[BCMA] Fernie Museum is hosting an Oral History 101 Workshop | Archives 101 Series | August 3, 2016

Wed Jul 20 09:51:05 PDT 2016

Hi all,

As many of you may know, the Fernie Museum opened the Fernie Museum | Community Archives Centre in April this year.  As part of our research mandate, we also launched the Fernie Community Memory Project, an initiative that will document Fernie’s early history and the contributions made by individuals, families, businesses and community organizations to the development of our city.  

As part of this work, we will be hosting a series of workshops geared to learning and promoting basic standards of archives and research practices for small museums and archives.  The first, Oral History 101, will be held on August 3 from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Fernie Museum Community Archives Centre.  It will be taught by Dr. Adriana Davies, former Executive Director of the Alberta Museums Association (1987-1999) and a leading researcher and curator.  A second course will be taught by Linda Wills this fall which will cover the basics of archives practice, and will be of particular benefit to those using Past Perfect software.

Please forward this email to those that might be interested in joining us.

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WORKSHOP OUTLINE

This one-day workshop lead by Adriana Davies will involve the following activities:

Design and Methodology:

*	Sharing of content about the nature, purpose, methodologies and limitations of oral history research
*	Techniques involved in building a relationship of trust with ethnocultural communities or communities of interest
*	Ethics and standards of practice
*	Project design including development of sample questions, clearance forms and interview techniques
*	Choice of audiovisual equipment and its operations to ensure a quality product that can be preserved in perpetuity by the Fernie Museum
*	Transcription and potential use of interviews as well as access to interviews
*	Reporting back to the partner community

Practicum:

*	Development of sample questions for testing in a “mock” interview situation
*	Conduct of mock interviews under the guidance and direction of the historical consultant and with the services of a volunteer videographer
*	Review and critique of interviews as a learning strategy
*	Summing up and Q & A with instructor

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ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH

Oral history springs from storytelling, which is central tool for passage knowledge from one generation to the next. All societies and cultures over the ages have made use of an oral tradition from the medieval bards and troubadours to the Elders and keepers of knowledge among Canada’s First Peoples.

As a technique in historical research, oral history research has become established over the past 50 years as a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting historical information through recorded interviews with people, communities and participants in past events. While public history has focused on “great people” and “significant events,” oral histories have emerged as a vehicle for capturing the lives of every-day people and a favoured research tool for social historians. This oral evidence allows us to enrich and provide the complexities of perspectives on historical events.

Since oral history is based on the memories of frequently-elderly individuals, social historians that use it must attempt to verify living people’s testimony and to allow for memory lapses and also the possibility of bias. Oral history interviews are thus a source of “raw” historical material that must be analyzed and placed in a historical context. Since human lives are fragile and limited, oral history is an ongoing process and interviews must be stored and the technology updated to ensure their long-term survival and availability to future scholars.

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REGISTRATION

The registration fee of $20 includes lunch and take-away Oral History Primer kit. This workshop series has been funded by a grant from the Columbia Basin Trust | Columbia-Kootenay Cultural Alliance.

You can register online <https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/oral-history-101-workshop-tickets-26673785009>  or by calling the Museum at 250.423.7016, ext 1.  For further information, please email <mailto:director at ferniemuseum.com?subject=Oral%20History%20Workshop%20%7C%20Inquiry>  Ron Ulrich, Director-Curator.  Special room rates are available at the Park Place Lodge, 10 minutes walking distance of the Fernie Museum.

A workshop outline is attached.

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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Adriana A. Davies has worked as a writer, editor, lecturer, executive director and curator in England and Canada. Professional accomplishments include: Science and Technology Editor, The Canadian Encyclopedia (1980—84); Curriculum Developer and Editor, Local Government Studies, University of Alberta (1984-86); Executive Director, Alberta Museums Association (1987-99); and Executive Director, Heritage Community Foundation (1999-2009).

She has undertaken a range of curatorial work including “People of the Coal Mines: The Italian Community” (Galt Museum); “Alberta’s Italian Community” (Heritage Community Foundation/Consulate of Italy, Edmonton; “J. B. Taylor and the Idea of Mountains” (Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies); and “The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello” (Fernie Museum). Research contracts for Alberta Culture have included Oil Sands and Turner Valley Gas Plant content for the Alberta’s Energy Heritage website.

Publications include: Collins' Encyclopedia of Antiques (1973); Dictionary of British Portraiture, Volumes 1 and 4 (1979); From Realism to Abstraction: The Art of J. B. Taylor (2014); The Rise and Fall of Emilio Picariello (2016); and The Frontier of Patriotism: Alberta and the First World War (co-editor, 2016).

She has undertaken a number of oral history projects: “Italians Settle in Edmonton” (1982-83); “Alberta’s Italian Community” (2001-02); “Alberta’s Black Pioneer Heritage” (2007); “Italian Seniors Memory Lane Project” (2007); “Rwanda Edukit Oral Histories” (2008); “Italian Enemy Alien Designation and Internment Oral History Project” (2011); and “Oil Sands Oral History Project” (2011-13).

RON ULRICH | DIRECTOR-CURATOR

FERNIE MUSEUM AND VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE

491 Victoria (2nd) Avenue

Fernie, BC  V0B 1M0

P:  250.423.7016, ext 2 | C:  250.423.1375

OPEN DAILY FROM 10 AM TO 5:30 PM

Visit www.ferniemuseum.com <http://www.ferniemuseum.com>  for information regarding our current exhibits and programs.

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