About Mosman Voices

Oral Histories Online

Since the mid-1980s Mosman Library has maintained an oral history program as part of an ongoing commitment to the documentation and preservation of the history of Mosman. The aim is to collect the recollections of those who live, work or attend school in Mosman both now and in the past.

Interviews are carried out by an enthusiastic and dedicated group of volunteers. These volunteers receive training in interviewing techniques and have opportunities to attend relevant workshops and conferences.

In 2005 Mosman Library received a Library Council of New South Wales Library Development Grant to undertake the Mosman Library Oral History on the Web Project.

This project had three major goals:

• to promote the collection;
• meet the increasing demand for local historical information; and
• strengthen connections with the local community.

Initially all recorded interviews were transferred from audio-cassette to CD-ROM format. This served as both a means of preservation and a way of ensuring the continued accessibility of the oral history collection. The conversion was undertaken by Megaview Pty Ltd.

The next step was to have the interviews transcribed in order to have a permanent hard copy available. Transcription was undertaken by Gabrielle Godard.

Finally, excerpts were selected from the oral history interviews and placed on the web with the relevant text and any associated images.

The result is Mosman Voices: Oral Histories Online.