口头语与书面语:图书馆口述历史

The Spoken and the Written Word: Oral History in Libraries

即使是在信息时代,图书馆人也深知纸质图书不可替代。尽管绝大部分历史已被人们所熟知,但依然有必要通过口述的方式记录那些鲜为人知的历史。口述历史一方面可以保护正在或者即将消失的史料,另一方面也让人们能追忆往事,诉说属于他们个人的故事。文章描述了作者以历史学家的身份服务于美国参议院长达40年的经历,引用了在这期间采访的多位前参议员和幕僚的例子,总结了全世界范围内图书馆使用口述历史扩大藏量的方式和方法,也探讨了口述历史、图书以及其他档案文件资料是如何通过互联网供世界范围内的用户使用。

〔Abstract〕Even in this digital age, librarians know there is no shortage of books in print. Despite so much being already available, there is still a need to create new records through oral history. Oral history preserves memories that might otherwise be lost, and allows people to interpret their own experiences. The article offers examples drawn from the author’s 40 years of service as a historian for the U.S. Senate, interviewing former senators and staff. As examples, he offers excerpts from interviews with the ifrst Senate staff to visit China in 1972. The article also surveys the ways that libraries in many countries have used oral history to augment their collections, and describes how the Internet has become a global library, making oral histories as well as books and other documents available on a worldwide basis.