Concordia University

Oral History Research Laboratory (COHRL)

Norms, Procedures, and Protocols
September 2006

Dr. Steven High

Canada Research Chair in Public History
shigh@alcor.concordia.ca
 Introduction and
Contents

This manual was created in 2006 for use by Directors

and Interns at COHRL. All documents found in this
book are located on CDROM and are to be used until
further notice.

Page Contents
3-4 Protocol: Receiving a donated Oral History Project or other items

5 Protocol: Accession Coding

6 Logs

7 Employees at COHRL.

8 Affiliate Application Form.

9 – 10 Project Donation Form.

11 Protocol: Preservation of Oral History Interview.

12 Preservation Form.

13 Protocol: Access to Archive Materials

Document prepared by Rob Shields

Design: Joyce Pillarella

2
 Protocol for Receiving
an Oral History Project.

When a project is donated to COHRL the donor must fill

out form COHRL 001, Donation of Project. Please follow
this procedure when accepting an oral history interview
for donation.

1. Assign the project an accession number if it is a new project. (See Assigning Accession Protocol)
2. Print out two (2) labels with the accession number. Affix one to the consent form, or copy of the
consent form, and one to the media. If this is a new project print a 3rd label and affix it to a file folder
in the projects file cabinet, this will house all consent forms, etc., for the project.
3. Log the project in the Project Log in the Accession excel file.
4. Log the interview tape in the Interviews Received Log.
5. Place Tape in the download shelf for digitalization (Level 2 Preservation).
6. Interview will then be downloaded by an employee of COHRL and saved as an MPG-2 file on the
hard-drive. Prior to saving the file, the employee will add a 10 second information still frame to the
beginning which lists the following information: COHRL accession number, project title, interviewer’s
name, interviewee’s name, date of interview, the COHRL logo, and COHRL contact information. This
still frame will be a standard editable file located in Adobe Premiere Elements.
7. Log which hard-drive was used for Level 2 preservation in Interviews Received Log L2 – All inter
views from a project must be stored on the same hard-drive.
8. Burn DVDROM of MPG-2 (Level 3 Preservation), include PDF file of scanned consent form, donation
form, and copies of any other donated media – use supplementary CD or DVDROM if necessary.
9. Log DVD of Level 3 preservation in Interviews Received Log L3.
10. Once project is complete all original tapes will be sent for storage.
11. Log all tapes (Level 1 Preservation) as shipped to archives in Interviews Received Log L1.
12. Prepare label for DVD, include: ascension number; interviewer, interviewee; date of interview; copy
right information. Standard on all COHRL DVDs.
13. All digital files should be named after the accession number for easy identification.

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 Protocol for Receiving
an Oral History Project.

If the interview conducted is audio only follow steps 1-5

above and then:

6. Interview will be downloaded to a WAV file and saved on a COHRL hard-drive. If interview was
recorded on a video cassette the audio will have to be separated using Adobe Premiere Elements.
Prior to saving this wav file a standard voice over will be placed before the intervie with the
following information: COHRL accession number, project title, interviewer’s name, interviewee’s
name, date of interview, and COHRL contact information.
7. Log which hard-drive was used for Level 2 preservation in Interviews Received Log L2 –
All interviews from a project must be stored on the same hard-drive.
8. Burn CDROM of WAV (Level 3 Preservation), include PDF file of scanned consent form, donation
form, and copies of any other donated media – use supplementary CD if necessary.
9. Log CD of Level 3 preservation in Interviews Received Log L3.
10. Once project is complete all original tapes will be sent for storage.
11. Log all tapes (Level 1 Preservation) as shipped to archives in Interviews Received Log L1.
12. Prepare label for DVD, include: ascension number; interviewer, interviewee; date of interview;
copyright information. Standard on all COHRL DVDs.
13. All digital files should be named after the accession number for easy identification.

4
 Protocol
Accession Coding

Determination of the interview's accession number is crucial in order to ensure the interview can be easily
located once it has been preserved and stored. Only Internees of COHRL may provide an accession number

When a project is donated to COHRL it will be assigned an accession number by one of the interns. If the
project is new the project log must be updated so that duplication does not occur. The accession number will
always take the following format:

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 000

A B C
A – Relates to the year of DONATION, not the year of the interview.
B – Relates to the project number (i.e. the 1st project of 2006). Projects with multiple interviews will all have
the same donation year and project number, so all interviews for a project will have A and B in common.
C – Relates to the interview number of that project – these ideally correspond to the order in which the
interview was conducted (therefore interview 001 was the first interview conducted for the project.

In the event that additional follow-up interviews are conducted the accession number assigned to the
follow-up interviews will reflect their status.

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 001 Original interview with John Smith.

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 001B First follow-up interview with John Smith.
COHRL – 06 – 001 – 001C Second follow-up interview with John Smith.

If however the subject(s) of the follow-up interview are different than the original interview a new accession
number will be assigned.

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 001 Original interview with John Smith.

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 032 Original interview with John Smith and Mary Smith.

In the event that there are items, such as documents (D), photographs (P), and other miscellaneous (M)
items, donated with an interview each item must be assigned a unique accession number which relates to
the interview number:

COHRL – 06 – 001 – 032 Original interview with John Smith and Mary Smith.
COHRL – 06 – 001 – 032 – P – 001
D E

D – Relates to the type of item donated.

E – Relates to the number of the item, so if 10 photographs were donated then we would see
COHRL-06-001-032-P-001 to COHRL-06-001-032-P-010.

5
 Logs at COHRL

Several excel spreadsheets are used by COHRL in order

to maintain and update inventory of hardware, software,
and donations. This page is an overview of these logs.

1. Project List Log Annual – is an annual list of projects which is printed at the end of every
calendar year. This log ensures that each new project will receive a unique Accession code and will offer,
at a glance, the types of projects which are being conducted by affiliates of COHRL every year. This log
will include the following information: 10-digit Accession code (i.e. COHRL-06-001); primary researcher’s
name; project name; number of interviews conducted.

2. Project List Log Continuous – is an ongoing list of projects which includes all the information of
the Project List Log Annual.

3. Interview Log – is a detailed listing of all interviews by accession number. This log lists all projects
and the interviews conducted by them. This log will include the following information: 10-digit Accession
code, project name; primary researcher’s name; 13-digit Accession codes for each interview; interviewee’s
name; date of interview; place of interview; interviewer’s name. Additionally this log will indicate the level
of preservation of each interview.

4. Equipment Log – is a detailed log of all equipment at COHRL, including all equipment available for
loan. In the event an item (i.e. video camera) is loaned to an affiliate the COHRL code number (which
includes serial number of item) will be copy/pasted to the loan agreement along with the description of
contents and value of the item.

5. Affiliates of COHRL LOG – is a log of contact information for all affiliates of COHRL. This log
includes: name and contact information; institution; and Project(s) donated to COHRL.

6
 Employees of COHRL

Employees of COHRL will be paid under the schedule that follows:

Researcher – Undergraduate Fourteen Dollars per hour.

Researcher – Master’s Student Seventeen Dollars per hour.
Researcher – PhD. Student or Post-Doc Twenty Dollars per hour.
Intern – All levels of study Twenty Dollars per hour.

These rates are quoted in Canadian Dollars and are subject to change.

COHRL usually employs two Interns for 12-month contracts at the above rate for a maximum of $8000
per year each. These jobs are posted in October of every year for commencement in September. All
history majors at the M.A. or Ph.D. level are invited to apply for the positions.

There are no set-number of researchers hired by COHRL, and no specific hiring period or duration for
their employ. Researchers for COHRL will enjoy the benefit of being affiliates of the lab.

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 Affiliate
Application Form

Researcher
I am a(n)
Institute (if applicable)
Current Project Title
Description

Anticipated Number of Interviews ___________

Media Format of Interviews

I, __________________________, as researcher of the aforementioned project, and practicing oral or

digital historian, do submit for consideration this application for Affiliate Status at the Concordia Oral
History Research Lab (COHRL).

Affiliate Status grants me the following:

p Loan privileges on equipment at COHRL.
p Access to onsite lab equipment during regular lab hours.

signature

COHRL retains the right to:

p Promote projects of the affiliate on the COHRL website.

Affiliate Status has been granted for the period of ________ year(s).

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 Project Donation Form

Project Title
Description

No of Interviews ____________________ Media Format ____________________

Project Type: Group p Individual p

Primary Researcher/Donor:

Additional reserachers/assistants

The following conditions apply to the donation of oral history interviews by this donor:
p A copy of all consent forms and releases is included with the donation. All interviews have
expressly agreed to have their interviews made public in no longer than 1 year.
p A copy of the approved ethics package has been included with the donation (if applicable).
p Interviews may not be accessed until ____________________________________________

I, ______________________________________, agree to donate the above stated project to COHRL.

I have read, and understand, the terms of donation on the reverse of this form, and have included any
conditions of my own above.

__________________________ _________________________ ______________________

donor COHRL date

See reverse for terms of donation.

Office Use Only Accession Number: COHRL - _ _ - _ _ __

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 Project Donation Form
terms of donation

1. All projects received by COHRL will be preserved through a 3 level system.

i. Original media will be stored at an off-site archive.
ii. A digital copy of the interview(s) will be made and stored on the COHRL hard-drive.
iii. A digital copy of the interview(s) will be preserved on DVDROM.
2. Any peripheral items such as photographs will be preserved as above.
3. Interviews donated to COHRL will be made available to researchers who are affiliated with COHRL.
4. Interviews donated to COHRL may be used as teaching instruments or for hands-on educational
tools and workshops at Concordia University.
5. Interviews donated to COHRL may be displayed on COHRL’s website or be made available in other
manners of media.

All above listed items are subject to conditions of donation on the front of this form.

Additional Conditions

Additional Researchers

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 Protocol
Preservation of Oral
History Interviews

The preservation of oral history interviews is one of the

highest priorities of COHRL. As such, donated interviews,
class projects, and Affiliate projects will be preserved
through a three level process.

1. Level One: Original Copy – Mini DV or other audio/video cassette. In the event that the original is not
available, a DVD ROM (or CDROM for audio interviews) will be produced and stored as ‘Duplicate of
Original’.

2. Level Two: Digital Copy – Saved to COHRL computer hard-drive.

3. Level Three: Digital Copy – DVDROM.

Level One:
The original interview(s) will be received from the donor and will be assigned a unique Accession Number.
The originals will then be stored at an archive off-site, but only after all levels of preservation have been
completed.

Level Two:
The interview(s) will be downloaded into a digital format. The standard format which will be used at
COHRL beginning in 2006 will be the MPG-2 format, produced with Adobe Elements software, for video
interviews, and Wav format for audio interviews. These will remain the standards for all interviews until
such time that an improved format is available, or until consensus is reached on an industry standard for
oral history. This MPG-2 or WAV file will be saved on the COHRL hard-drive under the interview’s
Ascension Number.

Level Three:
In addition to the copy saved on the COHRL hard drive, the digital file will be saved on a DVD ROM (or
CDROM for audio interviews), which will be labeled with the interview’s Ascension Number and stored
at the Concordia Oral History Research Lab.

Other:
A copy of the consent form(s) and donation form will be scanned to a PDF file and included in the
DVDROM (or CDROM for audio interviews) – in the event that there are multiple DVDROMs for a
single interviewee, the PDF file will be included in all DVDROMs.

An Oral History Interview Preservation Form will be filed for each interview of each project.

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 Oral History Interview
Preservation Form

Accession Number: COHRL - _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _

Project Title

Interviewer
Interviewee
Date of interview

LEVEL 1 – Digitization onto Hard Drive.

Completed by
Date
Hard Drive #

LEVEL 2 – Burn interview to DVD.

Completed by
Date

LEVEL 3 – Original interview sent to archive.

Shipped by
Date
Name of Archive
Archive I.D. #
Format (i.e.VHS)

notes regarding this interview

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 Protocol
Access to
Archival Materials

Interviews and other materials which have been donated

to COHRL will be made available to the public for
research purposes. For simplicity, we have sorted access
to the interviews to two levels:

Level 1

The general public (non-affiliates) shall have access to interviews on-site only and by appointment. access
for non-affiliates is subject to availability of viewing equipment.

Level 2

Affiliates of COHRL may access interviews on-site or may borrow DVDROM (or CDROM in the case of
audio interviews) copies of the interviews for one week. Affiliates are not permitted to make copies of
interviews which they borrowed and must fully credit COHRL and the project donor in any reference.

• Access to interviews will be limited to five interviews at a time.

• Frequent loss or damage of COHRL interviews may result in the revocation of borrowing privileges.

All persons wishing to borrow interviews or make arrangements

13