AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) – CDP4 Cohort 2024/25

Call for HEI Partners/Academic Supervisors

Research Theme:
Exploring the Importance of Provenance in Oral History
Collections
British Library Co-Supervisors:

Dr Madeline White (Oral History Curator)

Mary Stewart (Oral History Lead Curator)

Context & Summary

This research will examine the importance of documenting provenance for archived oral history
collections. For each collection that it archives, the British Library Oral History department maintains
records (physical, digital or both) about the collection, which offer an insight into how the project
developed and was run. These records vary in size, but may include a range of material such as:
participant forms; project management records; participant and interviewer recruitment materials; letters
and correspondence; training documents; evaluation reports; metadata spreadsheets; and more. There is
no consistent approach to collecting these materials and at present these records are treated within the
Library as administrative records – material used or acquired in the process of archiving an oral history
project – and are accessible only to Oral History department staff. The student will have privileged access
to this material for their research. This project seeks to examine what value these records have as records
of provenance, and how making such records available to researchers could enhance understanding of
oral history interviews and the historiography of the discipline.

By undertaking provenance research for a series of case study collections, the student will examine the
archive’s role and responsibilities concerning contextual records about collection items. This project will
generate research that can inform best practice for both existing and future deposits, in the Oral History
department, across the Library’s collection areas, and generate discussion within the UK’s oral history and
archives communities.

To complement their archival research with personal insights and perspectives, the student will conduct
ten life story interviews with oral historians, archivists, librarians and/or researchers who worked on
specific collections and other key practitioners in the field. These recordings will complement the Library’s
An Oral History of Oral History in the UK collection. The interviews will make a significant contribution to
the history and historiography of the discipline and permanently enhance the publicly accessible record
on collection histories.

Research Areas
Scholarship on oral history theory and best practice emphasises the dialogical and subjective nature of
oral history, and encourages practitioners to consider how the interview is shaped by factors including
decisions made about who to interview, who does the interviewing, the length of the interview and the
questions asked. As the discipline matures and the amount of oral history material accrued in archives
increases, more attention is being paid to the re-use of archived oral histories.

The work that does exist on the re-use of archived oral history is increasingly encouraging users to seek
information about the provenance of archived material. The idea that researchers should contextualise
their source material is fundamental to all historical studies, but whilst there is some research from an
archive studies perspective on the (de/re)contextualisation of archival records, there is little on what this
expectation means for oral history archives and their responsibilities to depositors and users.

We will develop the research themes with the HEI partner and the student, taking account of their
expertise and interests. Initial plans envisage the student undertaking in-depth research into 4-6 case
study collections, to enable the student to engage fully with the administrative records and oral history
recordings for their chosen collections and conduct additional contextual research, including their own
oral history interviews. The oral history collections at the Library comprise tens of thousands of recordings
across hundreds of projects, offering a range of potential case studies with varying degrees of
accompanying paperwork on which the student can focus. At least 3 case studies will be with oral history
collections archived at the British Library, with the opportunity for additional case studies to be taken
from other institutions (e.g. local record office, community archive or museum) via research visits or
student placements, to enable the student to compare and contrast the practices of the British Library
with other types of archive. The student will be able to select their own case studies with input from Oral
History staff and the academic supervisors and could take various approaches in doing so, for example
surveying collections on a particular theme, or choosing collections by decade or size.

The student will be guided by some overarching questions about documenting provenance: How does this
happen? Why does this matter? How can we influence future practice? Specific research questions could
include, but are not limited to:

• The value of provenance – what difference does it make if a researcher has access to
provenance information alongside the audio recording? Where have archives been good at
documenting provenance and where not? There is also an important relationship between
provenance information and metadata – in particular the interview summary. The student
could explore how an improved understanding of provenance can feed into current
conversations about how the Library manages sensitive historic data in collection items and
catalogue records.

• Methods of documenting provenance – this research offers an opportunity to interrogate

institutional practices and policy, feeding in to contemporary conversations in archival theory,
particularly the specific challenges facing sound archives. The student will balance academic
and applied research: what is best practice and what is practical? What resource does
provenance documentation require? How should the material be stored? The student could
also ask wider questions about the responsibilities institutions have to departments who
collect data about archival records and what the resonances are between oral history records
and other records at the Library, as well as what makes oral history different.

• Archival responsibilities to the depositor and the user – what are the ethical and legal
responsibilities that the Library has to those who deposit material with us and to researchers?
Are the responsibilities to these two groups ever in conflict? What challenges are associated
with making available to users material that might never have been intended for public
access?
Benefits & Training Opportunities for the CDP Student
The student will undertake innovative research into the British Library collections, benefitting from access
to research materials that are not available to Library users in the Reading Rooms. The student will be
invited to engage critically with the Library’s policies and procedures, challenging the discoverability and
accessibility of our collections and sharing their ideas for improving access to provenance material. The
student will therefore generate academic research that is fully informed by the ‘on the ground’ reality of a
working archive, or archives if the student also undertakes research placements at other institutions.

The Oral History department at the British Library is the UK sector leader in conducting in-depth life story
recordings and in providing advice on oral history ethics and archival practice. The student will gain from
the experience of joining the Oral History team who will provide training and mentoring in the theory,
techniques and the practicalities of oral history fieldwork and curation. They will have access to training in
basic and advanced oral history techniques – including on GDPR and archival management – through the
National Life Stories-Oral History Society training programme.

At the conclusion of the CDP, the student will be a skilled historian (with experience in oral history
interviewing, audio editing and practical archival experience) who is also connected to the world of
libraries, museums and archives, capable of pursuing a career in academia and/or the GLAM sector. By
undertaking this pioneering research the student will make a demonstrable impact on the operations of a
national archival institution, as well as contributing to the disciplinary history of the oral history field.

Application Deadline
Friday 24 November 2023

Application Guidance
Further information and details of how to apply can be found on the British Library website. Please ensure
you have read the Information for HEI Applicants document.

Contact for Queries

For questions on the application form and process:

British Library Research Development Office – Postgraduate inbox: pgr@bl.uk

and

For queries regarding the research theme:

Dr Madeline White, Curator of Oral History: madeline.white@bl.uk