Subject Guides: Oral History Resources: Phase 2: Editing & Uploading

Step 4: Uploading & Editing Oral History Interviews

Researchers, with the interviewee's permission, may choose to lightly edit the footage. Edits for oral histories should be minor (e.g., removing lengthy pauses, interruptions, etc.) and must not alter or change the meaning of the interviewee’s or interviewer’s words in their original context. The only exception is when the interviewee specifically requests that certain passages be omitted in the final edit. For an example of an edited oral history interview, see the Interview of Elton Higgs (link to come) from The 1959 Project: Shared Campus Lives.

However, editing oral histories is not required. Interviewees may request that the interview remain unedited and be published in its entirety. The MMETOHP collection includes several examples of unedited interviews. Although unedited footage may include ambient noises or other interruptions, it preserves the full context of the interview.

U-M provides access to several A/V editing tools for all faculty, staff, and students. These include:

Adobe Premiere: This application offers a full suite of editing and production tools, making it ideal for more complex editing projects.
Adobe Rush: Rush is Adobe’s user-friendly A/V editing application. It includes core editing and production functionality, making it suitable for simpler edits, layering or combining multiple footage files, creating dynamic transitions, and adding basic on-screen graphics.
Mi Video (Kaltura): For projects requiring only simple A/V edits, such as cutting small passages of footage, Mi Video may be sufficient. Mi Video is U-M’s streaming platform that utilizes Kaltura. Users can access it through the main U-M Mi Video site or via Canvas. Individual units may also have their own separate Mi Video sites.

Mi Video

Once edits are complete, researchers can upload interviews to a digital streaming platform in preparation for further curation and dissemination. Several of the oral histories in UM-Dearborn’s collections, including MIAOHP and MMETOHP, are available for streaming through U-M’s Kaltura-based platform, Mi Video. Users can upload content to Mi Video via the main U-M Mi Video site or through a U-M Canvas account. Individual units may also have their own Mi Video sites.

Please note that uploading footage to Mi Video via Canvas is not a long-term solution. To ensure the collection is preserved permanently and archivally, researchers should contact campus librarians to coordinate a long-term retention plan. However, Mi Video via Canvas is a convenient short-term solution that allows faculty and staff to easily link and embed oral histories in Canvas courses and other resources.

YouTube

Other oral history projects at UM-Dearborn, such as the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive use a YouTube channel for wider public access in addition to using Mi Video for long-term digital archival storage.

YouTube can be a beneficial tool because of its popularity and ease of use for both users and viewers. YouTube enables projects to reach a broader audience. However, YouTube is a short-term solution and does not guarantee permanent retention and access.

Step 5: Transcription & Closed Captioning

Tips coming soon!