This all started because I looked up Alice MacGillivray's citation of Wikipedia... It reminded me of similar projects, past (principles & applications) and present (see podcast sampler). Feel free to add to, or comment on the attached, which I hope will become a wiki.

My own career includes 10 years at NFB and leading a number of oral history projects across Canada. Since 1970 I have been an oral historian and professor of history, now in retirement.

Le site consistera d’histoires de vie, auxquelles pourraient s’ajouter musique, podcasts, et vlogs.

Le format sera multiculturel, avec pages écrites dans les deux langues officielles, voire peut-être une 3e, soit la langue d’origine. Nous espérons que divers groupes provenant des communautés culturelles nous recommandront des contacts. Pour débuter, il en faudrait quelques douzaines.

Le projet sera nécessairement un travail de collaboration. On cherche l’appui de journalistes débutants, aussi bien que de jeunes et d’aînés des communautés culturelles.

Déontologie: Chaque personne enrégistrée pourra raconter sa vie sans interruption. Afin de pouvoir  s’exprimer plus largement, on lui suggérera de détailler ses souvenirs d’enfance  y compris les souvenirs  olfactifs, visuels et sonores. Par la suite, on lui donnera une transcription, ou un playback dans la langue de l’entretien, afin qu’elle consente de manière informée à sa présentation publique. Les modalités d’enregistrement, de transcription, du travail collaboratif, et de diffusion sont à discuter. Quelques ébauches ont été préparées.

David Millar, ancien cinéaste et professeur d’histoire, maintenant à la retraite, a géré bon nombre de projets d’histoire orale à travers le Canada depuis 40 ans. Entre autres il a pris contact avec: Ile sans Fil, Matt Forsythe de Parole citoyenne / CitizenSHIFT de l’ONF, Hugh McGuire de Librivox, Public History et l’Institut de Développement Communautaire de l’université Concordia (Ronald Rudin, Stephen High, Elizabeth Hunt, Geraldo Sierra) et CHOQ-FM à l’UQAM.

Voices of Montreal

The website’s basic format would be multilingual life stories, including music, podcasts and vlogs -- from Montrealers of all origins. The webpages would have transcriptions in English and French, and the original language if possible. We hope that people will be proposed by their own ethnic communities. My past experience as an oral historian shows that once people recount a significant childhood memory with its associated sights, sounds, and smells, they find it easy to tell their story. We plan to train young journalists, teenagers and elders in various communities to join the interviewing team, since several dozen interviews will be required to give substance to the website, and attract further storytellers.

Ethics of informed consent: The interviewees are allowed to tell their story in their own way, with as little interruption as possible. Follow-up questions may come at the end. A transcription or playback will be given to the person, allowing them to judge whether they have told the story fully and accurately before signing a release for its public use. In past projects, I have found this creates trust and ensures fully-detailed stories. Interviewees do not feel they have to censor what they are saying, and are satisfied that “you have let me tell the whole story, my way”.

Methods of recording and transciption, principles of collaboration and publication, will be open to input from team members. Several drafts have been prepared for discussion.