Recording Oral Histories

Recording an oral history involves some planning and preparation. Here are some resources to help you.

Get advice from the Oral History Centre

Specialist staff can advise on conducting oral history interviews, digital and analogue recording, and organising oral history projects, including ethical and technical aspects. Our Oral Historian, Māori, works with groups and individuals carrying out oral history interviews with Māori.

You can contact the Oral History Centre to discuss your oral history project, or to make a time to visit us.

Contact the Oral History Centre

Read about oral history

Books and serials about the theory and practice of oral history are available in the collections of the National Library and the Alexander Turnbull Library.

National Library Catalogue

Oral history workshops

The Oral History Centre runs training workshops for those carrying out oral history interviewing and abstracting. The workshops are held regularly in Wellington and on request in other parts of the country.

The Oral Historian, Māori, also provides bilingual workshops in audio and video history throughout the country.

More about oral history workshops

Listen to other oral histories

We hold thousands of oral histories in our collections. Contact us to make an appointment, or discuss borrowing copies from our collections.

What oral history materials does the Library have?

Find materials in the Oral History Centre collection

Hire oral history recording equipment in Wellington

Portable tape recorders and transcribers are available for hire by oral historians. This hiring service is currently only available in the Wellington region.

We have digital recorders for hire: Sony WMD6C and Sony TCM-5000 models with lapel microphones. Recorders and transcribers must be booked in advance and collected from the Centre. Staff can show you how to use the machines. You may return them by courier.

The cost for all recorders and transcribers is $10 per day or $50 per week.