The best comprehensive summary of
the ethical obligations of oral historians is the section
on "Principles and Standards" in the Oral
History Association's Oral History Evaluation Guidelines.
When first contacting the interviewee and again at
the interview, the interviewer should assure the interviewee
that participation is voluntary and that reasonable
safequards will be taken to ensure that the interview
is used and cited appropriately. At the end of the
interview, the interviewer should state that if there's
anything in the interview that the interviewee is hesitant
to make available to the public, he or she has the
right to seal portions of the transcript or place restrictions
on accessing the entire interview. The interviewer
should summarize the following key responsibilites
to interviewees, excerpted below from the Oral History Association (OHA) website:
- Interviewees should be informed of the mutual
rights in the oral history process, such as editing,
access restrictions, copyrights, prior use, royalties,
and the expected disposition and dissemination
of all forms of the record, including the potential
for electronic distribution.
- Interviewees should be informed that they will
be asked to sign a legal release.
- Interviews should remain confindential until
interviewees have given permission for their use.
- Interviewers should guard against making promises
to interviewees that the interviewers may not be
able to fulfill, such as guarantees of publications
and control over the use of interviews after they
have been made public. In all future uses, however,
good faith efforts should be made to honor the
spirit of the interviewee's agreement.
- Interviewers should guard against possible exploitation
of interviewees and be sensitive to the ways in
which their interviews might be used.
- Interviewers must respect the rights of interviewees
to refuse to discuss certain subjects, to restrict
access to the interview, or, under extreme circumstances,
even to choose anonymity. Interviewers should clearly
explain these options to all interviewees.
If, after the interview is finished or after reviewing
the transcript, the interviewee feels that certain
portions should remain confidential or that access
to the entire interview should be restricted, he/she
has the option to edit the transcript (with omitted
sections indicated by a bracketed notation such as
[this portion of the interview has been sealed by
the interviewee]). The interviewee may also choose
to restrict access to the interview until a certain
date or until after his/her death. In addition, the
interview may be limited to onsite access, or researchers
may be required to obtain explicit permission to
access the interview from the interviewee, his/her
designated agent, or the oral history program, thereby
excluding the option of electronic dissemination
of the interview.
The OHA further states,
"Oral history interviews should be used and cited
with the same care and standards applied to other
historical sources. Users have a responsibility to
retain the integrity of the interviewee's voice,
neither misrepresenting the interviewee's words nor
taking them out of context....Interviewers and interviewees
should recieve appropriate acknowledgment for their
work in all forms of citation or usage. Archives
should make good faith efforts to ensure that uses
of recordings and transcripts, especially those that
employ new technologies, comply with both the letter
and spirit of the interviewee's agreement."
The importance of obtaining signed release forms,
either at the conslusion of the interview or subsequently
after the interviewee reviews the transcript, cannot
be overstated. The interview is legally and ethically
unusable without proof of the informed, written consent
of the interviewee. There is no single standard release
form. Each project should use a form that suits the
purpose of the project. A release usually includes
the interviewee's name and signature, the interviewer's
name, the date, a statement of permission to use
the interview, the name of the person or institution
receiving the permission, and the purposes to which
the interview will be put. It is recommended that
the form include a place for the interviewer, who
also has rights in the interview, to grant permission
for use. It is also recommended that school projects
clear release forms with the school's legal counsel.
A few sample release forms are listed below; many
more can be found by searching the Web:
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Legal issues associated with oral
histories include informed consent, copyright, restriction
of access, and libel. Any initiative undertaking an
oral history project should invest in "Oral History
and the Law" by John A. Neuenschwander (2002),
available from the Oral History Association for $15.00
(http://alpha.dickinson.edu/oha/pub_ps.html).
The Library of Congress’ Copyright.gov site
is an excellent resource on all copyright issues. Section
108 of the Copyright Act deals specifically with fair
use of copyrighted materials for libraries and archives.
See the Section 108 Study Group website for detailed information fair use.
University oral history programs have often struggled
with their institutional review boards to ensure
approval of their activities. According to the Oral
History Association, oral history projects should
generally be excluded from review by institutional
review boards governing human subject research (http://alpha.dickinson.edu/oha/mem_li.html).
Also relevant is the testimony [http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2000may/bioethics.html]
of Linda Shopes, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
Commission, before the President's National Bioethics
Advisory Commission in 2000. |
