Database Guides : New and Updated Resources

The Oral History Online search tool indexes 2700 oral history collections from 800 institutions.  It includes records for oral histories provided by 10,000 individuals.

Search Tips:

Browse search covers the following areas::

• Titles, Historical Events, People, Subjects, Place, Content Type (Essays, Articles, Letters)

Basic search is a typical simple / keyword search.

Search results page lets you limit by date, place, historical event, etc.

Advanced Search allows for field searching: title & author; limiting by date.

On a search results page, click "details" to see which specific record or where in the transcript contains your search terms.

Full text:

Ellis Island Oral History project recordings (about 1/3rd of records) have the full-text (transcripts, audio files) immediately available via Alexander Street. 

Other entries link to an online archive which often (but not always) provide full-text only (2500+ entries).

Searching in OneSearch:

OneSearch only searches and lists brief information for some of the archival collections or items in Oral History Online (3600 records).  Use the Alexander Street Press interface to search more detailed information in the record.

OneSearch Ellis Island Oral History record: Ellis Island Oral History Project, Series NPS, no. 0148: Interview of Lydia Nieder.

OneSearch outside oral history collection record: 1972 Miners Strike Study

To download / save Ellis Island Oral History interviews:

• Do not use the standard Alexander Street Press download button.
• Go to an individual item record. (Downloading full transcripts or audio files is not available from the search results list.)
• The oral history transcript usually appears in it's own window.
• To save the text transcript:
  • In the transcript window menu, click the Print icon.
  • System should Print to PDF (or check your local printing settings).
• To save the oral history audio file (mp3):
  • In the transcript window menu, click the download icon.
  • The system may download a zip file.
  • An mp3 of an oral history may be housed inside the zip file.

To download / save the  full-text items housed on outside archives:

• Use the weblink to access the archives website. 
• Some items might be available full-text online (including transcripts, audio files, and/or images).
• Each individual archive will have different tools to access and potentially download any full-text items available.
• Not all items at other sites are available in full-text.

Citing a Document

• Citation icon provides a citation in APA, Chicago, and MLA styles.
• Always double-check the example citation for errors / corrections.

Link to a specific document:

• Use the "Embed" icon when viewing a list of search results or viewing a document.
• Copy "permanent link" option.  (This link includes the Stan State Library proxy server which provides for off-campus access.)

This release of Oral History Online provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,700 collections of Oral History in English from around the world. The collection also provides keyword searching of more than 329,400 pages of full-text by close to 10,000 individuals from all walks of life.  It also contains pointers to over 4,200 audio and video files and almost 19,000 bibliographic records.

About 1/3rd of entries are available immediately full-text online (usually transcripts of oral histories), housed and served on the Alexander Street Platform.

The rest of the entries are links to various online archives, which often (but do not always) have full items available online.  (Some only provide finding aids or archive locations.)

Platform:  Alexander Street

Full-text:  Ellis Island Oral Histories available in full-text (950 records).  Records for other collections link to various archives/collections websites (2600 records), with some having full-text (audio/video/transcripts), some having collection records only.

Content Update: Closed/one-time collection

Type of records: Oral histories in English (full-text or archives collection records).

Number of records: 3666 (950 from Ellis Island Oral History Project / 2666 from other oral history collections)  / 329,000 pages. Pointers to over 4,200 audio and video files and almost 19,000 bibliographic records within those collections.

Provider: ProQuest - Alexander Street / CSU Collections

Library Guides URL: https://library.csustan.edu/oho

Library PURL: https://libpurl.csustan.edu/s/purl.php?2484

OneSearch: Collection record for Oral History Online.

OneSearch Ellis Island Oral History record: Ellis Island Oral History Project, Series NPS, no. 0148: Interview of Lydia Nieder.

OneSearch outside oral history collection record: 1972 Miners Strike Study