Title: New Zealand Studies: A Guide to Bibliographic Resources

Author: J. E. Traue

Publication details: Victoria University Press, 1985

Part of: New Zealand Texts Collection

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9. Oral history and related sound recordings

Oral history is a new discipline in New Zealand. What little has been taped or recorded on discs is widely dispersed in a range of institutions and is substantially undocumented. Historically the field has been dominated by Radio New Zealand, the government corporation which until recently had a monopoly of radio broadcasting in New Zealand. Radio New Zealand's objectives as a medium of news and entertainment have shaped both what has been recorded and preserved in its archives, but because of the time span, over 50 years, the collection is of considerable importance for research. Radio New Zealand recognized its national responsibilities in this field by publishing in 1982 Sounds Historical: a Catalogue of the Sound History Recordings in the Sound Archives of Radio New Zealand, in two large volumes.

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The obvious first step, the compilation of a general directory of organizations with sound archives, has been taken. With a grant from the Department of Internal Affairs, the New Zealand Oral History Archive (a private organization) has compiled a list of oral history collections (Report on Oral History Catalogue Research Project) which was published early in 1984.

The state of oral history in New Zealand is evidenced by the creation of the New Zealand Oral History Archive as a charitable trust. Despairing of a lead from the universities or any government agency, two committed individuals, Hugo Manson and Judith Fyfe, are attempting to set up a national archive funded by donations from individuals and business firms. If their plans are successful, a well-documented central collection of oral archive tapes will become freely available for research workers in New Zealand studies.