Digitising the oral history collection at Botswana National Archives and Records Services: problems and prospects

Abstract

The advent of new technologies has ushered in changes in the way oral histories have been collected and managed. Oral history recordings are no longer done with only the analogue recording equipment, but are also nowadays done with digital recording equipment. Although digital audio recording equipment offer higher quality recording, their suitabilityfor long-term preservation has not yet been established; they require some form of training;and are generally expensive. In its endeavor to achieve its mandate of preserving the nation’s documentary heritage, the Botswana National Archives and Records Services (BNARS) has been collecting and managing oral histories over the years since 1982. This has been done using the analogue recording equipment and lately the BNARS has been experiencing challenges as the analogue recording equipment is becoming obsolete. This paper seeks to discuss the problems and prospects of digitized oral history collections at BNARS through literature review and personal observation.

Keywords: Digitisation, Oral History, Botswana National Archives and Records Services,preservation, digital audio recording equipment