do about it. Come and talk to us if you're also there. It would be nice to meet or catch up with you and discuss common intersts in oral history, digital story telling, etc.
Project Jukebox at the University of Alaska Fairbanks announces the release of its first jukebox built using Testimony Software. The Nome Communities of Memory Jukebox is available from here.
In collaboration with Project Jukebox at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, we presented a paper on Project Jukebox and Testimony Software at the American Oral History Association Conference in October 2007. Click here to get a copy of the paper in PDF form (10MByte) [Get paper]
We have formed a collaboration with Project Jukebox, an oral history program at the University of Alaska's Rasmussen Library. This collaboration is developing Testimony Software, version 4, using a HTML-browser interface for web delivery of stories instead of the iShell browser. The plan is to use Testimony Software as the interface into this ever expanding collection of stories from Alaskan communities. [Go to Project Jukebox]
Story Keepers was officially launched at the XIVth International Oral History Conference, July 2006
Bob Jansen presented a paper at the XIVth International Oral History Conference held at the University of Technology Sydney, 12-16th July 2006 [More Information]
The StoryKeepers Project: Because Your Story Matters
Oral History in a Suitcase,everything you need to start your own oral history project
Why Story-Telling, a small explanation of what drives us

Center Information

The Australian Centre for Oral History facilitates the capture and publishing of oral histories, stories from important people in your life. Through the work of the centre and the agreement of the people involved, oral histories will be available for others to listen to and, learn from, and explore the richness and depth of experience and talent of the subjects. We hope to showcase the contributions made by all who live here to the Australian way of life and culture, the Australian story.

The Centre can help you record your oral histories, whether you are an individual wanting to tell your story, a town wanting to capture and retain its rich history or a group with a shared story. Our expertise, in conjunction with our associates and partners, provides you with an experienced group that will provide professional help and unbiased advice. Whether it be advice on how to interview people, or plan your project or technical advise as to recording mechanisms and all that IT stuff, we have the expertise that can advise you. If you wish, we can also do the work for you and develop a recorded oral history of your story.

Once your oral histories are recorded, you can choose to publish them through our web site. That way, each story can improve the whole story of the people of Australia and the contribution each has made to our way of life.

Our technology is based on Testimony Software, developed by Turtle Lane Studios Pty Ltd. This software has already been used to record stories from Australian artists, develop museum kiosks, and record what happens in several conference sessions and workshops. This track history should give you confidence in us - we know what we are talking about. We've done it before and we can make it easier for you. Click on the links on the left to see some of the things we've already done.

So, what will you be able to see here in the future.

Stories from ordinary and not so ordinary people who live in Australia
Technology to help you record your stories
Advice on what you can do and how to proceed
Links to other similar activities around the world

So, keep your eyes on this site. As we develop stuff, we'll make it available here.

Contact Details

For any more information, please contact one of the following people. We welcome other people and organisations to help us achieve our vision, so if you have the drive and the time, come and work with us.

Dr. Bob Jansen +61-414 297 448 bob.jansen@acoh.com.au Yvonne Boag +61-416 041 491 yvonne.boag@acoh.com.au

Associates & Collaborators

Paul McGillick, Australian Art and Architecture Critic who is working with us on the Cultural Conversations project.
The Oral History Program at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, is collaborating on the deployment of Testimony Software for their Project Jukebox oral history collection.
The Trans/forming Cultures Key University Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, shares our vision. We currently are collaborating on a project, Busting the colour bar: the Aboriginal challenge to segregated education in NSW (Researchers: Heather Goodall, Karen Flick).
The StoryKeepers Project, a collaboration with Giampaolo Pertosi

If you or your organisation is interested in working with us, please do not hesitate to contact us on any of the numbers or email addresses above.