ABSTRACT
Community oral historians need to remember the two-fold purpose of doing oral history: to preserve the information for the future as well as to make it accessible to others. Community oral history projects derive at least three important advantages when they identify and work with a repository from the outset. First, a library, archives, or museum that is willing to accept oral history materials might have the technical expertise needed to determine the most appropriate recording technology to use to meet optimal preservation standards. Second, identifying a repository from the outset could help streamline the process of developing an oral history legal release agreement. Finally, identifying and using an appropriate repository is the best way to assure ongoing preservation of and access to materials a community oral history project generates. Verbatim transcripts turn spoken language into written language.
