CHIBOW Early Stage Researcher participates in the annual meeting of Polish Oral History Association

CHIBOW Early Stage Researcher Jakub Galeziowski participated in the annual meeting of Polish Oral History Association in Warsaw, 01-02 October 2016. Jakub, a member of POHA since 2009, and its first president, took an active role in discussions with other historians, psychologists and representatives of oral history archives. Jakub shared his experience of dealing with ethical issues in CHIBOW project and pointed out that some recommendations from network’s ethical advisers can be took into account and implemented into field of oral history in Poland as best practices. The occasion was marked as a milestone in discussions about ethics among Polish oral historians, and it is hoped will lead to high standards of ethical practice in oral history.

Data management was also high on the agenda, and one of the most pertinent issues for oral historians in Poland today. Participants discussed proper methods of working with oral sources (i.e. search in big data collections), concluding that methods should be found and implemented as a priority. POHA together with LaCH is going to prepare an application for external funding, which aims to integrate all separated systems of archiving of interviews in Poland.

During the meeting, participants were hosted by Warsaw University and supported by Digital Humanities Laboratory UW (LaCH UW, http://en.lach.edu.pl) with a workshop about oral history in digital world. The mission of LaCH is to create and maintain cooperation between humanists and IT specialists in their projects. Experts from LaCH showed participants how advanced technology can help oral historians with their sources when the interview is already done. The course covered practical, technical and ethical issues around the selection, collection and description of oral history.