WRD 225 - Fall 2023 - Oral History Research and Resources - Research Guides at University of Kentucky

Oral History Transcription

The primary record of an oral history is the audio or video recording. However, transcripts are valuable in that they provide a verbatim guide to this recording and allow researchers to more easily discover the actual words and flow of the interview.

In general, oral history interviews at the Nunn Center go through a five-step process:

1.Project Planning: exploring a topic of interest, doing background research, identifying interviewees

2.Interviewing: Recording conversation(s) with interviewees via audio or video

3.Accessioning: Depositing interviews and documentation with the archive

4.Indexing: Creating timed access points for key subjects in the interview

5.Transcribing: Adding a word-by-word record of the interview.

For the Bourbon Oral History Transcript Authentication assignment, your work will focus on Step 5, Transcribing. You will be provided with a machine-generated version of an oral history transcript and be asked to "authenticate," or edit and correct, the transcript.

STEP ONE - Choose your interview

Selected Interviews from the Nunn Center Bourbon Collections
The interviews listed in the document above have been indexed and are online for your review. Click on the accession number to access and listen to the interview. Alternately, all interviews may also be accessed via the Nunn Center database at this link:

SPOKEdb - Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History

STEP TWO - Authenticate the transcription

You will be provided with a machine-generated transcription of your selected interview in Word format. Your task is to compare the audio or video of the interview to the transcription and correct errors as necessary using these guidelines:

Authenticating an Oral History Transcript
This brief guide will help you proofread and edit the machine-generated transcript of your interview.
Nunn Center Transcription Guide
While you will not be creating a transcription from the audio, the Nunn Center Transcription Guide goes into more detail about specific style, naming conventions, formatting, and other requirements.

STEP THREE - Find and share important quotes and themes

Class Collaborative Spreadsheet
In preparation for the Team-Mixing Presentation, you will introduce the bourbon oral history you have been authenticating by highlighting 2-3 important quotes and identifying keywords on this shared spreadsheet.