A free online guide and training package for community history groups that wish to create and preserve oral history collections is now available on the Oral History Victoria (OHV) website.
Although developed specifically for Victorian community history groups, the package contains an abundance of resources of relevance to oral history practitioners nationally.
Its aim is to help community organisations create and preserve high-quality, well-documented oral history collections that are publicly accessible and preserved for the long-term.
The online guide is located in the Resources section of the OHV website (see the instructional graphic on this page). It comprises six modules:
- Project planning and preparation
- Creating excellent interviews
- Documenting interviews
- Ethics, legalities and rights,
- Victorian collections
- Other preservation options.
Go directly to the overview page at: https://oralhistoryvictoria.org.au/guide/.
Training
OHV intends to use the online guide to underpin a number of training programs.
The first of these is an online training course ‘Oral History for the Future: Preservation and Accessibility’ to be conducted on 13 March 2026. This advanced course is for anyone holding or creating oral history interviews outside of major libraries and archives, including community projects and local history societies. Bookings are now open.
Thanks
The online guide and training package was developed by OHV in conjunction with contractor Way Back When professional historians.
OHV thanks Way Back When for their work and the financial support of the Local History Grants Program and Public Record Office Victoria.