The Australian Centre for Oral History

We launch A 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. [Click here to go to the conversations page]

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 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.

If you are interested in buying a copy of Testimony Software, go to http://www.attendonline.com.au/buy.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.

Activities

• 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 are working with the Mt Kembla Heritage Centre in Mt Kembla, NSW, to set up the 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 have built a simple kiosk for this year's annual Mt Kembla festival allowing access to some information on the miners who died.
• We will be at the Oral History Association Conference in Pittsburgh, October 2008. We are showcasing Testimony Software and presenting 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

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.

1. Stories from ordinary and not so ordinary people who live in Australia
2. Technology to help you record your stories
3. Advice on what you can do and how to proceed
4. 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.