Recording oral histories over the telephone
Of interest to the genealogical community: PhoneGnome, an inexpensive voice over IP device, allows one to effortlessly record oral histories recounted over a telephone call.
Aside from requiring a broadband connection on the caller’s end, no new computer technology need be learned to use PhoneGnome. It plugs into your existing telephone system in the same way an answering machine is connected. Once you’ve installed the device, dial **REC, followed by the number at which your interviewee resides. When your call is complete, your recorded call conversation is waiting for you in your PhoneGnome web account in the popular WAV sound format. These oral histories can then be archived, converted to mp3s for podcasting, or distributed to family members and to posterity.
PhoneGnome is not the only way to record phone calls, clearly. But it allows you to use devices both parties are almost certain to already possess: a telephone. No computer required on either end.
I consult to PhoneGnome (disclaimer), but my interest in it goes beyond the immediate client relationship. The device gives us a powerful means by which to preserve personal histories that are easily accessible and subject to perfect copies for generations to come.
[tags]genealogy, genealogy tools,oral history, family history,rootsweb[/tags]
